How Shon Jones’ Upbringing Inevitably Led Him To Become A Cloud Solution Architect For A Big Tech Company
Shon Jones traded what would have been a career in pharmacy for a future in technology, where he found a lifelong passion.
The Houston native was raised by parents who both worked in technology. As a teen, he recalls going to work with his father to put computers together for the summer and later working for Compaq for a few years. His career took a pivot, one that nearly led to him become a pharmacist. In 1997, he geared his studies around that career field but had a change of heart after considering the impact of charging $100 for medicine he said was valued at 30 cents.
“That didn’t seem to align with my spirit. That’s not for me,” he told AFROTECH™ in an interview.
Jones decided to focus on computer information systems. He enrolled at the University of Houston while simultaneously working as a network administrator, according to his LinkedIn. When he obtained a degree in c at the University of Houston, he already had been doing the work for years.
“By the time I graduated with my degree, I already had 12 years’ worth of experience in computers doing everything from telephones, Windows NT, networking computers together, setting up printers, setting up accounts in active directory, setting up email,” Jones explained. “I did it all while I was in school.”
As a top recruit, he claims his first role out of college was as a systems analyst at Citgo Petroleum. Today, he works at Microsoft, where he has risen up the ranks over the last decade from a premier field engineer to sGenerally, his latest role requires outreach to provide solutions to customers who may not know how to configure or use Microsoft products. He also works closely with Microsoft Federal to help government clients secure their data and credits as a helpful tool in the process.
“If I can help them secure while utilizing artificial intelligence — because I also specialize in artificial intelligence, specifically Copilot — then I take what I know from all the years of experience that I have, what I know about Microsoft 365, and what I know [about] data security,” he detailed. “I put all of that together to architect solutions for our customers.”
AFROTECH™ Conference
Driven by a mission to inspire others to find their footing in technology, Jones will be appearing at the upcoming AFROTECH™ Conference, which is making its way to the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston Oct. 27- 31, 2025.
“AFROTECH™ is that opportunity to reach back into the community of people who are starting out their careers, maybe juniors in their careers, to reach back out to them and say, ‘Hey, take this next step. Push forward. Keep going. Motivate yourself. Drive yourselves into these directions. These are the areas that we’re focusing on as a person who’s already been in the industry for 30 years. These are the things that inspire me, and these are what gets me up in the morning,’” Jones said.
He added, “Both of my parents were in technology. I grew up like this. So even if I wasn’t getting paid to do my job, I will still be doing my job just out of basic curiosity. That’s what drives me. And if I have that ability to speak to a larger audience and motivate and drive somebody else, I want to take that opportunity to inspire people to embrace technology.”
To hear more about what drives Jones and secure your ticket for AFROTECH™ Conference, click here.
