Influential Woman · Tech

Maria Petrova

ATP GTM Digital Channel Partner Lead, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Seattle, WA

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Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Bachelor's degree from University of Washington in Seattle Degree MBA from Hult International Business School

Her Story

About Maria

I've spent my entire career in technology, working exclusively for tech companies including HP, Microsoft, and AWS. For the past 10 years at AWS, I've been part of the Training and Certification Organization, where I've held several roles all connected to upskilling, reskilling, and educating everyone about the cloud. One role involved training recent graduates from graduate school for technical roles. Another was running a skill center, a physical location in Seattle, where we offered free training open to the public, hosted lots of events and inspirational gatherings to promote and showcase the free cloud training that AWS offers. We shared success stories of people earning certifications, finding jobs, and coming back to say thank you because it changed their lives. Currently, I'm a go-to-market channel partner manager, working globally with partners that have digital capabilities to place training onto their platforms. I help promote and place AWS authored content into these partners' platforms so we can reach audiences not direct to AWS, but through other partners and channels, expanding the reach of cloud training, mostly for free. This is something I have been very passionate about. My days are spread across time zones, talking with Europe in the morning, focusing on North America during the day, and sometimes taking calls as late as 10 p.m. with our APJ region. I'm also a mother of two, managing school and sports activities alongside my work.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Maria

01What do you attribute your success to?

I attribute my success to my desire to always do my best, to always be curious and learn, and never give up. The most important thing I keep telling myself is I'm surrounded by super smart people. These technology companies are innovative, they come up with the most trendy innovations out there, and I have had these doubts before that, you know, first of all, I'm an immigrant, and I wasn't born here, so probably don't belong here, and I'm a woman, and all these people around me are guys, they're super smart, I can never do that. And now that I am at the stage where I am, I want to really pass this along to other girls, that anything is really possible, and that no matter where you're from, or what gender you are, as long as you want something, you can learn it, you can do it. I just never give up and be like, that's not me, I don't belong here, I can't do this. I even tell my kids, sometimes they're like, I can't, or they even tell me, like, you're too smart. And I'm like, you're smart too, as long as you want to learn.

02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

The best career advice I ever received was from my hiring manager here at AWS 10 years ago. She told me I can do anything I want. It's just a matter of me putting in the effort and really wanting something, then I can do anything I want. Recently, I talked to her again, and having this kind of career conversation, she said, yeah, you really can do anything at this point. Like, with the experience, with the different roles that I've been here, it's just a matter of what I kind of see next, but basically, she said there's no barrier for you, so you can do anything.

03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

Go for it! Just go for it. You can accomplish anything. I want to really pass this along to other girls, that anything is really possible, and that no matter where you're from, or what gender you are, as long as you want something, you can learn it, you can do it. Never give up and be like, that's not me, I don't belong here, I can't do this.

04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

The challenges are a lot, especially uncertainty with technology and everybody's talking about this AI trendy thing out there. It's cool right now, we see it as a positive thing, we see it as improving, we see it as helping, but honestly, I don't know what's past or what's next after that. Meaning from a technology standpoint, security is a big, big thing that I can think about, probably not everybody's thinking about right now, utilizing AI and, you know, 2, 3, maybe 5 years or 10 years down the road. That could be a challenge.

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