Meet Tyler, Technical Product Manager for Amazon Live

Meet Tyler Tyson. As a Technical Product Manager (PMT) on the Amazon Live team at Amazon Ads, Tyler has found a unique opportunity to blend her strategic approach with a growing technical skill set. In this Q&A, she shares her insights on the challenges, rewards, and potential for career growth in this highly experimental team.

Amazon Live is Amazon’s exclusive live-streaming platform where hosts, from celebrities to influencers to selling partners, can showcase products and connect with shoppers in real time, delivering a curated shopping experience for all to enjoy. Amazon Live allows shoppers to interact with experts who can share their knowledge and connect with their favorite creators to learn more about products they’re interested in.

My role is specifically focused on developing our personalization models for the Amazon Live experience. I work with a team of applied scientists to understand the customer signals we have—such as shopping history, creator affinities, and category preferences—and use that to build recommendation models that surface the most relevant live content across the Amazon site. This involves requirements gathering, model development, and implementation across our various Live placements.

After working in product marketing at another big tech company, I was eager to transition into a more formal product management role. Amazon stood out as a company that was willing to look beyond my technical background to focus on my strategic abilities and potential. The chance to develop my technical acumen while driving impactful product decisions was really appealing. So I applied, and now I’ve been here for more than two years!

I'll admit that the initial learning curve was steep. Coming from a more strategy-focused background, I had to quickly get up to speed on the technical frameworks and concepts used by scientists and engineers on my team. However, with the support of my colleagues and dedicated effort, I've developed a strong fluency in the technical aspects of my role. Now I'm able to focus more on the strategic components while still maintaining a solid understanding of the underlying technology.

Amazon expects its PMTs to have a working knowledge of the technical concepts their engineering partners are using so they can provide feedback on tech designs and understand trade-offs and the impact of technical decisions. This does not mean that PMTs are expected to be engineers but rather that they should understand and be able to explain the technical recommendations being explored.

One of the most exciting aspects of working at Amazon Ads is the level of visibility and access I have to senior leadership. Unlike some other large tech companies, I regularly find myself interacting with senior leaders. This high level of engagement has pushed me to raise my game in terms of how I present myself and communicate my ideas. There are also opportunities to collaborate across different organizations within Amazon, which has been invaluable for my professional development.

In my experience, Amazon Ads has a much more agile and iterative approach to product development compared with the experience of some of my peers at other tech companies. I've been able to launch and test more experiments in the real world rather than getting bogged down in lengthy approval processes. Of course, failed experiments are still a reality, but Amazon’s openness to trying new things and learning from them has been very empowering. This fast-paced, test-and-learn environment has allowed me to develop a more robust product sense and see the tangible impact of my work.

Eventually, my sights are set on advancing to a Principal PMT role, which would involve taking on more complex, high-impact projects. I'm currently working on a few initiatives that I hope will help demonstrate my technical and strategic capabilities. Looking further ahead, I'm intrigued by the prospect of more exploratory, start-up–adjacent products. The combination of Amazon's scale and resources with the opportunity to tackle new challenges is exciting to me.

One of the key things I would highlight is the importance of strong written communication skills. The level of detailed, concise writing required at Amazon is unlike anything I've encountered elsewhere. While this may be a hurdle for some, it's also an opportunity to hone a valuable skill that can set you apart, and it allows you to be crystal clear about your product. Additionally, I'd encourage prospective candidates to focus on showcasing their potential and problem-solving abilities rather than just their technical expertise. Amazon is more interested in your ability to learn and grow than a specific set of technical skills.

Beyond the opportunities for growth and visibility, I believe Amazon Ads offers PMTs the chance to work on truly impactful products that drive significant value for the business. As one of the company's primary revenue streams, the work we do has a tangible effect on Amazon's overall success. This sense of ownership and importance is incredibly motivating. Additionally, the fast-paced, experimental nature of the work allows us to constantly learn, iterate, and push the boundaries of what's possible.