Jonathan Weiss is passionate about building products and teams that make a difference. Today, he advises, invests in, and builds alongside companies navigating the shift to AI — from early-stage startups to established organizations transforming how they operate. He draws on deep operational experience in cloud platforms, AI product development, and scaling engineering organizations to help companies navigate technical strategy, product-market fit, AI-driven transformation, and the shift to cloud-native and SaaS delivery models. His focus: how Generative AI and agentic systems are fundamentally reshaping software development and transforming how companies build products and operate at scale.
Before his current chapter, Jonathan spent 14 years at Amazon, joining in 2012 when the company acquired Peritor, his cloud infrastructure startup. Starting by leading the AWS teams in Berlin, he then took on responsibility for the entire R&D site, growing it to over 2,600 employees across four offices by the time he left in 2026. Alongside running the Berlin center, Jonathan led global teams developing AWS products in Generative AI and Developer Tools. His most recent work at Amazon includes launching Amazon Q Developer (now Kiro), a generative AI assistant for software developers and IT professionals, and advancing Agentic AI efforts at AWS including Strands Agents and MCP Servers. Helping developers build, deploy, and manage their applications has long been a core focus — from configuration management and automation to today’s world of AI, large language models, and agentic systems.
An entrepreneur at heart, Jonathan has founded three companies with two successful exits. He thrives at the intersection of technology, product vision, and customer experience. Over the years, he has launched 8+ AWS services, grown diverse engineering organizations, and learned firsthand how to navigate the complexity of leading globally distributed teams. His experience spans not just building new products but transforming existing organizations — modernizing technology stacks, driving cloud adoption, and managing large-scale operational change.
Jonathan enjoys sharing ideas and experiences with others. You’ll often find him speaking at conferences like AWS re:Invent, WeAreDevelopers, GITEX, and DockerCon. He holds a Master’s degree in Business and Engineering from the Technical University of Berlin (summa cum laude).
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Founder
Before joining Amazon, Jonathan founded and led several technology ventures.
Peritor GmbH — 2008 to 2012 (Sold to Amazon in 2012)
Jonathan founded Peritor GmbH, a cloud computing startup that released an application management service (Scalarium.com) and was acquired by AWS in 2012 — the first acquisition in AWS history. The product was relaunched as AWS OpsWorks. Customers included Bild.de, SUSE Linux/Novell, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), Wooga, SoundCloud, and Berlin Partner. Jonathan was the CEO and technical lead, and managed the acquisition and integration into AWS.
MeinProf.de GmbH — 2005 to 2008 (Sold in 2012)
Co-founder and CTO of MeinProf.de, a pioneering German professor rating and university evaluation platform, through 2008; company was acquired by a prominent German publisher in 2012. Led engineering, scaling the site to handle millions of page views and hundreds of thousands of ratings, earning industry recognition as one of Europe’s largest Ruby on Rails projects.
Peritor Wissensmanagement GmbH — 2005 to 2008
Co-founder and CTO of Peritor Wissensmanagement GmbH, a Berlin-based startup set up to develop a knowledge management Web application for law firms using Ruby on Rails and rich client in JavaScript. Jonathan led the engineering efforts of the original knowledge management application and later of a white-label Webmail solution.
Press & Speaking
Excerpt of recent press coverage, interviews, and podcasts featuring Jonathan.
Let’s Connect
I enjoy connecting with people at the intersection of technology, innovation, and leadership. Here are some areas where we might collaborate:
Advisory & Board Roles
I advise and serve on the boards of technology companies — particularly in AI, cloud infrastructure, and developer tools — and invest in early-stage startups. Open to board and advisory roles with companies navigating AI-driven transformation, cloud modernization, and technology-led growth.
Speaking & Conferences
I speak regularly on Generative AI, agentic systems, developer tools, cloud modernization, and scaling engineering organizations. Available for conference keynotes, panel discussions, and corporate events.
Media & Podcasts
Available for interviews and expert commentary on AI, software development, and the European tech landscape.