Jeff Bezos named Wei Gao his new technical adviser, or “shadow”

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• Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has
  named Wei Gao as his new technical adviser, according to a CNBC
  report.
• It’s a coveted position also known as the CEO’s
  “shadow.” A shadow, like the name implies, follows Bezos
  around, attending all of his meetings and traveling with the CEO.
• Bezos borrowed the idea for the position from management guru
  and famed Intel CEO Andy Grove.
• One of Bezos’ first shadows said of the position: “I was a
  receptacle for him for any of the 19 ongoing activities in his
  brain that didn’t have a place in the normal organization.”

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has named Wei Gao as his new technical
adviser,
according to a CNBC report.

It’s a coveted position also known as the CEO’s
“shadow.” Like the name implies, a shadow follows Bezos
around, attending all of his meetings and traveling with the CEO.
It’s a position usually held for a year or two, and it provides
extensive insight into all aspects of Amazon’s business. 

Read more:

Jeff Bezos runs the most intense mentorship program in
tech

Gao, a 13-year Amazon veteran who most recently served as a vice
president of forecasting, is now only the second woman ever to
hold the position of Bezos’ shadow. In April 2015, Maria
Renz became the first, according to CNBC.

“My formal job description is to help Jeff be the best CEO that
he can be,”
Renz told the Seattle Times a year into her tenure as
Bezos’ shadow. She is now vice president of delivery
experience. 

Origins of the role

A 2013 Bloomberg report chronicled the origins of the shadow
role at Amazon. 

According to the report, Bezos borrowed the idea for the position
from management guru and famed Intel CEO Andy Grove. Intel, like
Amazon does now, used the role for rising executives to gain
experience and exposure in the business. 

Bezos instituted the shadow role at Amazon in the late 90s and
initially filled the position with an executive whose company had
been acquired by Amazon, but was struggling to find his or her
niche internally. 

Stig Leschly — whose company, Exchange.com, was bought by Amazon
in 1999 — served as one of Bezos’ first shadows. 

“He would walk around and go into meetings, and I would get to
follow. I had nothing to do. I would just sit there and observe,”
Leschly told Bloomberg. “But then he’d have an idea, and he would
give it to me to figure out.”

“I was a receptacle for him for any of the 19 ongoing activities
in his brain that didn’t have a place in the normal
organization,” Leschly said. “It was honest to god one of the
most extraordinary things a young person can do.”

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