Abel Cruz serves as the Assistant Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Seattle Pacific University (SPU). He is responsible for strategic leadership in planning, developing, and implementing information technology initiatives to support university operations, and overseeing campus technology strategies, infrastructure, data systems, and IT governance.
Prior to joining SPU, Abel served as Head of Customer Technology Solutions at Amazon Web Services (AWS), providing strategic technology and business guidance to AWS’ largest and most strategic customers. Before his time at AWS, Abel was the Vice President of Cloud and Innovation at RedSail Technologies, a leader in Pharmacy Software and Services, driving their modernization and cloud transformation strategy. Abel also spent over two decades at Microsoft where he held various technical and executive roles related to cloud computing, cloud governance, and security for regulated industries like healthcare, financial services, and State and Local Governments.
He holds an Engineering degree and an MBA. He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), and a certified Professional Program Manager (PMP). He is fluent in English and Spanish and makes his residence in Kent, Washington where he resides with his wife of 31 years and his adult children.