diff --git a/daft/daft.pyi b/daft/daft.pyi
index a33dc7cf38..2c44699ecc 100644
--- a/daft/daft.pyi
+++ b/daft/daft.pyi
@@ -472,6 +472,11 @@ class S3Config:
         """Replaces values if provided, returning a new S3Config"""
         ...
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def from_env() -> S3Config:
+        """Creates an S3Config, retrieving credentials and configurations from the current environtment"""
+        ...
+
 class AzureConfig:
     """
     I/O configuration for accessing Azure Blob Storage.
@@ -530,6 +535,8 @@ class IOConfig:
         """
         Recreate an IOConfig from a JSON string.
         """
+        ...
+
     def replace(
         self, s3: S3Config | None = None, azure: AzureConfig | None = None, gcs: GCSConfig | None = None
     ) -> IOConfig:
diff --git a/src/common/io-config/src/python.rs b/src/common/io-config/src/python.rs
index ecfeb19c25..a24cf2d443 100644
--- a/src/common/io-config/src/python.rs
+++ b/src/common/io-config/src/python.rs
@@ -263,6 +263,21 @@ impl S3Config {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Creates an S3Config from the current environment, auto-discovering variables such as
+    /// credentials, regions and more.
+    #[staticmethod]
+    pub fn from_env(py: Python) -> PyResult<Self> {
+        let io_config_from_env_func = py
+            .import(pyo3::intern!(py, "daft"))?
+            .getattr(pyo3::intern!(py, "daft"))?
+            .getattr(pyo3::intern!(py, "s3_config_from_env"))?;
+        io_config_from_env_func.call0().map(|pyany| {
+            pyany
+                .extract()
+                .expect("s3_config_from_env function must return S3Config")
+        })
+    }
+
     pub fn __repr__(&self) -> PyResult<String> {
         Ok(format!("{}", self.config))
     }
diff --git a/src/daft-io/src/python.rs b/src/daft-io/src/python.rs
index b85140b4b4..3ce4b59ba3 100644
--- a/src/daft-io/src/python.rs
+++ b/src/daft-io/src/python.rs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ pub use common_io_config::python::{AzureConfig, GCSConfig, IOConfig};
 pub use py::register_modules;
 
 mod py {
-    use crate::{get_io_client, get_runtime, parse_url, stats::IOStatsContext};
+    use crate::{get_io_client, get_runtime, parse_url, s3_like, stats::IOStatsContext};
     use common_error::DaftResult;
     use futures::TryStreamExt;
     use pyo3::{
@@ -66,11 +66,24 @@ mod py {
         Ok(crate::set_io_pool_num_threads(num_threads as usize))
     }
 
+    /// Creates an S3Config from the current environment, auto-discovering variables such as
+    /// credentials, regions and more.
+    #[pyfunction]
+    fn s3_config_from_env(py: Python) -> PyResult<common_io_config::python::S3Config> {
+        let s3_config: DaftResult<common_io_config::S3Config> = py.allow_threads(|| {
+            let runtime = get_runtime(false)?;
+            let runtime_handle = runtime.handle();
+            let _rt_guard = runtime_handle.enter();
+            runtime_handle.block_on(async { Ok(s3_like::s3_config_from_env().await?) })
+        });
+        Ok(common_io_config::python::S3Config { config: s3_config? })
+    }
+
     pub fn register_modules(py: Python, parent: &PyModule) -> PyResult<()> {
         common_io_config::python::register_modules(py, parent)?;
         parent.add_function(wrap_pyfunction!(io_glob, parent)?)?;
         parent.add_function(wrap_pyfunction!(set_io_pool_num_threads, parent)?)?;
-
+        parent.add_function(wrap_pyfunction!(s3_config_from_env, parent)?)?;
         Ok(())
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/daft-io/src/s3_like.rs b/src/daft-io/src/s3_like.rs
index 1a143f9040..0321547e4b 100644
--- a/src/daft-io/src/s3_like.rs
+++ b/src/daft-io/src/s3_like.rs
@@ -196,6 +196,33 @@ impl From<Error> for super::Error {
     }
 }
 
+/// Retrieves an S3Config from the environment by leveraging the AWS SDK's credentials chain
+pub(crate) async fn s3_config_from_env() -> super::Result<S3Config> {
+    let default_s3_config = S3Config::default();
+    let (anonymous, s3_conf) = build_s3_conf(&default_s3_config, None).await?;
+    let creds = s3_conf
+        .credentials_cache()
+        .provide_cached_credentials()
+        .await
+        .with_context(|_| UnableToLoadCredentialsSnafu {})?;
+    let key_id = Some(creds.access_key_id().to_string());
+    let access_key = Some(creds.secret_access_key().to_string());
+    let session_token = creds.session_token().map(|t| t.to_string());
+    let region_name = s3_conf.region().map(|r| r.to_string());
+    Ok(S3Config {
+        // Do not perform auto-discovery of endpoint_url. This is possible, but requires quite a bit
+        // of work that our current implementation of `build_s3_conf` does not yet do. See smithy-rs code:
+        // https://github.com/smithy-lang/smithy-rs/blob/94ecd38c2518583042796b2b45c37947237e31dd/aws/rust-runtime/aws-config/src/lib.rs#L824-L849
+        endpoint_url: None,
+        region_name,
+        key_id,
+        session_token,
+        access_key,
+        anonymous,
+        ..default_s3_config
+    })
+}
+
 /// Helper to parse S3 URLs, returning (scheme, bucket, key)
 fn parse_url(uri: &str) -> super::Result<(String, String, String)> {
     let parsed = url::Url::parse(uri).with_context(|_| InvalidUrlSnafu { path: uri })?;
@@ -247,10 +274,10 @@ fn handle_https_client_settings(
     Ok(builder)
 }
 
-async fn build_s3_client(
+async fn build_s3_conf(
     config: &S3Config,
     credentials_cache: Option<SharedCredentialsCache>,
-) -> super::Result<(bool, s3::Client)> {
+) -> super::Result<(bool, s3::Config)> {
     const DEFAULT_REGION: Region = Region::from_static("us-east-1");
 
     let mut anonymous = config.anonymous;
@@ -405,6 +432,15 @@ async fn build_s3_client(
     } else {
         s3_conf
     };
+
+    Ok((anonymous, s3_conf))
+}
+
+async fn build_s3_client(
+    config: &S3Config,
+    credentials_cache: Option<SharedCredentialsCache>,
+) -> super::Result<(bool, s3::Client)> {
+    let (anonymous, s3_conf) = build_s3_conf(config, credentials_cache).await?;
     Ok((anonymous, s3::Client::from_conf(s3_conf)))
 }