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Biography

Mario on stage at Monday.com Elevate at London ExCel in September 2024

I am a transformational business leader with nearly three decades of experience enabling enterprise-wide change and sustainable growth across start-ups, enterprises, and the public sector. Beginning my career as a software engineer, I have progressed into senior leadership roles spanning product development, business development, professional services, and board advisory.

I currently serve as Head of Applied AI & Emerging Technology Strategy at Amazon Web Services, where I lead global initiatives helping organisations harness artificial intelligence, data, cloud, and emerging technologies to accelerate transformation, strengthen governance, and deliver sustainable business value.

My expertise lies in building and enabling high-performing teams to deliver operational excellence and measurable outcomes. With deep experience in enterprise change management, IT transformation, cloud migration, revenue growth, data strategy, and applied AI, I empower organisations to translate innovation into tangible business results. This combination of strategic leadership, operational excellence, and business acumen enables teams to consistently deliver value through responsible, scalable innovation.

Over the past decade, including my tenure at AWS, I have built and led teams advising C-suite leaders on enterprise-wide transformation programmes — breaking down barriers, driving adoption, and enabling sustainable change. Working with teams across AWS, we have developed and operationalised frameworks such as the Business Case Accelerator (BCA), Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF), Migration Readiness Assessment (MRA), Cloud Value Framework (CVF), AWS Way of Selling (AWOS), and AI Stages of Adoption (AISA), which guide organisations through transformation at scale.

Prior to AWS, I led teams working with global brands including Coca-Cola, Gulf Oil, and Aston Villa Football Club, enabling more than 100 transformation projects that generated over £2 billion in revenue. These ranged from targeted digital initiatives to complex, multi-year organisational change programmes designed to embed sustainable capabilities within client organisations.

As a transformational leader, I build and empower teams to collaborate with Boards and executive stakeholders, implementing strategies that drive revenue growth, enhance profitability, establish competitive advantages, and improve client experiences. Our work also incorporates environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles, ensuring sustainable and responsible business transformation.

Experience as a Board Director

I am a Chartered Director (elected 2006) and Fellow of the Institute of Directors (elected 2015) in the UK, bringing board experience in both executive and non-executive roles. Working with leadership teams across organisations, I provide strategic oversight and guidance on transformation initiatives, leveraging technologies such as AI, data science, and the cloud to achieve impactful outcomes.

My experience spans industries including airline, consumer services, financial services, retail, media, manufacturing, oil & gas, FMCG, and logistics. Through developing strong leadership teams focused on operational excellence, business transformation, revenue growth, and corporate governance, I enable C-suite executives to drive sustainable value creation.

Leadership at AWS

Since joining AWS in 2015, I have built and led teams across Professional Services, Business Development, and Field Sales. I now lead applied-AI and emerging-technology strategy for AWS’s global field organisation, defining how AWS and its partners engage clients on next-generation capabilities.

Working cross-functionally with teams including CFO Programmes, Cloud Economics, Global Executive Marketing, and Enterprise Next, we develop frameworks, guidance, and enablement programmes that support C-level leaders in accelerating responsible AI adoption and enterprise-scale transformation.

Personal Biography

I hold a BSc (Hons) in Software Engineering and am a Data Science & AI Alumnus of the London School of Economics, where I guest lecture on the Data Science and AI for Executives programme, sharing insights on leading enterprise-wide transformation.

I live in the UK and Cyprus, hold dual citizenship (UK and EU), and work globally.