In a significant development in the global technology landscape, Indian-origin technologist Jigar Thakkar has been appointed as the Vice President of Amazon Quick Suite. This strategic move places him in charge of Amazon's agentic AI workspace under the Amazon Web Services (AWS) umbrella, marking a new chapter in his illustrious career spanning over two and a half decades.
Amazon Quick Suite: The AI-Powered Digital Workspace
Launched in October 2025, Amazon Quick Suite represents Amazon's ambitious foray into the agentic AI-powered digital workspace domain. Designed specifically for business users, this innovative platform functions as an intelligent AI teammate that assists with various critical business functions.
The suite's capabilities are comprehensive and transformative. It facilitates advanced research activities, generates valuable insights by analyzing both enterprise and external data sources, and enables sophisticated natural language-based analysis and visualization. Furthermore, Amazon Quick Suite automates complex workflows across popular business tools including Slack, Salesforce, and Snowflake, creating a seamless integration experience for modern enterprises.
A Distinguished Career Across Technology Giants
Before joining Amazon, Thakkar served as the Chief Technology Officer and Head of Engineering at MSCI Inc. from July 2018 until 2025. Based in New York, he spearheaded the company's technology and data strategy while overseeing a global team of approximately 4,000 technologists. During his tenure at MSCI, Thakkar drove several transformative initiatives including the modernization of the company's technology stack, the launch of its Investment Solutions as a Service vision in 2021, and the rollout of the MSCI One investment platform. He also established strategic partnerships with Microsoft for cloud services and Google for data and artificial intelligence capabilities.
Nearly Two Decades at Microsoft
Thakkar's most extensive professional experience comes from his nearly 19-year tenure at Microsoft, where he rose to the prestigious position of Corporate Vice President. His most notable achievement at Microsoft was serving as the founding engineering leader of Microsoft Teams. Starting the product development around 2015, he successfully took it to beta within an impressive 18-month timeframe.
Thakkar built the Microsoft Teams engineering organization from the ground up, scaling it to more than 400 engineers across multiple global locations. His leadership was instrumental in growing the platform to serve hundreds of millions of users worldwide. His earlier roles at Microsoft spanned across several key products including Office 365, Dynamics CRM, Bing, Windows, Windows Mobile Devices, MSN, and Skype for Business. He began his Microsoft journey as a software developer working on Microsoft Money.
Early Career Foundations
Earlier in his professional journey, Thakkar gained valuable experience at Intel Corporation and Silicon Graphics Inc, where he contributed to the development of large-scale enterprise platforms that would later inform his approach to technology leadership.
Educational Background and Global Recognition
Thakkar holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the prestigious University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in India. His educational foundation in India followed by advanced studies in the United States reflects a common trajectory among many successful Indian-origin technology leaders.
With more than 25 years of experience in the technology sector, Thakkar's move to Amazon is being closely monitored by industry observers. This appointment gains particular significance as Amazon Web Services positions Quick Suite as a serious contender in the rapidly evolving AI-driven enterprise productivity space.
Indian-Origin Leadership in Global Technology
For India's vast technology community, Thakkar's appointment carries a familiar sense of pride and recognition. His rise to leadership at Amazon follows a pattern established by other prominent Indian-origin executives who have shaped the direction of the world's largest technology companies. Much like Sundar Pichai leading Google and Satya Nadella at the helm of Microsoft, Thakkar's appointment represents another chapter in the ongoing story of Indian-origin engineers and executives making significant impacts on global technology innovation and business strategy.
This development underscores the continued influence of Indian talent in shaping the future of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and enterprise productivity solutions at the highest levels of global technology leadership.
