Dr. Chad J. Ashley is the Principal Strategic Account Executive at Amazon Web Services (AWS), whose area of responsibility is the national security portfolio. Joining AWS in 2022, he was tasked with creating and shaping this advisory role in the company, defining its direction and scope. In this position, Dr. Ashley focuses on translation, education, and enablement. He dedicates much of his time to helping teams understand complex mission requirements and translating between the customers’ needs and the company’s capabilities.
Recently, Dr. Ashley implemented an Adaptability Quotient assessment pilot program with his team. A holistic assessment tool, it measures the team’s workplace adaptability across three dimensions: Ability, Character, and Environment. Dr. Ashley explains the pilot helped the team identify areas where they develop as a cohesive unit to achieve their revenue targets. Besides that, it created a “framework for deep, meaningful conversations” with team members, most of whom are early to mid-career employees. “This type of initiative offers a safe place to engage in conversations that allowed me to steer and guide people at all stages in their professional development while simultaneously strengthening our collective capabilities,” Dr. Ashley says.
For him, the most rewarding aspect was watching the team naturally embrace the “Hire and Develop the Best” AWS leadership principle. The team lives this leadership principle daily, not because it is mandated, but because they have experienced firsthand how investing in each other’s growth drives both individual and collective success, says Dr. Ashley.
Present Is the Culmination of Past Experiences
Dr. Ashley possesses an innate ability to look several steps ahead. That allows him to make “deliberate decisions” about what should and shouldn’t be done. He knows how to “open the lens wide” and ensure there are options and contingencies in place for whatever comes next. “Unknowingly, I’ve done that ever since I was a kid doing a variety of different things,” Dr. Ashley says. However, it was only when he pursued graduate master’s studies and a deeper dive with a doctorate degree in strategy and innovation that he recognized his unique talents and abilities.
“All of my past experiences have culminated in what I do today, which is serving as a principal strategic advisor,” Dr. Ashley says. He serves in a much more hands-on capacity than other leaders. Working alongside his teams, he develops and implements plans. Dr. Ashley says that this has always been his mindset. Instead of sitting and writing papers about strategy, he prefers to be involved in the practical side of things. “Every great chef eats the meals they prepare.”
Third-Generation Public Servant Serving Amazon
For Dr. Ashley, the pivotal moment in his career came when he transitioned from federal service to the private sector.
Dr. Ashley is a third-generation public servant. “It is in our family’s DNA,” he says. When he retired from the U.S. Intelligence Community after over two decades of service, he had no intention of embracing the retired life at a young age. He joined a startup. “I was the director of strategy and innovation for the cyber sector at that company,” Dr. Ashley says.
Then, one day, he received a call out of the blue from AWS. They said, “We know people who know you, and we looked at your profile, and we want to have a chat.”
Dr. Ashley responded, “I chat with everybody.”
He was intrigued when he discovered that they were creating a new strategy role at AWS. This opportunity perfectly aligned with his “unique background”: two decades of being a customer in the defense and intelligence space, combined with his doctoral education in strategy and innovation.
The Amazon representative pointed out to Dr. Ashley that he knew the customers, what they were thinking, and he understood their problems and challenges. “We need someone to help us get ready for all of that and be able to solve the problems for the customer before they arise,” the representative said. Since most teams primarily focus on tactical work, they needed someone who could do strategy – take the long view. They wanted someone who could step back and think and put the puzzle pieces together.
“That is something I enjoy doing,” Dr. Ashley says.
AWS was not hiring him for an existing position; they were asking him to create and shape the role itself. At first, he found it scary that he had to create and define his own job. But he soon realized that this opportunity was different and exciting. “It recharged my batteries and lit a spark again,” Dr. Ashley says, “I couldn’t turn the opportunity down.” Looking back, he feels it was a brilliant decision.
“What made it truly pivotal was recognizing that I could blend my public service values with private sector innovation, using my deep understanding of the mission space to help translate customer needs in a way that only someone who had been on the other side could truly understand,” Dr. Ashley says.
The Unique Challenge
Every opportunity brings unique challenges. Creating and shaping a new role at Amazon Web Services presented a unique challenge for Dr. Ashley, which transformed his approach to leadership. “The burden was entirely on me to prove the role had value and was worth the investment of time and resources,” he says. “Earning trust and confidence in every single engagement became critical — there was no room for error.”
Through experience and from great mentors, he learned that authentic leadership requires vulnerability and storytelling. He narrated personal experiences and stories to help people understand he was coming from a place of authenticity, not stealing credit or outshine anyone. Dr. Ashley also had to make everyone understand he was trying to achieve success through people, not despite them. It took him about 18 months to become a fully integrated, trusted advisor to the teams. “But that journey fundamentally changed how I approach every leadership challenge — with patience, authenticity, and an unwavering focus on building others up,” he says.
Achievement: Helping People in Tough Spots
Dr. Ashley is an exemplary leader. Whenever employees find themselves in tough spots, whether because of performance-related issues or life problems, he tries to step in and help those individuals right the ship. “I see them come through on the other side and end up in a much better place,” Dr. Ashley says. He considers pulling people out of tough spots to be a major achievement of his career.
Dr. Ashley recalls having a very hard conversation with one individual. He invested his time and resources in this individual to help him get back on the right track. That changed the person’s life for the better. That individual has excelled in her career since that intervention, and Dr. Ashley shares she has been promoted twice. It goes to show a little help goes a long way.
Another employee he helped was dealing with a serious family problem. Dr. Ashley shares that they came to work each day, but he could tell something was not right. It began to affect the employee’s performance. Dr. Ashley finally said to them, “Look, I need to help you. I don’t understand what’s going on, and I don’t want to be in your personal business, but I’m here to help.” That moment when the employee opened up to Dr. Ashley and it made all the difference.
Dr. Ashley was then able to bring all the available resources the organization had to help them because, as a manager, whether in the federal government or the private sector, there really is a lot you can do to help. When the person was ready to accept help, Dr. Ashley could guide them. He even took their phone calls in the evenings because they needed someone to talk to. “Seeing that person today with their life back on track and doing well is incredibly rewarding to me,” Dr. Ashley says. “They didn’t go down the path of no return.”
Dr. Ashley has received several awards throughout his career, but what he values most are the thank-you notes he received from former mentees and employees after his retirement ceremony. He recalls a few former colleagues handing him small thank-you cards, expressing their gratitude for always being there and helping in times of need. These were former team members that you knew you had a positive impact on their lives.
What does Success Mean?
In the beginning, Dr. Ashley viewed success through the lens of traditional metrics like most people, such as promotions, recognition, and individual achievements. As he advanced in his career, his views began to evolve. Success, to him, now means the success of others and the collective impact they create together. “In my current role, the ultimate measure of success is actually overwhelming demand for my time,” he points out, “when teams across the organization are constantly seeking my guidance and perspective.” This confirms to him he has built the trust and credibility necessary to drive meaningful outcomes.
For Dr. Ashley, success also means helping sales teams translate complex customer requirements into solutions that truly serve their mission. He explains it is about being the bridge between the customer’s language and the company’s capabilities, ensuring they focus on every customer, every workload, every time, and get it right.
“Most importantly, it’s about achieving success through people, building strength by lifting others up and helping them move faster and farther than they could alone,” Dr. Ashley says.
Responsibilities of Principal Strategic Account Executive
At Amazon, Dr. Ashley’s role is advisory. He explains it has two sides. He advises Amazon’s leadership about the customer. This role involves recommending which capabilities the company may want to invest in, suggesting how to approach the customer, and pointing out where things are headed. His insights are based on everything he sees and hears. He also taps into his ongoing conversations with customers. Dr. Ashley also helps prioritizes what should be done first, as not everything can be done at once. He assists in determining what should be considered well off into the future. Dr. Ashley engages the internal AWS teams heavily to understand where each team sits with each unique customer and the challenges they are facing. From these discussions, we can plan out a way forward for the customers and bring everything Amazon has to bear to solve their problems.
The other side of his role involves engaging with customers to the point of obsession. He advises them on how to get the best value dealing with Amazon or the private sector in general, as many customers have spent their entire careers in government focused on the mission and need a translator. This type of engagement allows Dr. Ashley to become a trusted advisor who is obsessed with the customers’ success putting the mission above all else.
“My days are built around translation and acceleration,” Dr. Ashley points out. “I spend significant time helping sales teams understand and translate customer needs and requirements into language that allows us to deliver our best solutions.” Having been a customer in the defense and intelligence space for decades, he helps teams understand the mission space in a way that can only be understood by someone who has lived it.
In addition, about 20 percent of Dr. Ashley’s day is dedicated to mentoring and coaching at the individual level.
Plans for the Future
Personally, Dr. Ashley hopes to keep doing what he is doing. Professionally, continue at AWS as long as he can provide value. He hopes to continue to be Adjunct Faculty in a top tier Executive MBA program where he teaches Strategy. Eventually, he also plans to focus on his consulting business with a focus on post M&A organizational culture building – a current personal research area.
Dr. Ashley explains that the individuals are the team, who in turn build the culture. “The culture is where the success lies,” he says. “And that is my niche.” He believes that if an organization of any size could get the culture right, they could do anything. Team that are “culturally fit” do a lot more with a lot less. So, he plans to help people build those cultures.
“Eventually, when my time here [Amazon] will come to an end,” Dr. Ashley says. “I will pass the baton.”
Additionally, he hopes to publish his first book in late fall 2025 based on a leadership model that he has crafted and refined over several decades, targeting the middle manager.
Advice for Aspiring Leaders
From his own professional journey — grocery retail, defense contracting, federal service, and ultimately AWS — Dr. Ashley has learned that the ability to adapt and apply your skills in new contexts is invaluable. So, his first piece of advice for aspiring leaders in the tech e-commerce industry is “Embrace continuous learning and adaptability.”
He points out that his 20+ years as a customer in the intelligence community gave him perspective he could never have gained by starting in tech. He tells aspiring leaders not to be afraid to take “seemingly unconventional paths.” And Dr. Ashley encourages them to focus on building people, not just products or processes.
“The most successful leaders I’ve observed are those who achieve success through others,” he says. He also stresses the importance of understanding that influence is often more powerful than authority.
“Whether you’re in a startup or a large corporation, your ability to rally teams, translate complex requirements, and build trust will determine your impact far more than your title or position on the organization chart,” Dr. Ashley tells aspiring leaders.
The Legacy!
Dr. Ashley wants to be remembered as someone who proved that success comes through people. “My legacy is the network of leaders I’ve helped develop who go on to build others up,” he says.
“If I can inspire other leaders to approach their roles with the same commitment to developing others and serving something larger than themselves, then I’ll have succeeded in creating a lasting impact that extends far beyond any individual achievement or corporate result,” Dr. Ashley says. He quotes Jack Welch, “It’s not about you, it’s about them,” to stress that point.
