Paving new paths: Jay’s vision for creative ad experiences
Jay Richman joined Amazon just over two years ago, following a decade of product leadership at Spotify. He was attracted to Amazon Ads by the enormous opportunity he saw to develop creative ad experiences that could delight customers and help brands grow their businesses.
As Vice President of Creative Experiences, Jay leads a team that transforms how brands connect with customers across Amazon's vast network of touchpoints—from Prime Video and Twitch to Whole Foods Market and Alexa devices.
In this article, Jay shares why he believes Creative Experiences is the place where innovators can build both their careers and the future of advertising.
Jay’s vision for the Amazon Ads Creative Experiences team
Democratizing creative excellence
"Creative Experiences is making the art of creative possible for all."
This is the straightforward yet ambitious mission statement that drives the team’s work. Jay’s vision extends beyond simply providing tools; it's about fundamentally transforming how businesses of all sizes approach creative advertising.
For small businesses with limited resources, the team develops intuitive creative tools that level the playing field. For larger brands, it builds sophisticated solutions that scale creative capabilities across Amazon's network.
“We see a huge opportunity to expand the creative horizons for brands of all sizes,” says Jay.
Pioneering AI innovation
“What we’re working on here in Creative Experiences is almost entirely focused on innovation. There is no path that’s paved in front of us. We are the path pavers.”
The Creative Experiences team is already establishing itself as a leader in applying generative AI to advertising, with recent launches showcasing the breadth of ad tech innovation. This includes an image generator that creates compelling product visuals, a video generator that produces short-form content telling brand stories, and AI creative studio. Jay adds, “All of that is just what we've already released. We have a really exciting map ahead of us. So watch the space.”
A unique operating model
“In Creative Experiences, we hire for different disciplines. We have science researchers, software engineers, product designers, researchers, and product managers. I don't want to leave anyone out!”
The Amazon difference, according to Jay, is how the organization manages to feel big and small at the same time. Despite being part of one of the world's largest companies, the Creative Experiences team maintains the agility of a startup, operating in small, autonomous units known as "two-pizza teams." This structure fosters cross-disciplinary collaboration across science and design while leveraging Amazon's extensive resources and infrastructure.
Re-defining the industry
“This is such an extraordinary time to be working in technology. We're at the forefront of a whole new paradigm shift with generative AI—a shift that comes around once every decade, if not two.”
Creative Experiences values "inventors"—people who can imagine "what could be" rather than just "what is." The team's approach is specifically forward-looking, prototyping and testing new ideas as well as working backwards from customer needs.
Amazon Ads already reaches over 300 million ad-supported users in the US alone, and the Creative Experiences team’s work spans across all of Amazon's touchpoints. This broad reach allows the team to create seamless advertising experiences that follow customers throughout their journeys, from initial awareness to final purchase.
For those considering a career at Amazon, Jay concludes with three compelling reasons to join the Creative Experiences team: “the opportunity to work with world-class talent across multiple disciplines, the complexity of solving advertising challenges at an unprecedented scale, and the impact of helping brands build their businesses both on and off Amazon.”
At Amazon Ads, we’re building the advertising technology of the future, and we’re looking for innovators to help us re-imagine advertising. Check out all our open roles.