Liam Maxwell

Liam Maxwell (born June 1968) is a British technology executive and public servant. He was the Director of Government Transformation for Amazon Web Services until March 2026.

First serving as a Conservative councillor for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in 2007, Maxwell was the UK's first National Technology Adviser from April 2016 to August 2018. He was then the UK's first Chief Technology Officer (CTO) as part of the Government Digital Service from December 2012 until April 2016.

Early life Maxwell was born June 1968, in Nairobi, Kenya to a mother who was a nurse with the Flying Doctors and a father who was a health officer in the Nairobian government. Maxwell's family moved to the UK in 1970 where he was educated and boarded at Christ's Hospital.

Maxwell was educated at New College, Oxford and graduated with an MA in Human Sciences in 1991.

Government career Maxwell was elected in 2007 as a councillor for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and helped develop David Cameron's Big Society project.

Maxwell was asked to stay on permanently by Francis Maude in November/December, leading to Maxwell leaving his Eton position and becoming a civil servant.

In April 2012, Maxwell was appointed the new deputy government chief information officer (CIO), following the departure of Bill McCluggage, and now worked under Andy Nelson. In December 2012, the remaining IT functions in the ERG were merged with the parallel Government Digital Service. As part of this, Maxwell was appointed as the UK Government's Chief Technology Officer by Stephen Kelly; the role of Government Chief Information Officer was not transferred.

During his time in GDS, Maxwell established the Digital 5 group of the world's five leading digitally advanced governments, reformed technology spending controls under the "Technology Code of Practice", and led the Public Services Network, Crown Hosting Service and Digital Marketplace programmes. In 2014, he committed to staying in the role of CTO until at least 2018.

In April 2016, it was announced by the Cabinet Office that Maxwell would take on the new position of National Technology Adviser to Matt Hancock, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Ed Vaizey, Minister for the Digital Economy at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Post-government career Maxwell served as the Director of Government Transformation at Amazon Web Services from November 2018 until March 2026. Maxwell's role has included working with the Ukrainian government to help them download and move data out of the country after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In March 2026, Maxwell announced that he would be leaving his position at AWS.

Elections contested

2007 Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council election

Personal life Maxwell is a supporter of Southampton F.C. and Hampshire Cricket Club. He also has a sister.