Amazon has established a new group within AWS to create artificial intelligence agents, systems that help people automate their lives, Reuters reported on Tuesday. In an email to employees seen by Reuters, AWS CEO Matt Garman said artificial intelligence agents have the potential to become "AWS's next multi-billion dollar business."

Swami Sivasubramanian, a longtime AWS executive who previously led the company's artificial intelligence and data teams, will reportedly lead the new agent artificial intelligence group.Amazon appears to be the latest company to join the tech industry's shift toward artificial intelligence agents.Last week, Amazon showed off some agent capabilities for Alexa+, an upgraded version of the company's consumer voice assistant. In demos, Alexa+ was able to automatically book Ubers, browse websites and complete other tasks that humans would typically do in person.Amazon's AWS unit may also be interested in developing enterprise agents to compete with Salesforce and Microsoft in creating artificial intelligence systems that can automate work-related tasks for customers.