Industry experts weigh in on
his approach to technology
and succession planning as
he prepares to step aside
as Amazon’s CEO.
“Bezos saw the potential of the Internet before everyone
else did,” Joel Bruckenstein, head of Technology Tools for
Today (T3), said. “Bezos saw the potential to apply machine
learning and artificial intelligence to customer data before
everyone else did. Bezos has almost a religious focus on
operational efficiency and an excellent client experience.”
As a result, “there are a few lessons here,” Bruckenstein
explained. “One, embrace technology early. Advisors tend
to be late adopters. You are never going to create large
competitive advantages without embracing change and
new technologies.
“As an industry, we are still way behind most other indus-
tries with regard to machine learn-
ing and AI,” he added. “Those who
embrace these technologies intelligent-
ly will prosper in financial services.”
Another key lesson for advisors is to
“focus less of your time on, for exam-
ple, trying to select a better invest-
ment portfolio, and focus more time
on providing an exceptional user cli-
ent experience and improving operational efficiencies,”
Bruckenstein said.
Also, “advisors can learn that there are no shortcuts to
success,” according to Timothy Welsh, president, CEO and
founder of consulting firm Nexus Strategy. “Bezos had a
vision, a long-term plan, stuck to it and with many short-term
sacrifices created one of the world’s greatest companies.”
Similarly, Douglas Boneparth, an advisor and president
of Bone Fide Wealth in New York, noted: “The biggest thing
that advisors can learn from Jeff Bezos is the same thing that
anyone can learn. It’s that hard work, determination and
never giving up is one of the best recipes for success.”
What Advisors
Should (and
Shouldn’t) Learn
From Jeff Bezos
BY JEFF BERMAN
Photo:MatthewStaver/Bloomberg
After Jeff Bezos said he was stepping down as CEO of Amazon, financial industry experts spoke out about the lessons advisors can learn from the success of both Bezosand the $1.7 trillion firm he started some 26 years ago — includingthe importance of embracing technology and succession planning.
