diff --git a/pydra/engine/helpers_aws.py b/pydra/engine/helpers_aws.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2e26320b1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pydra/engine/helpers_aws.py
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+"""List of helper methods and clients."""
+# TODO It would be nice to rewrite this to some class (e.g. AwsManager).
+
+try:
+    import boto3
+except ImportError:
+    pass
+
+import logging
+
+logger = logging.getLogger("pydra")
+
+s3_client: boto3.client = None
+
+
+def get_s3_client():
+    """Lazy getter for S3 client."""
+
+    global s3_client
+
+    if not s3_client:
+        s3_client = boto3.client("s3")
+
+    return s3_client
diff --git a/pydra/engine/helpers_file.py b/pydra/engine/helpers_file.py
index 1810eccd32..3640351c93 100644
--- a/pydra/engine/helpers_file.py
+++ b/pydra/engine/helpers_file.py
@@ -811,3 +811,9 @@ def is_existing_file(value):
         return Path(value).exists()
     except TypeError:
         return False
+
+
+def is_s3_file(f):
+    from .specs import S3File
+
+    return isinstance(f, S3File)
diff --git a/pydra/engine/specs.py b/pydra/engine/specs.py
index 063e0c197f..60725d35d7 100644
--- a/pydra/engine/specs.py
+++ b/pydra/engine/specs.py
@@ -25,6 +25,23 @@ class File:
     """An :obj:`os.pathlike` object, designating a file."""
 
 
+class S3File(File):
+    """Remote file in AWS S3 block storage."""
+
+    bucket_name: str = None
+    obj_key: str = None
+
+    @classmethod
+    def converter(cls, value):
+
+        # from helpers_aws import get_s3_client
+        # s3_client = get_s3_client()
+
+        # Upload file
+
+        raise NotImplementedError("S3File Converter")
+
+
 class Directory:
     """An :obj:`os.pathlike` object, designating a folder."""
 
@@ -183,7 +200,7 @@ def check_fields_input_spec(self):
                     require_to_check[fld.name] = mdata["requires"]
 
             if (
-                fld.type in [File, Directory]
+                fld.type in [File, Directory, S3File]
                 or "pydra.engine.specs.File" in str(fld.type)
                 or "pydra.engine.specs.Directory" in str(fld.type)
             ):
@@ -196,6 +213,10 @@ def check_fields_input_spec(self):
 
     def _file_check(self, field):
         """checking if the file exists"""
+
+        if field.type is S3File:
+            return self._s3_file_exists(field)
+
         if isinstance(getattr(self, field.name), list):
             # if value is a list and type is a list of Files/Directory, checking all elements
             if field.type in [ty.List[File], ty.List[Directory]]:
@@ -213,6 +234,26 @@ def _file_check(self, field):
                     f"the file {file} from the {field.name} input does not exist"
                 )
 
+    def _s3_file_exists(self, field):
+        """Checks if the file exists in the bucket and is accessible."""
+
+        assert isinstance(field.type, S3File), f"Field {field} is not of type S3File."
+
+        try:
+            from botocore.exceptions import ClientError
+            from helpers_aws import get_s3_client
+        except ImportError:
+            pass
+
+        s3_client = get_s3_client()
+
+        bucket, key = field.bucket, field.obj_key
+        try:
+            s3_client.head_object(Bucket=bucket, Key=key)
+            return True
+        except ClientError:
+            return False
+
     def check_metadata(self):
         """Check contained metadata."""
 
diff --git a/pydra/engine/task.py b/pydra/engine/task.py
index a62117bb21..302fc21607 100644
--- a/pydra/engine/task.py
+++ b/pydra/engine/task.py
@@ -825,3 +825,9 @@ def container_args(self):
         cargs.extend(["--pwd", str(self.output_cpath)])
         cargs.append(self.inputs.image)
         return cargs
+
+
+class ServerlessTask(ShellCommandTask):
+    """Placeholder for a type of Tasks running using a FaaS (aka Serverless) platform."""
+
+    pass
diff --git a/pydra/engine/tests/test_helpers_aws.py b/pydra/engine/tests/test_helpers_aws.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e1aaf010aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pydra/engine/tests/test_helpers_aws.py
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import botocore
+
+from ..helpers_aws import (
+    s3_client,
+    get_s3_client,
+)
+
+
+def test_get_s3_client():
+    assert s3_client is None
+    r = get_s3_client()
+
+    assert isinstance(r, botocore.client.BaseClient)
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 89dc37dd10..28b97fd2e1 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ test_requires =
     tornado
     boutiques
     pympler
+    boto3
 packages = find:
 include_package_data = True
 
@@ -84,6 +85,7 @@ dev =
     %(test)s
     black==21.4b2
     pre-commit
+    boto3
 dask =
     %(test)s
     dask