Inside AWS Summit NYC 2025: Accelerating the next wave of AI innovation

I had the opportunity to attend the AWS Summit New York 2025 at the iconic Jacob Javits Center in July. The event brought together thousands of cloud enthusiasts, developers, and business leaders to explore the latest in generative AI, cloud innovation, and real-world applications across industries. From major announcements and product launches to immersive sessions and after-hours networking, the Summit delivered both inspiration and insight. 

Here are my top 6 highlights from the experience — both on and off the show floor: 

1. New York: the ideal tech playground 

Jacob Javits Center in NYC proved to be the perfect venue — a globally recognized hub combining accessibility, deep tech heritage, and vibrant local energy. Attendees enjoyed seamless transit connections, a bustling expo floor, and a city brimming with inspiration — from high-powered startups to Wall Street's digital transformation. NYC’s density and dynamism underscored why it’s the ultimate backdrop for a cloud and AI summit. 

2. Amazon Bedrock AgentCore steals the spotlight 

AWS unveiled Amazon Bedrock AgentCore (preview), a comprehensive suite of modular services to help developers securely build, deploy, and scale AI agents. With components like memory, identity, observability, and integrated tools like a browser and code interpreter, AgentCore lays the groundwork for agentic applications that go far beyond today’s chatbots. Swami Sivasubramanian, AWS VP of Data and AI, described it as a “tectonic change” in how we’ll build software going forward. 

Qlik is also embracing this shift with its own agentic AI vision, leveraging Amazon Bedrock to power Qlik Answers — its generative AI experience for business users. This integration brings foundation model intelligence to data and analytics workflows, helping users extract insights through natural language and context-rich conversations. It will be exciting to observe the growth and direction of these strategies as I see a potential for Qlik to expose Bedrock AgentCore capabilities through the Qlik platform, enabling users to interact with more dynamic, goal-oriented agents and transforming how enterprises consume and act on data – Stay tuned! 

3. Qlik Cloud Analytics joins AWS Marketplace's new AI Agents & Tools category 

One of the most exciting announcements at the Summit was the launch of the new AI Agents and Tools category in the AWS Marketplace — designed to simplify how customers discover and deploy agent-powered solutions. Among the first listings in this curated space is Qlik Cloud Analytics featuring Answers, which brings powerful, AI-enhanced analytics capabilities directly into the AWS ecosystem. You can visit the AWS Marketplace for more information and to sign up. 

With Qlik Answers, users can interact with data using natural language, unlocking insights across unstructured and structured sources without writing code or building dashboards. This marketplace listing streamlines access for AWS customers, allowing them to procure and deploy Qlik Cloud Analytics with just a few clicks — while ensuring tighter integration with services like Amazon Bedrock. It’s a major step forward in bringing enterprise-ready, generative AI tools directly to the point of need.  

4. Qlik customers already unlocking value 

Real-world adoption was front and center, with Qlik customers like Lintech International and Touchpoint Support Services already leveraging Qlik Answers to accelerate insights. Lintech is using the platform to empower teams with self-service analytics across sales and operations, while Touchpoint streamlines data access for non-technical users through natural language interactions. These early use cases highlight just how quickly businesses can benefit from Qlik’s integration with AWS and the new generative AI capabilities. 

5. Native vector support with Amazon S3 Vectors 

For AI workloads, AWS introduced Amazon S3 Vectors (preview): object storage with built-in support for vector embeddings, cutting costs by up to 90% compared to conventional setups. This makes large-scale retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and semantic search dramatically more efficient and affordable. 

6. Networking in style 

As an AWS Premier Partner, Qlik was invited to celebrate the culmination of such an amazing event with our AWS family. Just a short walk from the Javits Center, Legacy Records hosted an AWS-sponsored private gathering that blended elevated cuisine with meaningful conversation. The event offered a more intimate setting for collaboration — where thought leaders, partners, and AWS experts connected over craft cocktails and exceptional food. It was a perfect extension of the Summit’s spirit: innovation fueled by community. 

Final thoughts 

The AI landscape is evolving at breakneck speed, and the 2025 AWS Summit made it clear: we’re entering an era defined by intelligent agents, scalable infrastructure, and deeply integrated ecosystems. From foundational models to fully operational agents, the momentum is undeniable. 

Qlik stands out as a leader in this shift, not just keeping pace, but actively shaping how enterprises use generative AI to extract insight and drive action. By building on top of AWS’s rapidly expanding suite of AI services, including Amazon Bedrock and now AgentCore, Qlik is delivering practical, future-ready solutions that unlock the full value of data — for everyone across the organization. 

This is more than innovation — it’s acceleration. 

If you want to find out more about how Qlik and AWS are working together to make AI a reality, visit one of our AI Reality Tour stops around the world where AWS is a global sponsor.