Andrew Ko Founder / Entrepreneur

Andrew has spent the last 25 years of his professional career developing a well round set of skills ranging from sales, business development, consulting, accounting and corporate restructuring for the top management consulting and technology companies in the world. He’s experienced various industries in auto, banking, defense, counterterrorism, and health and human services. He has received various awards and accolades in every company but changed his career to focus towards the improvement of education. In 2003, he discovered his oldest child had a learning disability and recognized the bigger need for education to improve. Since then, he has been focused solely on the improvement of education using technology. During the COVID19 pandemic, Andrew decided this was the opportunity to launch Personalizing EDU, LLC, an advisory company focused on changing education.  His relationships with CXOs, education and political leaders from around the world has given him insight to a wide ranging set of topics.

Andrew was the Managing Director of Global Education at Amazon Web Services where his responsibilities include sustaining annual double-digit revenue growth while establishing a global education strategy. By driving innovation with cloud-based programs and solutions for EdTechs, Learning Companies, Higher Education Institutions, and K-12 systems, over the past four years, the business grew 37% CAGR. Revenue grew from a $86M business with a 22-person sales team, into a $546M organization established with four subdivisions and over 250 personnel. His education initiatives and customer wins were recognized publicly in two company quarterly earnings report and in the most recent Jeff Bezo’s letter to the shareholder Q1 2020. He developed several key strategic initiatives including the Alexa in education (AlexaEDU) with the vision of enabling Alexa as a learning tool; launched AWS RoboMaker, the first Machine Learning service created for robots; and launched the first ever cloud degree for community colleges that is expanding through the US and the world.

Prior to joining Amazon, he was the Corporate Vice President of Samsung Global Education and oversaw the B2B Enterprise Business for mobile products and solutions for the European region consisting of $3BN in revenue, 37 countries and 17 subsidiaries. In this role, he incubated key solutions for education, financial services, and the connected car industry. His highlighted win included the largest B2B tablet win with BMW’s “Touch Command” project that is integrated with over 500K BMWs and recognized by Samsung’s Chairman and CEO.

Prior to his move to South Korea, Andrew was the General Manager for Microsoft Corporation’s U.S. Education business.  His work included implementing large K-12 state-wide education cloud solution initiatives, modernizing student information systems, promoting STEM and Computer Science through public / private partnerships, and designing teacher professional development for technology use in the classroom.  He led the White House ConnectED initiative that enabled a billion-dollar technology investment towards the U.S. education system and the company was recognized (first ever) during President Obama’s State of the Union in 2014.

He is also a veteran of the Big Six consulting industry, including positions at Deloitte Touché Tohmatsu Emerging Markets Group and KPMG Consulting. He developed his skills through management consulting, financial accounting, corporate restructuring, process improvement and policy implementation serving in positions across the U.S. and international markets. His clients included the U.S. Department of Education, Korean Deposit Insurance Corporation, Korean Financial Supervisory Commission, World Bank, IMF, Asian Development Bank.

Governor Terry McAuliffe appointed Andrew as a member of the Virginia State Board of Education where he assisted in setting statewide curriculum standards, establishing high school graduation requirements, determining qualifications for classroom teachers, and establishing state testing and assessment programs.

Currently, Andrew participates in various nonprofit boards including Northern Virginia Community College Foundation, Fairfax County Public Schools Foundation, and recently asked to Co-Chair Fairfax County Public Schools Distance Learning Committee. Andrew earned his B.S. in Accounting from the University of Maryland and was a Certified Public Accountant. He and his wife have three children residing in Loudoun County, Virginia. In his spare time, he enjoys volunteering and always encourages others to participate in their communities.