‘Faces of Amazon’: Meet Retd. Lt. Col Sukhchain Singh from Hyderabad, translating lessons from the Indian Army to drive customer experience
After serving the nation for more than 21 years and navigating through successful missions, Military veteran Sukhchain Singh joined Amazon’s transportation technology team in April 2020, right at the cusp of the pandemic. In a year, Sukhchain moved to the Amazon Pay team to explore new avenues in the business. He currently works as Senior Technical Program Manager for India Payments, Amazon.
Speaking about his experience at Amazon as a veteran, Sukhchain shares, “Coming from an organisation like the Indian army where there is a lot of process optimisation and processes alongside everything we do. At Amazon, I experienced smooth transitioning into the corporate world. There are few similarities between how we conduct business at Amazon and how we used to operate the same in the military. At Amazon we consider all possible contingency circumstances and prepare strategies for them, undertaking in-depth what-if analysis which is similar to the military.”
Commissioned into the Indian Army in December 1998, Sukhchain Singh has been a part of critical operations like insurgency and terrorist situations in J&K and the Northeast, defending the Line of Control, surviving snow-clad high-altitude military posts, and so on. Due to his military experience in a variety of roles—including combat, counterterrorism, and later engineering support roles—he has been able to travel the entire length and breadth of this country. During his time in the army, he worked as an engineer and was involved in engineering support functions. Simultaneously, he completed his masters from IIT Kharagpur. His exemplary service earned him Chief of the Army Staff’s commendation medal.
He resonates with Amazon’s ‘Bias for action’ leadership principle. In his own words, he shares,
“I love that at Amazon, earning trust of the team is important; it is one of Amazon’s Leadership principle as well. Here the leadership culture is pretty much similar to the military where a commander as a leader earns his subordinates’ confidence. Every day, leaders at Amazon strive to win their team’s trust. Together, we strive to win our consumers’ trust. “
Speaking on the festive season, he shares, “It is not only a business environment that Amazon cultivates. It is the culture that is peculiar in nature. We make a lot of plans in terms of casual meetings, get-togethers, and celebrations in addition to work which involves creating a seamless experience for customers on Amazon Pay. . The teams are always quite active and full of energy during festivities.”
Outside of work, Sukhchain is an avid promoter and fan of healthy eating and fitness. He is also a seasoned marathon runner and has been a Boston Marathon qualifier in the past. He lives with his wife and a son in Hyderabad. An avid fan of the military, he keeps the military man in him alive through various motivational talks based on his days in the military.
