Ecommerce major Amazon is drawing lessons from its quick commerce arm Amazon Now’s operations in India — the country’s dense urban environments and rapid delivery networks hold insights that could be useful for other regions, says Tye Brady, chief technologist at Amazon Robotics.
“The really clever delivery options are being born in India. We are learning from those experiences,” Brady said, referring to the challenges of delivering orders through congested cities while meeting faster timelines.
Brady’s comments came as Amazon rolled out its quick commerce arm Amazon Now’s services in Manchester and Birmingham (both in the UK) last week at the ecommerce major’s Delivering the Future EMEA 2026 event.
The Amazon Robotics leader suggested that some of the operational practices emerging in India could eventually influence logistics strategies in other markets. India’s same-day delivery capabilities, he said, offer lessons for cities facing similar congestion challenges.
“Maybe there are techniques that we are learning in India that we can start to apply not only to the last mile, but maybe even the first or the middle mile,” he said.
In the UK, Amazon Now was delivering groceries and essentials in under 30 minutes only in London until now.
Amazon Now is operational across nine countries in the world. In India, its orders are growing 25% month-on-month, chief executive Andy Jassy revealed in the company's March quarter earnings call.
On automation
Amazon expects to expand the deployment of its robotics and automation systems, used in its fulfilment centres in the US, across more markets over time, including India.
"We hope that the employee augmentation that we have deployed in the United States and in Europe will soon be in India as well," said Brady.
India currently uses several automation systems within Amazon’s fulfilment network, including inventory management and labelling technologies such as SLAM (scan, label, apply, manifest).
Brady did not specify how much of Amazon's planned $35 billion investment in India by 2030 would be allocated to automation and robotics, saying deployment decisions depend on demand and operational requirements.
Amazon invested $40 billion in India between 2010 and 2024 and last December it announced it would invest an additional $35 billion in the country by 2030.
(The correspondent was in London at Amazon's invitation. )
