This document discusses the concept of smart systems and how they scale. It addresses some key questions: 1) What makes an IT system "smart", and will its ability to be smart scale as the system grows larger? As systems increase in size and scope to serve more users, there is a push towards decentralization and standardization which can make them less smart and more reactive. 2) Is an AWS datacenter a centralized or decentralized system? Large cloud providers like AWS operate massive centralized datacenters to provide standardized cloud computing resources, but aim to appear decentralized to users. 3) How can systems maintain smart, responsive behavior at large scales? One approach is to localize feedback loops so smaller, localized