Born and raised outside of Philadelphia in New Jersey, Sagatom moved to Washington, D.C., to attend American University where he graduated with a degree in business administration and international studies. While at American, he studied abroad in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and Tbilisi, Georgia. After graduation, Sagatom joined the Council on Foreign Relations, where he helped direct its Program on Energy Security and Climate Change. While at CFR, he published widely on emerging international security problems stemming from global energy transitions including U.S.-China economic competition, Russia’s predatory nuclear industry, and global climate risk. Sagatom left the Council on Foreign Relations to pursue research on a Fulbright grant in Kyiv, Ukraine, on advancing the country’s energy sector reforms. While in Ukraine, he also helped advise Ukrainian policymakers and civil society on international energy policy and draft energy reform legislation. Sagatom spent the past summer as a graduate researcher in the State Department's Office of Energy Transformation, which leads the U.S. government's international clean energy policy.