Amazon named a new executive leader for its Selling Partner Services business, one of the most consequential parts of the company, and said the division’s current chief will become CEO Andy Jassy’s next technical advisor.
Amit Agarwal, SVP of International Emerging Stores, will expand his role to lead the seller services and customer trust organizations, in addition to his current responsibilities overseeing Amazon’s stores in 10 countries including India, Brazil, and South Africa.
The current VP of Worldwide Selling Partner Services, Dharmesh Mehta, will become Jassy’s technical advisor in March. The job is often called the CEO’s “shadow,” and it has historically served as a launchpad for Amazon’s most senior leaders to take on larger roles.
Jassy himself was once TA to Jeff Bezos, when the Amazon founder was CEO.
Alex Dunlap, Jassy’s current technical advisor, will transition to a new leadership role within Amazon that has yet to be publicly announced, the company said.
Amazon’s third-party marketplace generated $42.5 billion in revenue last quarter, and independent sellers now account for 62% of units sold in the company’s store.
The business has also faced regulatory scrutiny. A federal antitrust suit, over issues including Amazon’s treatment of third-party sellers, makes a range of allegations the company disputes.
Under Mehta’s leadership, Selling Partner Services escalated its fight against counterfeits and fraud and expanded to offer a range of logistics, supply chain management, and generative AI tools to sellers.
Mehta focused heavily on addressing seller pain points, such as ending the long-controversial practice of “commingling” inventory from different sellers, a change that Amazon estimates will save brand owners $600 million a year in workaround costs.
Agarwal, who has been with Amazon for nearly 27 years, is a former technical advisor to Bezos, a role he held from 2007 to 2009. He launched Amazon’s marketplace in India in 2013 and has been a member of the company’s S-team senior leadership group since 2020.
He is based in Seattle and will report to Worldwide Amazon Stores CEO Doug Herrington.
