Shadow Program Gives AWS Exec New Security Lens

A Dark Reading profile of Arielle Waldman recounts how Sara Duffer, vice president of compliance and security assurance at AWS, spent three years in Amazon’s shadow program, moving from the security team to work under Andy Jassy. Between 2020 and 2023 she gained a broader view of the business, learning through a technical advisor shadow role that varied by leader.

The experience prompted a shift from a purely security mindset to a focus on customer experience, with Duffer emphasising overcommunication, persistence and asking questions until she could explain them herself. She notes that the programme helped her see “outside the security mindset” and recognise the business of trust, where regulators and customers care about how controls are executed as well as traditional risk metrics.

The piece highlights that Jassy’s promotion to Amazon CEO and president in 2021 coincided with Duffer’s move into the shadow role, shaping lessons she brought back to her AWS security duties. According to Dark Reading, the top takeaway was balancing governance with a clear customer-centric lens to improve service delivery and trust.