Sean O’Brien

As Vice President of NET+ Services, Sean O’Brien leads Internet2’s strategy to help research and higher education institutions adopt and use cloud and emerging technologies effectively. He oversees the NET+ portfolio, including engagement with technology providers, service evaluations, communities of practice, and data and benchmarking capabilities.

Sean joined Internet2 in 2014 and has held progressively senior leadership roles within NET+. Under his leadership, NET+ has grown significantly and today serves more than 600 research and higher education institutions through a selective portfolio of approximately 20 services.

Sean has helped evolve NET+ as a platform for community-driven technology adoption, expanding its governance and creating new opportunities for institutions to share expertise and develop common approaches to emerging challenges. He has led initiatives, including the Cloud Scorecard and new data and benchmarking capabilities.

Prior to Internet2, Sean held administrative and technology roles in higher education and industry, with experience spanning project management, institutional research, managed hosting, and information security.

Sean is active across the research and higher education technology community and has held advisory and community leadership roles spanning higher education and the technology industry. He recently served as Expert-in-Residence at the University of Mary Washington’s Center for AI and the Liberal Arts.

Sean holds an M.A. from Gonzaga University and a B.A. from the University of Mary Washington.