Mark Schoonover

About Mark Schoonover

Most cloud architects at my level manage the technology from a distance. I don\'t. I lead AI-augmented development teams delivering enterprise and government cloud platforms — and I build with the same tools my developers use. Right now that means using Claude Code to build CloudPath Academy, a hands-on AWS certification resource I created because I got tired of study materials that teach you what AWS services do without explaining why they were designed that way. That gap between certification knowledge and real-world judgment is exactly what I\'m trying to close.I\'m also developing AWS Broken Labs — a hands-on environment where engineers learn by working through real misconfiguration scenarios, not multiple choice questions. Because the skills that matter in production aren\'t the ones you build from practice tests.My background includes time as a Technical Account Manager at AWS, which gave me a ground-level view of how enterprises actually succeed and fail with cloud adoption — and it wasn\'t usually a technology problem. It was a judgment problem. That perspective shapes how I lead teams, how I advise on architecture decisions, and how I think about cloud platforms at scale.6x AWS Certified across Architect, Developer, DevOps, Security, Networking, and Machine Learning tracks.Founder → CloudPath Academy: https://cloudpathacademy.ka6wke.net/ → Connect if you\'re navigating cloud or AI transformation at the enterprise level“The technology you use impresses no one. The experience you create with it is everything.” – Sean Gere

Experience

1. Enterprise Cloud Architect & Developer

   T And T Consulting Services, Inc

   Aug 2025 — Present · Chino Valley, AZ, US

   Provided technical leadership as the AWS Cloud Architect and senior developer for an enterprise AI platform* Guided UI and AWS engineering teams using an Agile Scrum process, focusing on improving and extending an existing cloud architecture* Enhanced AI driven query workflows across documents, structured data, and spreadsheets to better support real customer use cases* Strengthened platform security, reliability, and operational consistency based on direct customer and stakeholder feedback* Expanded and refined integrations with Amazon Bedrock, DynamoDB, App Runner, CloudFront, and S3* Improved multi account governance and environment isolation using AWS Organizations and Control Tower* Advanced observability, security, and cost awareness through CloudWatch, CloudTrail, Certificate Manager, Parameter Store, Secrets Manager, and ECR* Supported customer demonstrations, proposal development, and technical decision making to ensure enterprise readiness, scalability, and secure AI capabilities

Education

• California Army Reserve, National Guard Officer Candidate School

  Commissioned 2LT, Signal Corps, Army Officer Basic Training

• National University

  Bachelors of Science, Computer Science

Skills

• Wireless
• Facebook
• Database Design
• Ubuntu
• Customer Experience
• Jquery UI
• Python
• Libreoffice
• Security+
• Integration
• Oracle Sql
• Vpn
• Wireless Technologies
• Enterprise Software
• Infrastructure
• Centos
• Gentoo Linux
• System Deployment
• Servers
• Sql
• Debian Sparc
• Telecommunications
• Perl
• Retail
• Databases
• Bash
• Retail Sales
• Jquery
• Web Applications
• Management
• Direct Sales
• Cisco Systems Products
• Networking
• Team Leadership
• Sales Operations
• Customer Retention
• Customer Service
• Mysql
• Solaris 8/9/10
• Cisco Technologies