The technological industry continues to grow and adapt to global needs. The individuals behind the scenes have helped shape the way businesses and their customers connect. Joshua Burgin has played a significant role in building and shaping the way technology works for businesses. He has helped develop, implement, and evolve different software and technologies for numerous leading businesses in a variety of industries. He is a well-established leader and innovator in his field. He also lives in the local Seattle area.
Burgin developed his passion for technology early in life. He would start his impressive journey at Amazon, being one of their first 100 employees. He didn’t know then the vital role he would continue to play today in the tech industry. He has a clear track record of building profitable businesses from the ground up, as well as helping established businesses expand their reach within the digital world. He has a sincere passion for growing diverse and inclusive organizations that are committed to producing technological products and advancements that improve the lives of people around the globe.
Career History
Throughout his professional career, Burgin has explored positions of leadership and innovation. He is passionate about not only demonstrating the skills required to be a leader, but he is also committed to providing support for future innovators and leaders. He truly believes in the ability of technology to expand and improve the world. He has proven himself to be a valuable asset to a number of industry-leading businesses. He provides special skill sets that involve business development, product strategy, financial management, cloud computing, customer acquisition, and so much more.
As of January 2024, Joshua Burgin is the Chief Product Officer at Upwind Security. Previously, he was Vice President of Product, Engineering, and Strategy at VMware. VMware is a multi-billion-dollar cloud software business. In his current position, he was responsible for providing leadership in the areas of product, strategy, and customer experience. His years of experience in the field make him an ideal leader for company-wide initiatives. His position allows him to work with senior leadership, as well as teams of highly-skilled employees in areas of onboarding, software engineering, security, and lifecycle management.
Before joining Upwind Security and VMware, Burgin wore many hats within the Amazon corporation. His most recent role was that of General Manager at Amazon Web Services (AWS). He was an essential part of helping AWS launch outposts in over 65 countries, vastly expanding Amazon’s digital reach for customers and businesses around the globe. Before taking on this impressive leadership role, he developed his skill and experience under an Amazon Senior Executive, Charlie Bell. Burgin worked as Bell’s Chief of Staff and Technical Advisor. In this role, he was able to learn directly from an experienced individual in tech. In his position, Burgin would hone the skills to track industry trends, develop adaptive strategies, and develop solutions presented by business and technological challenges. You can follow Joshua Burgin on SubStack.
His speaking and interviews are available on his YouTube Channel.
From 2014-2019, Burgin was a Director and General Manager in Compute Services. During this time, he sponsored three successful acquisitions. This included ClusterK, Thinkbox, and Nimble Software. He also owned several lines of business, such as Auto Scaling, EC3 Spot, and Reserved Instances/Savings Plans.
Burgin has worked for various start-up companies, playing a vital role in helping these companies not only get off the ground but become leaders in their respective industries. One example is his time at Zynga. He was crucial to their in-game advertising platform. Today, this company continues to thrive within the gaming industry.
In 1997, Burgin joined a small team of like-minded individuals who wanted to completely revolutionize the shopping experience. He earned the title of Senior Software Engineer for Amazon. He designed and developed content and fleet management software for their retail website. He also automated failover processes for customer-facing databases. This improved availability and decreased failure response time.
Publications
Joshua Burgin possesses a wealth of knowledge and experience that is valuable to others. He has led small teams of skilled individuals to teams consisting of numerous departments and hundreds of employees. His various leadership roles, as well as his knowledge of industry trends and business operations, have inspired numerous publications. Some of his most noted publications include:
- Encouraging Calculated Risk Taking- this article explores how an organization or company builds by taking calculated risks, such as big bets and outside-the-box thinking. He informs his reader that this is done by creating a culture of psychological safety. This is a shared belief that the team is safe and that employees can be their true selves without fear of negative consequences.
- Creating a Culture of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging in Tech- Designed as a guide for leaders and executives, this article provides practical advice to senior members of any business team and provides an atmosphere that supports diversity and inclusion.
- How to Be a Great Leader (Career Advice for Managers)- Due to his experience and passion for his work, Burgin has often filled roles of leadership, giving him a unique insight into how to successfully lead, educate, and inspire. This publication provides guidance for those looking to lead in the tech industry.
Burgin has provided several interviews and attended events where he was a requested keynote speaker. Within his public speaking engagements, he provides insights into technology, innovation, and leadership. He helps to inspire the future leaders of the tech industry and beyond.
Advisory Board Member ADL (Seattle)
The mission of the ADL organization is particularly critical at present due to the increasing instances of antisemitism. In a recent interview with Joshua Burgin, he discussed why he supports the ADL in their fight against antisemitism. He shared the story in a tweet.
Patents
As a leader, Joshua Burgin has helped invent, develop, and implement various technological products, services, and systems. He is named inventor on more than 20 patents. These patents, largely in line with the demands of business in technology, demonstrate his passion and commitment to this industry. His patents include:
- Coordinating predictive autoscaling of virtualized resource groups
- Specialized cloud provider regions for availability-sensitive workloads
- Enabling conditional computing resource terminations based on forecasted capacity availability.
A Leader and Innovator
Joshua Burgin is a leader in the tech world. He has worked with small start-up companies as well as global giants. He continues to commit his work towards developing a business workplace that is diverse, inclusive, and leads the digital market. His unique skillset makes him an asset to any business seeking to grow, acquire customers, and provide state-of-the-art technological tools and services.
The Emerald City Journal interviewed Joshua about Israel’s Tech Economy.
Experience History (Seattle, Washington)
- Upwind Security – Chief Product Officer (January 2024 – Present) [Profile]
- VMware – Vice President of Product, Engineering & Strategy (January 2022 – January 2024) [Profile]
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) – General Manager, AWS Outposts
- Zynga – Senior Director, Technology Platform & Services
- RPI Print – Senior Manager, Product Management
- QL2 Software – Manager, Product & Program Management
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center – Senior Manager, Projects & Planning
- Pure Stuff – Senior Technical Program Manager
- Amazon – Senior Software Engineer
Education
- Haverford College – Bachelor’s Degree, Philosophy
Volunteering
- Anti-Defamation League – Advisory Board Member (January 2019 – Present)
- Union for Reform Judaism – Advisory Board Member – Camp Kalsman (July 2022 – Present)
