AWS — Engineering Performance
51 engineers now deliver what 129 would have in Q1 2025.
Performance snapshot
Today's rolling 90-day reading for AWS, compared with the start of the series. Pick a window to move that comparison point.
Avg. perf / dev / mo
+153.7%
0.33 → 0.83 ETV
Active engineers
+6.3%
48.0 → 51.0
Features
−5.1pp
30.8% → 25.7%
vs. 500 OSS index
0.28x
0.37x → 0.28x · −72% below
Engineering capacity
Effective engineers behind AWS, against its pre-AI baseline. Each subject has its own: AWS's is 0.33 ETV / dev / mo, its first reading in Q1 2025. Per-engineer ETV divided by that gives a capacity multiple, and that multiple applied to the engineers active in the trailing 90 days turns it into engineer-equivalents. The line is the real headcount, so the gap between line and area is what the leverage is worth. Because each baseline is its own, every subject opens at 1.0x on its first day: multiples measure improvement and are not comparable between subjects.
AWS vs. 500 OSS Performance Index
Per-engineer ETV for AWS against the pooled 500 OSS Performance Index. Both lines are 90-day rolling averages scaled to a 30-day month, so they share one axis and can be read against each other at any point. Pick a window to zoom the chart to it. Latest reading: AWS is 72% below the index (0.83 vs 2.96 ETV/dev/mo). At the start of the tracked period the gap was 63% below.
Behind the numbers
Written summary of the work completed each month.
No monthly reports available yet.
Repositories
Where each repository stands: average performance per engineer per month over the last 90 days, with the rolling 90-day curve behind it. The range picks the window (past 90d): it sets how much of the curve you see, the Δ across it, and the span the work mix is measured over. Ranked highest first.
sagemaker-python-sdk
Avg performance
2.11 ETV
per engineer per month
Avg. dev performance / month (90-day MA)
+119.0%
Work mix
Features
24%
Maint
1%
Tests
66%
Docs
5%
Fixes
4%
mcp
Avg performance
1.58 ETV
per engineer per month
Avg. dev performance / month (90-day MA)
+165.2%
Work mix
Features
17%
Maint
11%
Tests
62%
Docs
6%
Fixes
4%
amazon-cloudwatch-agent
Avg performance
1.03 ETV
per engineer per month
Avg. dev performance / month (90-day MA)
+267.3%
Work mix
Features
44%
Maint
9%
Tests
33%
Docs
2%
Fixes
12%
s2n-tls
Avg performance
0.60 ETV
per engineer per month
Avg. dev performance / month (90-day MA)
+36.5%
Work mix
Features
28%
Maint
12%
Tests
26%
Docs
5%
Fixes
30%
aws-parallelcluster
Avg performance
0.52 ETV
per engineer per month
Avg. dev performance / month (90-day MA)
+36.5%
Work mix
Features
16%
Maint
4%
Tests
52%
Docs
4%
Fixes
25%
aws-lc
Avg performance
0.42 ETV
per engineer per month
Avg. dev performance / month (90-day MA)
+28.0%
Work mix
Features
47%
Maint
5%
Tests
30%
Docs
7%
Fixes
11%
eks-anywhere-build-tooling
Avg performance
0.35 ETV
per engineer per month
Avg. dev performance / month (90-day MA)
-43.1%
Work mix
Features
11%
Maint
75%
Tests
0%
Docs
13%
Fixes
2%
karpenter-provider-aws
Avg performance
0.27 ETV
per engineer per month
Avg. dev performance / month (90-day MA)
-65.1%
Work mix
Features
18%
Maint
12%
Tests
22%
Docs
30%
Fixes
18%
amazon-ecs-agent
Avg performance
0.12 ETV
per engineer per month
Avg. dev performance / month (90-day MA)
-57.9%
Work mix
Features
27%
Maint
13%
Tests
46%
Docs
3%
Fixes
10%
amazon-ssm-agent
Avg performance
0.05 ETV
per engineer per month
Avg. dev performance / month (90-day MA)
-40.0%
Work mix
Features
0%
Maint
7%
Tests
42%
Docs
0%
Fixes
51%
aws-toolkit-vscode
Avg performance
0.03 ETV
per engineer per month
Avg. dev performance / month (90-day MA)
-90.3%
Work mix
Features
0%
Maint
0%
Tests
44%
Docs
0%
Fixes
56%
Performance Composition
Each month's output split by type of work: Features (new value), Maintenance (sustaining systems), Tests, Docs, and Fixes (rework). The yellow line is output per engineer, so when it rises each engineer is delivering more, whatever the team size did. Unit: Engineering Throughput Value (ETV).
Cost per Performance Unit
−61%
If performance per engineer more than doubled, each unit of engineering performance now costs approximately 61% less than at the baseline 90-day window (ending 2025-04-01). Treat this as a direction, not a price: the exact figure depends on fully-loaded engineer cost, but which way it moved is not in doubt.
Effective Capacity Added
+78 engineers
At today's productivity, the current 51-person team delivers the performance equivalent of 129 engineers at the baseline 90-day rolling window (ending 2025-04-01). That's roughly 78 engineers worth of capacity added through productivity gains, not hiring.
CapEx vs OpEx
Each month's work split two ways. CapEx (capitalizable investment) is the work that builds the asset: Features, plus the Tests that prove it works and the Docs that explain it. OpEx (operating expense) is keeping it running: Maintenance and Fixes. The yellow line is the CapEx share, so a rising line means more of the month went into building new rather than sustaining what exists. Unit: Engineering Throughput Value (ETV).
Hours per Repository
Trailing 90-day window (64 working days). Org-level capacity is allocated to each repo by its share of org performance, then split CapEx / OpEx by that repo's own Features + Tests + Docs vs Maintenance + Fixes mix.
| sagemaker-python-sdk | 94.6% | 5.4% |
| mcp | 85.1% | 14.9% |
| aws-lc | 83.7% | 16.3% |
| amazon-cloudwatch-agent | 79.4% | 20.6% |
| amazon-ecs-agent | 77.4% | 22.6% |
| aws-parallelcluster | 72.2% | 27.8% |
| karpenter-provider-aws | 67.6% | 32.4% |
| s2n-tls | 57.9% | 42.1% |
| amazon-ssm-agent | 44.4% | 55.6% |
| aws-toolkit-vscode | 40.0% | 60.0% |
| eks-anywhere-build-tooling | 22.9% | 77.1% |
| Total | 81.5% | 18.5% |
Feature Contribution
Who shipped each month's new feature work, as a share of that month's total. Bands of similar width mean new value is coming from across the team; one band that stays wide means most of it rests on the same person. Named engineers shipped the most Features over the period. Everyone else is grouped as Others.
Quarterly Summary
Engineers and the Features / Maintenance / Tests / Docs / Fixes mix for each quarter. Cost / Perf Unit is what one unit of performance costs against Q2'25. Eff. Capacity Added is measured against this org's own pre-AI baseline instead, its first reading in the index, so it agrees with the capacity tile and chart above.
| Quarter | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q2'25 | 49 | 0% | −2 engineers | 32% Features | — |
| Q3'25 | 50 | −29% | +17 engineers | 36% Features | +44% |
| Q4'25 | 60 | −16% | +8 engineers | 28% Features | +1% |
| Q1'26 | 59 | −25% | +16 engineers | 26% Features | +10% |
| Q2'26 | 49 | −54% | +51 engineers | 28% Features | +34% |