Amazon Web Services unveiled Amazon Bedrock AgentCore at the AWS Summit in New York on July 17, positioning the comprehensive platform as its answer to enterprise demand for scalable AI agent infrastructure. The announcement by AWS VP of Agentic AI Swami Sivasubramanian marks Amazon's entry into what CEO Matt Garman describes as "the next multibillion business for AWS."
AgentCore represents a shift from traditional reactive AI chatbots to proactive agents capable of autonomous reasoning, planning, and executing complex multi-step workflows. Sivasubramanian characterised this evolution as "a tectonic change" that will accelerate innovation across industries by enabling AI systems to operate independently without constant human intervention.
The platform comprises six core components addressing key enterprise deployment challenges. AgentCore Runtime provides the foundational infrastructure for agent operations, while AgentCore Memory delivers both short-term and long-term data retention capabilities designed to mimic human cognitive processes. AgentCore Identity handles secure authentication through integration with existing identity providers including Amazon Cognito, Microsoft Entra ID, and Okta.
AWS also launched AI Agents and Tools in AWS Marketplace, creating a centralised repository for enterprises to discover, purchase, and deploy pre-built AI agents from multiple vendors. This marketplace approach allows organisations to accelerate implementation by accessing ready-to-integrate solutions rather than developing custom systems from the ground up.
The timing aligns with increasing enterprise interest in agentic AI systems that can handle tasks like automated customer service, supply chain optimisation, and financial analysis without direct supervision. Industry analysts view this as AWS's attempt to maintain its cloud leadership position as AI workloads become more sophisticated and resource-intensive.
The platform's enterprise focus reflects Amazon's strategy of targeting large organisations with complex compliance and security requirements, differentiating it from consumer-oriented AI products. Early access programmes for AgentCore are expected to begin in the third quarter of 2025, with general availability planned for early 2026.
For developers, AgentCore promises simplified deployment through managed services and pre-configured templates, potentially reducing the technical barriers that have limited enterprise AI agent adoption. The platform's integration with existing AWS infrastructure could make it attractive to organisations already invested in Amazon's cloud ecosystem.