{"id":10913,"date":"2025-05-21T14:08:34","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T13:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?p=10913"},"modified":"2025-05-21T14:09:42","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T13:09:42","slug":"jackson-aimiuwu-from-tech-skeptic-to-aws-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?p=10913","title":{"rendered":"Jackson Aimiuwu: From Tech Skeptic to AWS Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Jackson
Jackson Aimiuwu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

He Wasn\u2019t Even Into Tech<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jackson Aimiuwu wasn\u2019t the kid who grew up building gadgets or coding apps. At 19, he touched a computer for the first time. It wasn\u2019t love at first click, but that moment planted a seed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He pushed through his first year at the University of Calgary without even owning a computer. Still, he chose to study computer science. What helped? A cousin who worked in tech <\/a>showed him how tech and business <\/a>could work together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was enough to keep him going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Zero to Architecting at Scale<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After school, Jackson landed a role at EMC (now Dell) in Toronto. His job as a senior solutions architect soon expanded. He became team lead on a major project with Canadian Tire, the country\u2019s second-largest retailer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between 2016 and 2019, Jackson and his team helped the company rethink how it served customers. They built Canadian Tire\u2019s first private cloud and worked hand-in-hand with the company\u2019s CTO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That project involved 50 team members. It touched all areas of the business and involved 18,000 employees. By the time COVID hit, the systems Jackson\u2019s team built were already helping the company stay strong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter AWS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After Canadian Tire, Jackson asked himself, \u201cHow can I do this at scale?\u201d His answer: Amazon Web Services (AWS). He joined in 2019 and has since been promoted multiple times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, he\u2019s Head of Solutions Architecture for the U.S. Financial Services Payments industry at AWS. His team supports clients in banking, manufacturing, retail, and mining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does he love most? Helping big businesses solve real problems using cloud tech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using His Seat to Open Doors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jackson noticed something else along the way: there weren\u2019t many Black people in senior tech roles. He decided to do something about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At AWS, he launched mentorship programs focused on Black and minority students. Through the \u201cReach Back\u201d program, he helped organize free AWS training and certification for girls in high school and women in university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, over 1,000 women across North America have been impacted. His goal? Make sure more people like him get into the room and stay there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What We Can Learn from Jackson Aimiuwu<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

He didn\u2019t start with a dream to work in tech. He didn\u2019t even have a computer. But through hard work, mentorship, and vision, he\u2019s now helping lead the future of payments at AWS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And he\u2019s making sure others have the chance to do the same.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He Wasn\u2019t Even Into Tech Jackson Aimiuwu wasn\u2019t the kid who grew up building 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