Kommy Weldemariam

About Kommy Weldemariam

I’m the Chief Scientist for Amazon’s Worldwide Sustainability. I lead Amazon’s central science and innovation team and portfolio—inventing, building, and deploying AI- and automation-driven, science-based methodologies and capabilities across carbon, water, waste, circularity, materials, and energy. My team integrates science into P&L decisions across cloud computing, retail, operations, and logistics & transportation. Our work accelerates Amazon’s sustainability goals, enables faster executive decisions, and delivers measurable impact for customers and stakeholders—improving efficiency, reducing cost-to-serve, and raising quality.Previously, as a Distinguished Engineer at IBM Research, I helped build and lead global teams to design, incubate, and commercialize AI-first solutions across sustainability, agriculture, financial services, education, materials discovery, healthcare, and life sciences. I also helped establish Africa’s first industrial research laboratory—IBM Research Africa—creating R&D ecosystems that bridged academia, startups, and enterprise and expanded IBM’s global innovation footprint.Recognitions include the NASA Marshall Group Achievement Award (2024) for pioneering the development of a Geospatial AI Foundation Model; IBM Diamond Industry Academy (’23) for delivering differentiated capabilities across industries; Best of IBM (’21–’22) for inventing, incubating, and commercializing research technologies; and the Kifra Prize (’20). I was also named a Next Einstein Forum Fellow (’16) and a World Economic Forum Young Scientist (’15-\'17).I hold 300+ U.S. and international patents (granted, with additional applications pending; named 3 times IBM Master Inventor) and have authored 100+ peer-reviewed publications in leading academic journals and conferences. I bring a global perspective to inventing, building, and deploying high-impact technologies—shaped by experience across North America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. My work has been featured in Forbes, Fortune, The Economist, and TechCrunch. I’m deeply committed to mentoring and growing talent—having mentored and supervised 100+ engineers, researchers, and scientists—and to building inclusive, high-performing teams.

Experience

1. Director of Science and Innovation

   Amazon

   Dec 2023 — Present · Seattle, WA, US

   I’m the Chief Scientist for Amazon’s Worldwide Sustainability. I lead Amazon’s central science and innovation team and portfolio—inventing, building, and deploying AI- and automation-driven, science-based methodologies and capabilities across carbon, water, waste, circularity, materials, and energy. My team integrates science into P&L decisions across cloud computing, retail, operations, and logistics & transportation. Our work accelerates Amazon’s sustainability goals, enables faster executive decisions, and delivers measurable impact for customers and stakeholders—improving efficiency, reducing cost-to-serve, and raising quality.

Education

• Università di Trento

  Ph.D., Computer Science and Information Engineering

• Addis Ababa University

  B.Sc, Computer Science

  1999 — 2003

• Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

  Master of Technology - MTech, Computer science and engineering

Skills

• Software Engineering
• Algorithms
• Programming
• Research
• Java
• Computer Science