diff --git a/codebuild/release/release-prod.yml b/codebuild/release/release-prod.yml
index 451a200bf..9699c27a8 100644
--- a/codebuild/release/release-prod.yml
+++ b/codebuild/release/release-prod.yml
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+## Copyright Amazon.com Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+## SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
 version: 0.2
 
 env:
@@ -13,13 +16,7 @@ phases:
       java: openjdk11
   pre_build:
     commands:
-      - git checkout $COMMIT_ID
-      - FOUND_VERSION=$(grep version pom.xml | head -n 1 | sed -n 's/[ \t]*<version>\(.*\)<\/version>/\1/p')
-      - |
-        if expr ${FOUND_VERSION} != ${VERSION}; then
-          echo "pom.xml version (${FOUND_VERSION}) does not match expected version (${VERSION}), stopping"
-          exit 1;
-        fi
+      - export VERSION=$(grep version pom.xml | head -n 1 | sed -n 's/[ \t]*<version>\(.*\)<\/version>/\1/p')
       - export SETTINGS_FILE=$(pwd)/codebuild/release/settings.xml
       - aws secretsmanager get-secret-value --region us-west-2 --secret-id Maven-GPG-Keys --query SecretBinary --output text | base64 -d > ~/mvn_gpg.tgz
       - tar -xvf ~/mvn_gpg.tgz -C ~
@@ -38,45 +35,4 @@ phases:
           -Dsonatype.password="$SONA_PASSWORD" \
           --no-transfer-progress \
           -s $SETTINGS_FILE
-
-
-batch:
-  fast-fail: false
-  build-graph:
-    - identifier: release_to_prod
-    - identifier: validate_prod_release_openjdk8
-      depend-on:
-        - release_to_prod
-      buildspec: codebuild/release/validate-prod.yml
-      env:
-        variables:
-          JAVA_ENV_VERSION: openjdk8
-          JAVA_NUMERIC_VERSION: 8
-        image: aws/codebuild/standard:3.0
-    - identifier: validate_prod_release_openjdk11
-      depend-on:
-        - release_to_prod
-      buildspec: codebuild/release/validate-prod.yml
-      env:
-        variables:
-          JAVA_ENV_VERSION: openjdk11
-          JAVA_NUMERIC_VERSION: 11
-        image: aws/codebuild/standard:3.0
-    - identifier: validate_prod_release_corretto8
-      depend-on:
-        - release_to_prod
-      buildspec: codebuild/release/validate-prod.yml
-      env:
-        variables:
-          JAVA_ENV_VERSION: corretto8
-          JAVA_NUMERIC_VERSION: 8
-        image: aws/codebuild/amazonlinux2-x86_64-standard:3.0
-    - identifier: validate_prod_release_corretto11
-      depend-on:
-        - release_to_prod
-      buildspec: codebuild/release/validate-prod.yml
-      env:
-        variables:
-          JAVA_ENV_VERSION: corretto11
-          JAVA_NUMERIC_VERSION: 11
-        image: aws/codebuild/amazonlinux2-x86_64-standard:3.0
+      - ./look_4_version.sh $VERSION
diff --git a/codebuild/release/release-staging.yml b/codebuild/release/release-staging.yml
index 4ab16d9b5..f6a00238b 100644
--- a/codebuild/release/release-staging.yml
+++ b/codebuild/release/release-staging.yml
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+## Copyright Amazon.com Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+## SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
 version: 0.2
 
 env:
@@ -14,16 +17,9 @@ env:
 phases:
   install:
     runtime-versions:
-      java: openjdk11
+      java: corretto11
   pre_build:
     commands:
-      - git checkout $COMMIT_ID
-      - FOUND_VERSION=$(grep version pom.xml | head -n 1 | sed -n 's/[ \t]*<version>\(.*\)<\/version>/\1/p')
-      - |
-        if expr ${FOUND_VERSION} != ${VERSION}; then
-          echo "pom.xml version (${FOUND_VERSION}) does not match expected version (${VERSION}), stopping"
-          exit 1;
-        fi
       - export SETTINGS_FILE=$(pwd)/codebuild/release/settings.xml
       - export CODEARTIFACT_TOKEN=$(aws codeartifact get-authorization-token --domain $DOMAIN --domain-owner $ACCOUNT --query authorizationToken --output text --region ${REGION})
       - export CODEARTIFACT_REPO_URL=https://${DOMAIN}-${ACCOUNT}.d.codeartifact.${REGION}.amazonaws.com/maven/${REPOSITORY}
@@ -31,6 +27,11 @@ phases:
       - tar -xvf ~/mvn_gpg.tgz -C ~
   build:
     commands:
+      - VERSION_HASH="$(mvn help:evaluate -Dexpression=project.version -q -DforceStdout)-$CODEBUILD_RESOLVED_SOURCE_VERSION"
+#      See https://docs.aws.amazon.com/codebuild/latest/userguide/build-env-ref-env-vars.html
+      - echo "Setting version in POM to $VERSION_HASH"
+      - mvn versions:set -DnewVersion="$VERSION_HASH" --no-transfer-progress
+      - echo "Version is now $(grep version pom.xml | head -n 1 | sed -n 's/[ \t]*<version>\(.*\)<\/version>/\1/p')"
       - |
         mvn deploy \
           -PpublishingCodeArtifact \
@@ -44,44 +45,3 @@ phases:
           -DaltDeploymentRepository=codeartifact::default::$CODEARTIFACT_REPO_URL \
           --no-transfer-progress \
           -s $SETTINGS_FILE
-
-batch:
-  fast-fail: false
-  build-graph:
-    - identifier: release_to_staging
-    - identifier: validate_staging_release_openjdk8
-      depend-on:
-        - release_to_staging
-      buildspec: codebuild/release/validate-staging.yml
-      env:
-        variables:
-          JAVA_ENV_VERSION: openjdk8
-          JAVA_NUMERIC_VERSION: 8
-        image: aws/codebuild/standard:3.0
-    - identifier: validate_staging_release_openjdk11
-      depend-on:
-        - release_to_staging
-      buildspec: codebuild/release/validate-staging.yml
-      env:
-        variables:
-          JAVA_ENV_VERSION: openjdk11
-          JAVA_NUMERIC_VERSION: 11
-        image: aws/codebuild/standard:3.0
-    - identifier: validate_staging_release_corretto8
-      depend-on:
-        - release_to_staging
-      buildspec: codebuild/release/validate-staging.yml
-      env:
-        variables:
-          JAVA_ENV_VERSION: corretto8
-          JAVA_NUMERIC_VERSION: 8
-        image: aws/codebuild/amazonlinux2-x86_64-standard:3.0
-    - identifier: validate_staging_release_corretto11
-      depend-on:
-        - release_to_staging
-      buildspec: codebuild/release/validate-staging.yml
-      env:
-        variables:
-          JAVA_ENV_VERSION: corretto11
-          JAVA_NUMERIC_VERSION: 11
-        image: aws/codebuild/amazonlinux2-x86_64-standard:3.0
diff --git a/codebuild/release/release.yml b/codebuild/release/release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3c53df696
--- /dev/null
+++ b/codebuild/release/release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+## Copyright Amazon.com Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+## SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+version: 0.2
+
+batch:
+  fast-fail: true
+  build-graph:
+
+# Release to CodeArtifact
+  - identifier: release_staging
+    buildspec: codebuild/release/release-staging.yml
+
+# Validate CodeArtifact with supported JDK and Corretto
+  - identifier: validate_staging_release_openjdk_8
+    depend-on:
+      - release_staging
+    buildspec: codebuild/release/validate-staging.yml
+    env:
+      variables:
+        JAVA_ENV_VERSION: openjdk8
+        JAVA_NUMERIC_VERSION: 8
+      image: aws/codebuild/standard:3.0
+
+  - identifier: validate_staging_release_openjdk11
+    depend-on:
+      - release_staging
+    buildspec: codebuild/release/validate-staging.yml
+    env:
+      variables:
+        JAVA_ENV_VERSION: openjdk11
+        JAVA_NUMERIC_VERSION: 11
+      image: aws/codebuild/standard:3.0
+
+  - identifier: validate_staging_release_corretto8
+    depend-on:
+      - release_staging
+    buildspec: codebuild/release/validate-staging.yml
+    env:
+      variables:
+        JAVA_ENV_VERSION: corretto8
+        JAVA_NUMERIC_VERSION: 8
+      image: aws/codebuild/amazonlinux2-x86_64-standard:3.0
+
+  - identifier: validate_staging_release_corretto11
+    depend-on:
+      - release_staging
+    buildspec: codebuild/release/validate-staging.yml
+    env:
+      variables:
+        JAVA_ENV_VERSION: corretto11
+        JAVA_NUMERIC_VERSION: 11
+      image: aws/codebuild/amazonlinux2-x86_64-standard:3.0
+
+# Version Project
+  - identifier: version
+    depend-on:
+      - release_staging
+      - validate_staging_release_openjdk_8
+      - validate_staging_release_openjdk11
+      - validate_staging_release_corretto8
+      - validate_staging_release_corretto11
+    buildspec: codebuild/release/version.yml
+    env:
+      image: aws/codebuild/standard:5.0
+
+# Publish to Maven Central
+  - identifier: publish
+    depend-on:
+      - version
+    buildspec: codebuild/release/release-prod.yml
+
+# Validate Maven Central with supported JDK and Corretto
+  - identifier: validate_prod_release_openjdk_8
+    depend-on:
+      - publish
+    buildspec: codebuild/release/validate-prod.yml
+    env:
+      variables:
+        JAVA_ENV_VERSION: openjdk8
+        JAVA_NUMERIC_VERSION: 8
+      image: aws/codebuild/standard:3.0
+
+  - identifier: validate_prod_release_openjdk11
+    depend-on:
+      - publish
+    buildspec: codebuild/release/validate-prod.yml
+    env:
+      variables:
+        JAVA_ENV_VERSION: openjdk11
+        JAVA_NUMERIC_VERSION: 11
+      image: aws/codebuild/standard:3.0
+
+  - identifier: validate_prod_release_corretto8
+    depend-on:
+      - publish
+    buildspec: codebuild/release/validate-prod.yml
+    env:
+      variables:
+        JAVA_ENV_VERSION: corretto8
+        JAVA_NUMERIC_VERSION: 8
+      image: aws/codebuild/amazonlinux2-x86_64-standard:3.0
+
+  - identifier: validate_prod_release_corretto11
+    depend-on:
+      - publish
+    buildspec: codebuild/release/validate-prod.yml
+    env:
+      variables:
+        JAVA_ENV_VERSION: corretto11
+        JAVA_NUMERIC_VERSION: 11
+      image: aws/codebuild/amazonlinux2-x86_64-standard:3.0
diff --git a/codebuild/release/settings.xml b/codebuild/release/settings.xml
index 19587de0e..6d32af9bb 100644
--- a/codebuild/release/settings.xml
+++ b/codebuild/release/settings.xml
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+<!-- 
+Copyright Amazon.com Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 
+-->
 <settings xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/SETTINGS/1.0.0"
               xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
               xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/SETTINGS/1.0.0
diff --git a/codebuild/release/validate-prod.yml b/codebuild/release/validate-prod.yml
index 4e1589cb3..dc8809eec 100644
--- a/codebuild/release/validate-prod.yml
+++ b/codebuild/release/validate-prod.yml
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+## Copyright Amazon.com Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+## SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
 version: 0.2
 
 phases:
diff --git a/codebuild/release/validate-staging.yml b/codebuild/release/validate-staging.yml
index ba3b9cd30..37d6c9b7b 100644
--- a/codebuild/release/validate-staging.yml
+++ b/codebuild/release/validate-staging.yml
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+## Copyright Amazon.com Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+## SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
 version: 0.2
 
 env:
@@ -16,6 +19,7 @@ phases:
       java: $JAVA_ENV_VERSION
   pre_build:
     commands:
+      - VERSION_HASH="$(mvn help:evaluate -Dexpression=project.version -q -DforceStdout)-$CODEBUILD_RESOLVED_SOURCE_VERSION"
       - export SETTINGS_FILE=$(pwd)/codebuild/release/settings.xml
       - git clone https://github.com/aws-samples/busy-engineers-document-bucket.git
       - cd busy-engineers-document-bucket/exercises/java/encryption-context-complete
@@ -27,11 +31,12 @@ phases:
         mvn verify \
           -Pcodeartifact \
           -Dcheckstyle.skip \
-          -Desdk.version=$VERSION \
+          -Desdk.version=$VERSION_HASH \
           -Dmaven.compiler.target=$JAVA_NUMERIC_VERSION \
           -Dmaven.compiler.source=$JAVA_NUMERIC_VERSION \
           -Dcodeartifact.token=$CODEARTIFACT_TOKEN \
           -Dcodeartifact.url=$CODEARTIFACT_REPO_URL \
           --no-transfer-progress \
+          -T 4 \
           -s $SETTINGS_FILE
 
diff --git a/codebuild/release/version.yml b/codebuild/release/version.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5414c11b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/codebuild/release/version.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+## Copyright Amazon.com Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+## SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+version: 0.2
+
+env:
+  variables:
+    NODE_OPTIONS: "--max-old-space-size=4096"
+    BRANCH: "master"
+  git-credential-helper: "yes"
+
+phases:
+  install:
+    commands:
+      - npm install --save-dev semantic-release
+      - npm install @semantic-release/changelog -d
+      - npm install @semantic-release/exec -d
+      - npm install @semantic-release/git -d
+      - npm install --save conventional-changelog
+    runtime-versions:
+      nodejs: 14
+  pre_build:
+    commands:
+      - git config --global user.name "aws-crypto-tools-ci-bot"
+      - git config --global user.email "no-reply@noemail.local"
+      - git checkout $BRANCH
+  build:
+    commands:
+      - npx semantic-release --no-ci
diff --git a/look_4_version.sh b/look_4_version.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..8ee1a5335
--- /dev/null
+++ b/look_4_version.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+## Copyright Amazon.com Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+## SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+#!bin/bash
+
+VERSION=$1
+COUNTER=0
+STATUS=1
+
+echo "Looking for version $VERSION"
+
+while [  $STATUS -ne 0 ]; do
+    mvn org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-dependency-plugin:3.0.1:get \
+        -Dartifact=com.amazonaws:aws-encryption-sdk-java:$VERSION:jar -U
+
+    STATUS=$?
+    if [ $STATUS -eq 0 ]; then
+        echo "Found version $VERSION in Maven Central :)"
+        break
+    fi
+
+    if [  $((COUNTER+=1)) -eq 10 ]; then
+        echo "It has been an awfully long time, you should check Maven Central for issues"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    echo "Could not find version $VERSION. Trying again."
+    sleep 60
+done