It is the end of re:Invent! Simon and Jillian share some updates and also take a moment to reflect on 2025.

Simon and Jillian catch you up on the highlights from today's keynote PLUS all the "pre:Invent" announcements that took place prior to the event!

In this episode, Matt Garman's 2025 re:Invent keynote unveils exciting AI advancements, including Amazon Nova to Lite, a cost-effective reasoning model, and Amazon Nova 2 Sonic, a new speech-to-text model. The keynote also covers Security, Storage, Compute, Networking, and a whole lot more!

Discover how AWS leverages automated reasoning to enhance AI safety, trustworthiness, and decision-making. Byron Cook (Vice President and Distinguished Scientist) explains the evolution of reasoning tools from limited, PhD-driven solutions to scalable, user-friendly systems embedded in everyday business operations. He highlights real-world examples such as mortgage approvals, security policies, and how formal logic and theorem proving are used to verify answers and reduce hallucinations in large language models. This episode delves into the exciting potential of neurosymbolic AI to bridge the gap between complex mathematical logic and practical, accessible AI solutions. Join us for a deep dive into how these innovations are shaping the next era of trustworthy AI, with insights into tackling intractable problems, verifying correctness, and translating complex proofs into natural language for broader use.

https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/automated-reasoning/

There are so many updates this week you might need two cups of coffee! Simon and Jillian guide your way.

This episode features a deep dive into Occidental Petroleum’s cloud migration journey, emphasizing automation and scalability. Brian Moore, a Cloud Architect at Occidental Petroleum, discusses how they used Terraform and AFT to streamline account provisioning, manage complex network architectures, and improve operational efficiency. The conversation reveals lessons on organizational change, the importance of source-controlled infrastructure, and how automation tools like Terraform and Control Tower can transform traditional IT workflows into agile, resilient systems.

Simon and Jillian walk you through all the new and interesting updates.

When Boyan Slat found more plastic than fish on a dive in Greece, he asked a simple question: "Why can't we just clean this up?" He was 16.

What began as a humble project funded with pocket money has grown into a global initiative, removing millions of pounds of plastic from the world's rivers and oceans in the last decade. But simple questions don't always have simple solutions. As Boyan will tell you, simplicity is hard. Fight the temptation attack the biggest problem first. Relentlessly iterate. And most importantly, let your mission, not the technology, guide your engineering decisions.

Read more from Boyan on thefrugalarchitect.com

Stay up-to-date, with almost 60 new updates this week!!

In this episode of the AWS Podcast, host Jillian Forde discusses the migration journey of Booking.com to AWS with Ali and Sarah. They explore the challenges faced by Booking.com , the benefits of using CloudFront and Lambda at Edge, and the importance of observability and cost optimization. The conversation also delves into chaos engineering practices and how they contribute to building resilient systems. Listeners gain insights into how edge architecture can enhance user experience and unlock new business opportunities.