Tech Director at Amazon Payment Services | Follow for posts about Leadership Development and Career Growth | Leadership & Career Mentor | Author Of Leadership in 60 Seconds

I ​am a global technology executive with over 20 years of experience. I am currently Director of Software Engineering at Amazon, leading the Access Management Systems space within Amazon Security.

Over my career, I'm honored to have delivered award-winning transformational initiatives that have created competitive advantage, enabled business growth, and exceeded customer expectations.

Known as a forward-thinking problem-solver ― skilled in both business and technology strategy ― I adapt and plan for evolving market needs, delivering initiatives with speed and agility. I am also deeply passionate about building, developing, managing, and leading high-performance teams. A strong communicator and relationship builder, I partner effectively with cross-functional stakeholders and am a trusted advisor within the company.

Ever since I stepped into my first managerial role, more than a decade ago, I quickly realized the profound impact strong leadership has on individuals, teams, and organizations. From that moment, I made it my mission to empower others in their leadership journeys, guiding them to reach new heights in their careers.

In support of this mission, I have developed a community on LinkedIn of over 89K+ like-minded professionals with whom I actively support, engage, and share daily content on leadership, management, and career. I have been recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice (Blue Badge) and ranked #1 LinkedIn Arab World Creator in Management and Leadership. 

Outside of work, I am passionate about everything automotive, especially F1 racing (Forza Ferrari!). I enjoy sports in general, both playing and watching. I also have a keen interest in collecting fragrances, working out with a focus on strength training, and all things food—from learning about it and exploring new cuisines to preparing dishes and hosting gatherings. 

Languages: English 🇺🇸 Arabic 🇱🇧 French 🇫🇷

Omar Halabieh

Innovation at Amazon • I post about work effectiveness • Follow me for daily productivity tips 🚀

Hi, I'm Mike 👋

I have 25+ years experience in the IT industry. Today, I help AWS customers innovate and transforming their culture so they can use technology effectively. I lead a high-performance team in EMEA.

You might find me speaking at executive briefings, conferences, or running team workshops. I share innovation insights and success stories that inspire others to experiment.

I'm going on a journey of self-discovery and personal transformation. I share everything that I learn in daily posts. If you are struggling to get things done or you want to take back control of your time, I'm here to help.

Say hello, I'd love to hear from you!

Mike Bainbridge

I'm 50 years old and I've never felt more like a student.

(but Mike, you don't look a day over 35 🤣)

After 8.5 years in "Big Tech", I thought I’d seen it all:

• The mobile revolution
• Auto-scaling cloud
• Digital transformation

But they seem slightly trivial now. LLMs and AI are here and I realised half of my "expert" knowledge has quickly become redundant.

It was humbling.

I had a big decision to make:

(1) Hold onto the old way - hope it was a trend
(2) Embrace being a "newbie" again and "learn to learn"

I chose the latter.

Today, I spend at least 30 minutes every day:

• Exploring new AI tools.
• Experimenting with prompting.
• Building applications (honestly - this blows my mind).

My biggest takeaway: "If you don't feeling slightly out of your depth, you aren't growing".

I read recently -> if you do just 15 mins per day, then in 3 months you'll be ahead of 99% of people.

It's so true.

A recent study found that 0.3% of people pay for an AI service or tool with their own money.

The big challenge is building that learning habit again.

Here are the 3 steps I've taken and it worked pretty well so far:

(𝟭) 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰
-> I started by signing up to a daily AI newsletter. It's acted as my prompt to read and be curious.

(𝟮) 𝗗𝗼 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘆
-> It quickly becomes second nature - but I started by trying to use AI for everything and work out where it was best.

(𝟯) 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱
-> I noticed I wasn't the only one. I found 3 or 4 colleagues who were ahead of the game and scheduled regular catch ups. We learn better in teams!

We all know AI is going to change everything (right?) but the big question is:

Are you going to wait for it, or are you getting ahead of the game?

(this really helps)
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AWS Certified: Developer - Associate

AWS Certified: Solutions Architect - Associate

Magento Certification Solution Specialist (MCSS)

My newsletter will help you take control of your time.

Get more done. Plan > Focus > Execute.

One productivity insight for your inbox every week.

Spend more time doing things you love!

AI has helped me realise my ideas.

It feels like a super-power!

Quite a few people asked for an example of how I'm using AI "a bit each day". so here's what I did...

I’ve always been “the ideas guy” but didn’t have the skills to build digital prototypes or apps. Now everything has changed.

I typed one sentence into an AI coding tool:

• A brief description of what I wanted the site to do
• How it should look
• Who it was for

Four minutes later I had a functional prototype I could click through.

Not perfect. But real.

Then the iteration started.

• Made small changes to improve design
• Fixed funcationality
• Added new features

3 hours later...

I have a working a habit tracker, with a client onboarding flow, and a password-authenticated member area.

None of which required me to write code manually. I'm not a developer. But I can now build like one.

Now... is the code great? I have no idea.

The one challenge I hear from developers is that AI writes "bad code". However it works.

The barrier between 'I have an idea' and 'I have something to show' has collapsed.

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I struggle with "networking". 

I don't know what to say.

I feel awkward approaching a stranger, but guess what?

Everyone's the same!
 
Just remember - first impressions count. 
 
Whether we like it or not, we judge others on those initial moments. 
 
No matter what we think, we’re hard-wired to make snap judgements about people we meet. We put them into boxes and decide if we should trust them in seconds. 
 
Once you recognise this you can use it to your advantage. 
 
Making a good first impression will help you earn people’s trust more easily. It will unlock more possibilities. 
 
This is especially important when you're networking or meeting people in-person. 
 
This week I was at a business event and I noticed a lot of people standing on their own. 
 
It doesn't have to be like that! 
 
Start with: 
 
• Be welcoming - smile! 😃 
• Open body-language - avoid crossing your arms. 
• Speak clearly and slowly - say hello. 
• Be ready to share what you do for a job. 
• Ask a question - "what did you think of today's presentation?" 
 
Networking can be daunting. 
 
Introducing yourself to strangers can seem awkward, but it doesn't have to be. 
 
Try it a few time and practice and you'll get better at it. 
 
If you're good at networking, what advice would you give to others who find it unnatural? 
 
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The 5 things I'd do in week one if I was starting my AI journey from zero.

It's not too late to start!

(1) Paid plan immediately.
-> The free tools are useful but the quality gap with paid tiers is now real and growing.

My personal favourites are: Claude followed by Gemini.

(2) Set-up custom instructions.
-> Tell the AI who you are, how you think, and what you don't want.

(3) Master a simple prompt framework. It doesn't have to be complex.
-> Reason > Persona > Task > Context > Examples > Output

(4) Solve a real problem from my actual life.
-> Not a toy exercise. A genuine work challenge that I needed to solve anyway. 

(5) Find or start a community. A group of people talking about this daily.
-> Make it a habit with social reinforcement.

That's it.
Not 101 things.
Five things done consistently.

If you want help with any of these - just let me know!

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Get started with AI today

What stops teams moving fast?

Decision making.

The one thing I hear over and over again is a lack of progress.

Speed matters.

Teams that make faster decisions realise many benefits:

• They learn more quickly
• They get more done
• The become more confident

The more decisions you make, the better data you have to make the right decision next time.

However, in most organisations we are bad at making decisions.

→ We involve too many people
→ We're scared of making a mistake
→ We don't analyse the choices

The paralysis cripples effectiveness.

Check out this guide on how to make better high velocity decisions.

This is the approach we use at Amazon to move faster.

One of the principles we use every day is Bias For Action. Leaders make quick, high-quality decisions.

What do you think?

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High velocity decision making

Before you begin, you need a plan 📝

Somewhere to start.

When we build a new building, we start with foundations, lay the pipework, and then start building the walls.

The architectural design is the plan 🏠

Build your day in the same way.

If you're not sure what to do, I recommend the following:

• Start with a few simple things or "starters"
• Build your momentum. Get into the flow
• Then just focus on doing one thing

Once you're done with that task, take a short break 🙌

It sounds easy because it is 😍

Focus on one thing at a time 🔎

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Supercharge your work day

Life moves pretty fast.

If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

This is the best illustration for AI urgency I could find.

Both of these images were one-shot prompts using the text "Create an image of a woman using a phone" - done 5 months apart.

𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 -> she used a banana, hands look weird.

𝗙𝗲𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 -> photorealistic, correct phone, library setting, rain on the window.

5 months 😲

The gap between "impressive party trick" and "genuinely useful tool" is closing at a pace most people haven't realised.

The banana is funny. The speed isn't.

This is the pace of change your business strategy needs to account for. Not from three years ago. Not last year. Now.

I help executive teams get an honest picture of where AI actually is today -> DM me for details.

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Omar Halabieh

Mike Bainbridge

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