Tomas Aftalion
Turning Data Into Climate Action
Title: CTO
Organization: Pachama
Age: 39
Tomas Aftalion is an Argentinian engineer and entrepreneur who uses advanced technology to address climate and environmental challenges. With a deep commitment to sustainability and innovation, he was the founding CTO of Pachama. This San Francisco-based startup leverages satellite data and machine learning to bring greater transparency, efficiency, and trust to global forest carbon markets.
During his tenure — which impressively spanned from inception through Series B — Tomas led the engineering and science teams, building the core infrastructure required for remote sensing, carbon quantification, and credit verification. These systems laid the technological foundation for Pachama’s impact on the voluntary carbon market.
Tomas holds dual master’s degrees in Information Technology and Information Systems Management from Carnegie Mellon University, where he specialized in artificial intelligence and cloud computing. This academic background not only shaped his technical expertise but also reinforced his passion for applying technology to real-world challenges. Before his work at Pachama, he applied data science to social impact projects across different sectors, including an initiative that used mobile phone data to support microfinance in Kenya — a clear testament to his global perspective and commitment to tech-for-good solutions.
At Pachama, he played a key role in developing industry-defining tools such as Dynamic Baselines, which use AI and satellite imagery to modernize the process of carbon credit issuance. Thanks to these efforts, his work was instrumental in earning Pachama recognition from Fast Company as one of the Most Innovative AI Companies, as well as inclusion in Forbes’ prestigious AI 50 list. Tomas is now building Illyapa, a platform for weather derivatives that empowers companies to hedge climate risk.
