Space Technology Entrepreneur & CEO of Starcloud; Pioneer in Orbital Data Centers for AI; Former Goldman Sachs Executive
Philip Johnston Biography
Philip Johnston is a serial entrepreneur and space technology leader known as the co-founder and CEO of Starcloud, a company focused on designing, building, and deploying orbital data centers to address the energy demands of artificial intelligence. Starcloud develops data centers in space that harness constant solar energy and natural radiative cooling, enabling rapid scaling to gigawatt capacity without the land use or permitting constraints of Earth-based infrastructure. Johnston holds an MPA in national security and technology from Harvard University, an MBA from Wharton, an MA in applied mathematics and theoretical physics from Columbia University, and is a CFA charter holder. He served as student body president at Harvard Kennedy School, representing 1,200 postgraduate students, and was a teaching fellow in entrepreneurial finance at Harvard.
Before focusing on space technology, Johnston built a career spanning finance, consulting, and entrepreneurship. He began at Goldman Sachs before joining the United Nations, where he managed the distribution of more than $100 million in grants across sub-Saharan Africa and led diplomatic missions to the World Bank, IMF, and national delegations. He later became a vice president in algorithmic trading at BNP Paribas CIB, developing expertise in quantitative systems and risk. Johnston also worked as a consultant with McKinsey & Company, contributing to projects with various national space agencies. Prior to Starcloud, Johnston was co-founder, co-CEO, and board chair of Opontia, where he helped raise a $42 million Series A round, scaled the business to more than 100 employees, and led multiple acquisitions, establishing Opontia as a leading digital brands aggregator across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Johnston co-founded Starcloud, which has participated in Y Combinator and raised significant seed funding from investors including Y Combinator, NFX, and In-Q-Tel. The company is part of NVIDIA Inception Program. Starcloud launched its first satellite, Starcloud-1, equipped with an NVIDIA H100 GPU, which trained NanoGPT, a large language model, marking the first time an LLM was trained in space. The FCC accepted for filing an application by Starcloud for a constellation of 88,000 orbital data center satellites, and the company announced a $170 million Series A at a $1.1 billion valuation led by Benchmark and EQT Ventures, making Starcloud one of the fastest unicorns in Y Combinator history.
As a public voice on the future of AI infrastructure, Johnston is a keynote speaker at events such as Future Investment Initiative and Slush, sharing insights on venture capital, algorithmic trading, consulting, and public policy. His thesis—that building data centers in space is key to addressing the AI energy challenge—has attracted attention from governments and investors. Starcloud has received interest from high levels of government, including meetings with Senator Mike Rounds, chair of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, who views large data centers in space as a matter of national security. Johnston is recognized for translating complex engineering and geopolitical realities into a vision for the future at the intersection of AI, energy, and space technology.
Contact a speaker booking agent to check availability on Philip Johnston and other top speakers and celebrities.
-
How do I book Philip Johnston to speak at my event?
Our experienced booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure speakers like Philip Johnston for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment since 2002. Click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page to check availability for Philip Johnston, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get speaking fee information and check availability for Philip Johnston or any other speaker of your choice. -
What are the speaker fees for Philip Johnston
Speaking fees for Philip Johnston, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. The estimated fees to book Philip Johnston are $50,000 - $100,000 for live events and $30,000 - $50,000 for virtual events. For the most current speaking fee to hire Philip Johnston, click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak directly with an experienced booking agent. -
What topics does Philip Johnston speak about?
Philip Johnston is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Disruptive Thinking, Energy, Executive Leadership, Finance, Futurism, Space, Thought Leadership, Venture Capital -
Where does Philip Johnston travel from?
Philip Johnston generally travels from Redmond, WA, USA, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent. -
Who is Philip Johnston’s agent?
AAE Speakers Bureau has successfully booked keynote speakers like Philip Johnston for clients worldwide since 2002. As a full-service speaker booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Please click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page including the details of your event, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book Philip Johnston for your next private or corporate function. -
What is a full-service speaker booking agency?
AAE Speakers Bureau is a full-service speaker booking agency, meaning we can completely manage the speaker’s or celebrity’s engagement with your organization from the time of booking your speaker through the event’s completion. We provide all of the services you need to host Philip Johnston or any other speaker of your choice, including offer negotiation, contractual assistance, accounting and billing, and event speaker travel and logistics services. When you book a speaker with us, we manage the process of hosting a speaker for you as an extension of your team. Our goal is to give our clients peace of mind and a best-in-class service experience when booking a speaker with us. -
Why is AAE Speakers Bureau different from other booking agencies?
If you’re looking for the best, unbiased speaker recommendations, paired with a top-notch customer service experience, you’re in the right place. At AAE Speakers Bureau, we exclusively represent the interests of our clients - professional organizations, companies, universities, and associations. We intentionally do not represent the speakers we feature or book. That is so we can present our clients with the broadest and best performing set of speaker options in the market today, and we can make these recommendations without any obligation to promote a specific speaker over another. This is why when our agents suggest a speaker for your event, you can be assured that they are of the highest quality with a history of proven success with our other clients.
Philip Johnston is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics. The estimated speaking fee range to book Philip Johnston for your event is $50,000 - $100,000. Philip Johnston generally travels from Redmond, WA, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Ali Ghodsi, Mike Sicilia, Clay Magouyrk, Jake Ryan and Andrew Dai. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Philip Johnston for an upcoming live or virtual event.
This website is a resource for event professionals and strives to provide the most comprehensive catalog of thought leaders and industry experts to consider for speaking engagements. A listing or profile on this website does not imply an agency affiliation or endorsement by the talent.
All American Entertainment (AAE) exclusively represents the interests of talent buyers, and does not claim to be the agency or management for any speaker or artist on this site. AAE is a talent booking agency for paid events only. We do not handle requests for donation of time or media requests for interviews, and cannot provide celebrity contact information.
If you are the talent and wish to request a profile update or removal from our online directory, please submit a profile request form.








