Strategist. Advisor.

Twenty years in energy and tech strategy at Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. Now running an independent practice with a small portfolio of advisory and board work in advanced energy and AI infrastructure.

Practice Independent Advisory
Current Aalo · Hanwha · Atomic Canyon
Status Selectively engaged

Who I am now.

For about twenty years I worked in energy strategy and business development at Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. I led teams. I built new businesses. I spent a lot of time thinking about how the biggest companies in the world should approach power and infrastructure.

I was good at it. I still am. These days I run an independent practice and I am choosier about what I take on.

My current portfolio is small and intentional. I'm SVP of Commercialization & Strategy at Aalo Atomics, leading go-to-market for mass-manufactured next-generation nuclear energy. I'm a strategic consultant to Hanwha Group and QCells Technology Group, advising on virtual power plants, data center energy solutions, and how a global industrial conglomerate plays in U.S. distributed energy markets. And I sit on the advisory board of Atomic Canyon, which is applying frontier AI to commercial nuclear plant operations.

Most of my work lives in what I think of as the translation gap: the place where deep technology dies, not because the science was wrong, but because the founders and the buyers couldn't talk to each other. Bridging that gap is the most interesting problem I know.

I'm open to additional board seats and advisory roles where the people are good and the work is real. The good ones tend to come through introductions from people I already trust. If that sounds like you, the door is open.

On the method

The antidote to exhaustion is not rest.
The antidote to exhaustion is wholeheartedness.

David Whyte

What I say yes to.
What I say no to.

+ Where I Add Value06 / ITEMS
  • Strategic questions where pattern recognition matters more than execution speed
  • Thesis development, market analysis, and adversarial stress tests of ideas you already love
  • Translating between disciplines, industries, and groups that don't naturally talk to each other
  • Conversations where both of us leave thinking differently than we walked in
  • Founders navigating the gap between what they're building and who they want to become
  • Engagements with a defined scope, a clear deliverable, and mutual respect for time
− Not the Right Fit04 / ITEMS
  • Full-time or fractional operational roles
  • Open-ended advisory without a defined scope
  • Engagements where the real ask is much bigger than the initial conversation suggests
  • Anything where my honest answer is "I could do this" instead of "I want to"

What I've done.

Active
Current EngagementDec 2024 — Present

SVP of Commercialization

Aalo Atomics / Austin, TX

Lead commercialization and go-to-market strategy for mass-manufactured, next-generation nuclear energy systems. Drive market development, strategic partnerships, and investment strategy to accelerate deployment. Aalo is building sodium-cooled reactors aimed at the AI data center buildout. I help the team think clearly about market entry, financing structures, and how to tell the story.

Previous
2020 — 2023

Senior Director, Energy & Resources

Microsoft

Chief Strategy Officer and interim CTO for the Energy & Resources industry vertical. Led global strategy to accelerate the energy transition through cloud, AI, and digital platforms. Commercialized open-source investments including the launch of Azure Data Manager for Energy. Built global partnerships with Schneider Electric and SLB to deliver AI-driven energy solutions.

2018 — 2020

Senior Director of Energy

Google

Led global energy strategy and partnerships for Google Cloud. Expanded cloud adoption through collaboration with leading energy software providers. Represented Google in energy-focused open-source governance bodies.

2016 — 2017

Founder & Global Energy Vertical Leader

Amazon Web Services

Founded and scaled AWS's first global energy vertical from scratch. Built go-to-market strategy and team focused on solving complex energy challenges with cloud technology. Authored the foundational AWS strategy memo aligning product roadmap with energy industry needs.

Education

Harvard Business School, Executive Education — Leadership & Change Management
Rice University, Jones Graduate School of Business — Graduate Certificate, Finance & Accounting
The George Washington University — B.A., International Relations (Business & Politics), Cum Laude

Curiosity is the oxygen.Flow over force.Purpose in the present.Bridge the translation gap.Curiosity is the oxygen.Flow over force.Purpose in the present.Bridge the translation gap.

Six things I have learned the hard way.

N.01

I'm drawn to building things. That can be a trap.

N.02

The feeling of significance you get from operating at a high level is real. It's also temporary. And it isn't actually the thing I'm after.

N.03

I consistently underestimate how much time and energy a new commitment is going to take. I am working on this.

N.04

Saying yes to something interesting is the easiest thing in the world. Saying no with love is harder, and I'm still learning.

N.05

My best work has always come from real curiosity, not from ambition. I keep forgetting this and then remembering it.

N.06

Being a present father and husband is harder than any strategy work I have ever done. It is also the only work that has ever really mattered.

The door is open.

If you are working on something real in energy or AI infrastructure and looking for a board member, an advisor, or a thinking partner, I would love to hear from you.

Jon Guidroz
Austin · Texas · 30.27°N

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SELECTIVELY ENGAGED Loc / Austin TX Local / © MMXXVI