Invent & Simplify at scale with Maju Kuruvilla

Think Like Amazon

Maju spent 8 years as Vice President for Amazon’s global logistics and fulfillment technology organizations. During his Amazon career, the scope of Maju’s role grew to oversee thousands of engineering, operations, and business employees across the globe. Earlier this year, Maju made the transition from Amazon to become CTO at Bolt, a startup that offers online one-click checkout technology to retailers.

Listen in to hear Maju describe how he leads innovation across large global organizations. From pivoting fulfillment systems amid the global pandemic to creating mechanisms for encouraging innovation from all levels of the company, this episode is full of stories, ideas, and practical tips that can help any manager think about institutionalizing innovation in their business.

Mentioned in the podcast:

The Day One Syndicate: https://angel.co/day-one/syndicate

Bolt Careers: https://www.bolt.com/careers/

Maju on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/majukuruvilla/

More from the episode:

5:47 – Innovating fast to pivot Amazon’s air cargo operations during the global pandemic

8:22 – How to know when to pivot quickly versus preserve existing automation when working under pressure

11:12 – Developing a future-focused mindset to prioritize innovation

14:19 – How to encourage innovation at scale across a large organization

15:50 – The blind spots to be aware of when working at scale, and how to address them

18:42 – Why patience is often required to drive strategic innovation

22:00 – The top two priorities you must have as a leader to create impact, and the key to scaling that impact

23:21 – One of Maju’s top mechanisms for increasing organizational focus on innovation and problem solving

30:00 – Examples of Invent & Simplify alive at Bolt

32:17 – Find innovative employees by incorporating this one question with candidates