This document discusses how data science platforms can be built on cloud computing infrastructure like Amazon Web Services (AWS). It highlights how AWS provides scalable, on-demand computing and storage resources that allow data and compute needs to scale rapidly. Example applications and customer case studies are presented to show how various organizations are using AWS for large-scale data analysis, including genomics, computational fluid dynamics, and more. The document argues that distributed, programmable cloud infrastructure can support new types of data-driven science by providing massive, rapidly scaling resources.