Tom Soderstrom

Tom joined AWS in 2020 to build and lead the AWS Public Sector Chief Technologists organization, a global team of technology builders who work with large enterprises and public sector customers in order to help them realize the full benefits of the cloud. As the leader for this organization, Tom was instrumental in helping to win several multi-billion-dollar proposals and architecting go-live events to 100s of millions of people for COVID-related issues, national elections, and more. He also lectured on emerging business and technology trends, the New Space Economy, and mentored startups.

As an AWS Executive in Residence and ex-customer CTO, Tom uses his experience transforming enterprises to the cloud to help commercial and public sector organizations globally realize the full potential of the cloud. Tom’s 20 plus years as an IT leader helps him advise executive leaders on the latest emerging business and technology trends, providing practical guidance along the way.

Prior to AWS, Tom served as the IT Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) from 2006-2020. As an early cloud pioneer, Tom introduced and taught cloud computing at JPL, NASA and the US Federal Government. Through his early work in innovation and the cloud, Tom was instrumental in the US Public’s ability to identify and benefit from IT trends, leading to innovative solutions in Space explorations. Tom served on the AWS Customer Advisory Board (CAB) from 2009-2020, where he represented JPL as one of the first enterprise customers of AWS. Tom’s collaboration on the CAB was instrumental in inventing and/or launching 14 AWS services including GovCloud, Glacier, Alexa for Business, Ground Station as a Service, Greengrass, FreeRTOS, Robomaker, and Braket.

Prior to JPL, Tom led teams working on large scale IT technologies, best practices, tools development, and change efforts in small startups, large commercial companies, in international venues, and in the US Government sector. Tom’s innovation across multiple businesses led to many industry awards including NASA’s Exceptional Public Service Medal, NASA Public Service Medal, US Federal 100 Leadership Award twice, and L.A. Business Journal CTO Lifetime Achievement Award.

Tom holds a Bachelor of Biology from Occidental College and is an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria in New Zealand. He has previously taught at several universities and frequently speaks about innovation, emerging technologies, and digital transformation.

Outside of work Tom enjoys mentoring individuals in their career journey, startups in their business approach, and established companies in their innovation strategies. Tom resides in the foothills of Los Angeles with his wife Terri and two golden retrievers while also keeping in frequent contact with his two grown daughters and their families in Los Angeles and Washington DC.

Tom is passionate about sustainability to help save our planet. His hobbies include hiking, swimming, reading, travel, and learning emerging business trends and technologies including the application of technology in the space industry.