Looking to boost your AWS expertise this year? Trying to stay up to date with the latest developments in the ecosystem? Want to learn tips and tricks from the pros to help you make the most of all things Amazon Web Services?
You’re in luck. The AWS space is packed with experts who generously share their platform knowledge, insights, and experiences online for all to benefit from. Whatever you’re looking to learn, there’s an AWS whiz out there whose know-how you can tap into just by following them on social media.
We’ve rounded up 20 of the best thought leaders and influencers who are leading the way in the AWS space—all you have to do is hit that follow button.
Ayyanar Jeyakrishnan
Role: Principal Engineer/Executive Director
Location: India
LinkedIn | X | Blog
Ayyanar is a seasoned cloud pro specializing in AI, machine learning, and DevOps solutions. An AWS Machine Learning Hero, he uses his 20+ years of IT experience to architect DevOps and MLOps solutions as Executive Director at banking giant, Wells Fargo. As well as running a useful blog and YouTube channel, his free DataOps Labs Newsletter helps keep readers up to speed with the rapidly developing world of data and AI, offering in-depth explanations and real-life use cases.
Dzenana Dzevlan
Role: Technical Manager
Location: Bosnia and Herzegovina
LinkedIn | X | Blog
An AWS Community Hero and Co-Founder and Technical Manager at allOps Solutions, Dzenana uses her extensive experience not only as an AON Partner, but as a lecturer, a mentor, and an advocate for women in tech. Not content with earning a Master’s degree centered on AWS solutions, she has also helped universities integrate the AWS Academy program into their curriculums, empowering students to learn about AWS and build tech skills. And she leads her local AWS User Group in Sarajevo.
Kenneth Attard
Role: Enterprise Architect
Location: Malta
LinkedIn | Blog
Kenneth is an AWS Community Hero, Enterprise Architect, and leader of the AWS Malta User Group. For more than two decades, he has built a stellar career in AWS cloud networking, security, and governance, and is passionate about sharing what he’s learned throughout his storied professional life with others as a speaker at events around the world. He also organizes Malta AWS Community Day, helping local tech pros get to grips with the latest trends and best practices in the AWS space.
Stephen Sennett
Role: Senior Consultant
Location: Australia
LinkedIn | Blog
A Senior Consultant with more than a decade of experience in AWS, Stephen has experience in a multitude of cloud roles, from architect and consultant to engineer and educator. As a member of the AWS Community Builders program, he acted as a mentor to the AWS community, helping others develop not only their knowledge of AWS but their professional skills and position as thought leaders. An accomplished speaker and trainer, Stephen’s work in education has touched thousands of budding AWS pros, having developed learning content for the likes of A Cloud Guru and Pluralsight.
Vadym Kazulkin
Role: Head of Development
Location: Germany
LinkedIn | X | Blog
Originally from Ukraine, Vadym has been honing his craft in the Java development ecosystem for more than 20 years and has earned the title of AWS Serverless Hero. Now based in Germany, he is the Head of Development at ip.labs, where he works to design and implement top quality applications using AWS and serverless technology. Outside of his nine-to-five, Vadym shares his extensive Java expertise by co-organizing the Java User Group in Bonn, blogging and speaking at both local and international events including AWS Community Days and ServerlessDays.
Arshad Zackeriya
Role: Senior Engineer
Location: New Zealand
LinkedIn | X | Blog
A specialist in all things DevOps, particularly Amazon EKS and Developer Tools, Arshad is a well-respected figure in the AWS DevOps community, where he’s affectionately known as Zack. Whether he’s speaking at tech conferences, leading his local AWS User Group, organizing AWS Community Days, or hosting not one, but two leading DevOps podcasts, Zack is committed to sharing his experiences and helping others learn more about DevOps practices. His outstanding work in the DevOps community even landed him a nomination for the AWS Community Builder of the Year award (Asia Pacific and Japan) in 2022 and 2023.
Awedis Keofteian
Role: DevOps Engineer
Location: Lebanon
LinkedIn | Blog
With expertise spanning DevOps, automation, serverless, and cloud technology, Awedis is an AWS Community Hero with a wealth of know-how to share. Currently a DevOps Engineer at a leading music streaming platform, Awedis’ community activism and ongoing support for other AWS professionals around Lebanon has led him to create one of the most active AWS communities in the region.
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Daniel Aniszkiewicz
Role: Software Engineer
Location: Poland
LinkedIn | Blog
A full-stack Developer, Senior Software Engineer, and AWS Security Hero, Daniel began his AWS journey in 2017. Since then, he’s garnered valuable cloud knowledge and a passion for serverless architecture—both of which he regularly shares with other like-minded individuals. As the co-organizer of his local Wroclaw AWS User Group and an experienced speaker and presenter, he’s inspired countless others to get into AWS. Recently, he’s been focused on sharing his experience with Amazon Verified Permissions and Cedar by hosting workshops, writing blog posts, and sharing IaC templates and open-source projects.
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Faye Ellis
Role: Principal Training Architect
Location: United Kingdom
LinkedIn | X | Blog
As an AWS Community Hero, Cloud Architect, experienced speaker, and learning content creator, Faye’s mission is to help others understand AWS technology and build rewarding careers in tech. Through her work as a Principal Training Architect at Pluralsight, she has equipped millions of people across the globe with the AWS skills they need to make a difference using the platform. Harnessing her previous experience as a Principal Infrastructure Architect, Faye regularly appears at conferences and publishes useful content on platforms like dev.to, LinkedIn, and TikTok.
Hazel Sáenz
Role: Software Architect
Location: Guatemala
LinkedIn | Blog
Hazel is a Cloud Software Architect and a Serverless Hero whose work focuses on modernizing on-premise applications using the AWS cloud. For more than two decades, Hazel has helped businesses design and create software, and now has a ton of experience with designing high workload architectures in Serverless frameworks. She can often be found sharing this expertise through technical talks at events like AWS Summits and Community Days, writing technical articles for both English- and Spanish- speaking audiences, and leading the AWS User Group in Guatemala.
Julia Furst Morgado
Role: Global Technologist
Location: United States
LinkedIn | X | Blog
AWS Container Hero, CNCF Ambassador, Google Women Techmakers Ambassador, Civo Ambassador, Girl Code Ambassador... Julia is a very busy woman. But she still makes time to share her experiences with cloud-native technologies and DevOps for the benefit of others. A prolific community organizer, Julia has worked to give AWS professionals and enthusiasts spaces to come together and collaborate from around the world, hosting events from New York City to Lisbon and creating transformative learning content in no less than four languages.
Jimmy Dahlqvist
Role: Lead Cloud Architect
Location: Sweden
LinkedIn | X | Blog
As a Lead Cloud Architect at one of Sweden’s leading AWS Partners and a 20-year tech veteran, Jimmy has become an expert in all things serverless technologies. His passion for serverless has gained him the titles of AWS Serverless Hero and AWS Certification Subject Matter Expert; a role which sees him guide the certification development process to ensure everyone has the best shot at earning an accreditation. Taking his love of serverless one step further, Jimmy recently launched the serverless-handbook repository on GitHub, giving serverless enthusiasts a place to access Jimmy’s valuable learnings and tips. Jimmy’s blog is packed with practical tips and advice on serverless, security, and IoT—he’s even applied his serverless know-how to barbecuing!
Lee Gilmore
Role: Principal Solutions Architect/AWS CoP Lead
Location: United Kingdom
X | Blog
As a former AWS Community Builder, Lee is no stranger to bringing the tech community together and sharing knowledge. A Principal Solutions Architect/AWS CoP Lead, Lee has spent a decade helping businesses harness the power of serverless and cloud-native technology, driven by his passion for domain-driven design and event-driven architectures. His commitment to continuous learning has earned him recognition as an AWS Serverless Hero and makes him an excellent follow for any AWS professional, and this dedication has given rise to a massive range of invaluable content. From in-depth articles and event presentations to open-source solutions on GitHub and podcast appearances, there’s plenty of Lee out there to learn from.
Maciej Walkowiak
Role: Java Consultant
Location: Germany
LinkedIn | X | Blog
Maciej is a Java expert and AWS enthusiast who’s been helping businesses create high-performing Java applications for almost 20 years as an independent consultant. A major evangelist for software building tools Spring Framework and Spring Boot, he also led the Spring Cloud AWS project, working to bridge the gap between AWS APIs and the Spring programming model. A regular speaker on the software conference circuit, you can also hear from Maciej on his blog and his YouTube channel, where he helps viewers improve their Java skills and get to grips with Spring.
Martin Damovsky
Role: Cloud Governance Lead
Location: Czech Republic
LinkedIn | X | Blog
With a background covering software development, DevOps, cloud security, and FinOps, there’s a lot to be learned from Martin. Now a Cloud Governance Lead at a major AWS Partner, Martin has been developing his AWS expertise for over a decade across a range of specialisms. Today, his passion lies in security and governance tools like AWS Control Tower, Cloud Intelligence Dashboard, AWS Security Hub, Amazon GuardDuty, and AWS Config. A must-follow for anyone interested in AWS security and management practices, Martin dishes out knowledge and top tips through his blog and as a Group Leader for AWS User Group Prague.
Minoru Onda
Role: Technology Evangelist
Location: Japan
LinkedIn | X | Blog
Minoru is a software development wizard who’s dedicated to spreading his interest and excitement about technology to as many people as possible. Leader of three AWS User Group communities in Japan, he has delivered more than 30 tech talks and written 70+ blog posts to help others in the community learn about what AWS has to offer. This enthusiasm led him to be named an AWS Samurai in 2023. These days, he’s focused on how GenAI can be harnessed by AWS products and services, sharing use cases from his experience within his own company and creating practical guides for others to utilize this new technology. He’s even co-authored a best-selling book on Amazon Bedrock, which helps users deploy scalable, reliable and secure GenAI applications on AWS.
Paloma Lataliza
Role: Cloud Engineer
Location: Brazil
LinkedIn | X | Blog
Paloma is an AWS Community Hero and a specialist in all things containers, Docker, and Kubernetes. Since joining the professional AWS community six years ago, she’s been sharing her enthusiasm for container technologies through her work as an AWS Community Builder, an AWS User Group Leader, and an event speaker. Dedicated to supporting women in the STEM space, she’s also an organizer of the AWSome Women Community Summit Brazil and a founder of the Mulheres na Nuvem Minas Gerais (Women in the Cloud Minas Gerais) project. From producing technical content and mentoring others, to offering free classes to women looking to get into tech, her work has made a major impact to budding tech professionals around the world.
Sena Yakut
Role: Cloud Security Architect
Location: Turkey
LinkedIn | X | Blog
An AWS Security Hero, Cloud Security Architect, and holder of a Master’s degree in cloud security, Sena is a top voice in the AWS security space. An expert in helping businesses build security into their cloud architecture using AWS solutions, Sena is a great follow for anyone interested in learning more about security concepts, threat management, and best practices. Her blog and social profiles are a valuable source of expertise, insight, and updates for those on the continuous journey of cloud security.
Shaoyi Li
Role: Lead Cloud Engineer
Location: China
LinkedIn | Blog
Shaoyi’s devotion to spreading the word about AWS has earned him a spot as one of the most influential AWS pros on the internet. Focusing largely on the intersection of cybersecurity and GenAI, his advocacy for the development of secure, compliant, and responsible GenAI applications has made him an important voice as we march in to the AI age. Sharing his insights through AWS events, case studies, blogs, and on social media, Shaoyi’s content has racked up more than 110,000 followers, 10 million views, and 1.16 million likes from users keen to deepen their understanding of this crucial topic. In 2023, he earned the Annual Best Tech Blogger and Best Certification Ambassador awards from China’s AWS Training and Certification branch.
Tiago Rodrigues
Role: Senior Cloud Consultant
Location: Portugal
LinkedIn | X | Blog
Working as a Senior Cloud Consultant at a leading AWS Services and Training Partner, Tiago has built a deep understanding of cloud migrations, modernization of architectures, and implementing serverless solutions. He regularly shares this hard-earned know-how through his local AWS User Group in Lisbon, as well as hosting educational workshops and guest lectures at universities to help a wider audience understand the potential of AWS technology. His innovative open-source mobile app, AWSary, provides users with a fun and informative dictionary that supports Solution Architects and delivers fast insights into AWS services.
