diff --git a/rust-runtime/aws-smithy-types/Cargo.toml b/rust-runtime/aws-smithy-types/Cargo.toml
index aa2462d6d0..60af72da0f 100644
--- a/rust-runtime/aws-smithy-types/Cargo.toml
+++ b/rust-runtime/aws-smithy-types/Cargo.toml
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ repository = "https://github.com/awslabs/smithy-rs"
 
 [features]
 test-util = []
+serde-serialize = []
+serde-deserialize = []
 
 [dependencies]
 itoa = "1.0.0"
@@ -25,6 +27,7 @@ serde = { version = "1", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = "1"
 criterion = "0.4"
 rand = "0.8.4"
+ciborium = { version = "0.2.1" }
 
 [package.metadata.docs.rs]
 all-features = true
@@ -35,3 +38,7 @@ rustdoc-args = ["--cfg", "docsrs"]
 [[bench]]
 name = "base64"
 harness = false
+
+[target."cfg(aws_sdk_unstable)".dependencies.serde]
+version = "1"
+features = ["derive"]
diff --git a/rust-runtime/aws-smithy-types/src/date_time/de.rs b/rust-runtime/aws-smithy-types/src/date_time/de.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c87a32e0f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rust-runtime/aws-smithy-types/src/date_time/de.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
+use super::*;
+use serde::de::{Error, Visitor};
+use serde::Deserialize;
+
+struct DateTimeVisitor;
+
+struct NonHumanReadableDateTimeVisitor;
+
+impl<'de> Visitor<'de> for DateTimeVisitor {
+    type Value = DateTime;
+    fn expecting(&self, formatter: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
+        formatter.write_str("expected RFC-3339 Date Time")
+    }
+
+    fn visit_str<E>(self, v: &str) -> Result<Self::Value, E>
+    where
+        E: serde::de::Error,
+    {
+        match DateTime::from_str(v, Format::DateTime) {
+            Ok(e) => Ok(e),
+            Err(e) => Err(Error::custom(e)),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'de> Visitor<'de> for NonHumanReadableDateTimeVisitor {
+    type Value = DateTime;
+    fn expecting(&self, formatter: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
+        formatter.write_str("DateTime type expects a tuple of i64 and u32 when deserializing from non human readable format like CBOR or AVRO, i.e. (i64, u32)")
+    }
+
+    fn visit_seq<A>(self, mut seq: A) -> Result<Self::Value, A::Error>
+    where
+        A: serde::de::SeqAccess<'de>,
+    {
+        match seq.size_hint() {
+            Some(2) | None => match (seq.next_element()?, seq.next_element()?) {
+                (Some(seconds), Some(subsecond_nanos)) => Ok(DateTime {
+                    seconds,
+                    subsecond_nanos,
+                }),
+                _ => return Err(Error::custom("datatype mismatch")),
+            },
+            _ => Err(Error::custom("Size mismatch")),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for DateTime {
+    fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error>
+    where
+        D: serde::Deserializer<'de>,
+    {
+        if deserializer.is_human_readable() {
+            deserializer.deserialize_str(DateTimeVisitor)
+        } else {
+            deserializer.deserialize_tuple(2, NonHumanReadableDateTimeVisitor)
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod test {
+    use super::*;
+
+    /// check for human redable format
+    #[test]
+    fn de_human_readable_datetime() {
+        use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+
+        let datetime = DateTime::from_secs(1576540098);
+        #[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, PartialEq)]
+        struct Test {
+            datetime: DateTime,
+        }
+        let datetime_json = r#"{"datetime":"2019-12-16T23:48:18Z"}"#;
+        let test = serde_json::from_str::<Test>(&datetime_json).ok();
+        assert!(test == Some(Test { datetime }));
+    }
+
+    /// check for non-human redable format
+    #[test]
+    fn de_not_human_readable_datetime() {
+        {
+            let cbor = ciborium::value::Value::Array(vec![
+                ciborium::value::Value::Integer(1576540098i64.into()),
+                ciborium::value::Value::Integer(0u32.into()),
+            ]);
+            let mut buf = vec![];
+            let _ = ciborium::ser::into_writer(&cbor, &mut buf);
+            let cbor_dt: DateTime = ciborium::de::from_reader(std::io::Cursor::new(buf)).unwrap();
+            assert_eq!(
+                cbor_dt,
+                DateTime {
+                    seconds: 1576540098i64,
+                    subsecond_nanos: 0
+                }
+            );
+        };
+
+        {
+            let cbor = ciborium::value::Value::Array(vec![
+                ciborium::value::Value::Integer(0i64.into()),
+                ciborium::value::Value::Integer(0u32.into()),
+            ]);
+            let mut buf = vec![];
+            let _ = ciborium::ser::into_writer(&cbor, &mut buf);
+            let cbor_dt: DateTime = ciborium::de::from_reader(std::io::Cursor::new(buf)).unwrap();
+            assert_eq!(
+                cbor_dt,
+                DateTime {
+                    seconds: 0,
+                    subsecond_nanos: 0
+                }
+            );
+        };
+
+        {
+            let cbor = ciborium::value::Value::Array(vec![
+                ciborium::value::Value::Integer(i64::MAX.into()),
+                ciborium::value::Value::Integer(u32::MAX.into()),
+            ]);
+            let mut buf = vec![];
+            let _ = ciborium::ser::into_writer(&cbor, &mut buf);
+            let cbor_dt: DateTime = ciborium::de::from_reader(std::io::Cursor::new(buf)).unwrap();
+            assert_eq!(
+                cbor_dt,
+                DateTime {
+                    seconds: i64::MAX,
+                    subsecond_nanos: u32::MAX
+                }
+            );
+        };
+    }
+}
diff --git a/rust-runtime/aws-smithy-types/src/date_time/mod.rs b/rust-runtime/aws-smithy-types/src/date_time/mod.rs
index 84ac29799b..8dcdc53067 100644
--- a/rust-runtime/aws-smithy-types/src/date_time/mod.rs
+++ b/rust-runtime/aws-smithy-types/src/date_time/mod.rs
@@ -17,7 +17,12 @@ use std::time::Duration;
 use std::time::SystemTime;
 use std::time::UNIX_EPOCH;
 
+#[cfg(all(aws_sdk_unstable, feature = "serde-deserialize"))]
+mod de;
 mod format;
+#[cfg(all(aws_sdk_unstable, feature = "serde-serialize"))]
+mod ser;
+
 pub use self::format::DateTimeFormatError;
 pub use self::format::DateTimeParseError;
 
@@ -51,8 +56,8 @@ const NANOS_PER_SECOND_U32: u32 = 1_000_000_000;
 /// [`time`](https://crates.io/crates/time) or [`chrono`](https://crates.io/crates/chrono).
 #[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Hash, Clone, Copy)]
 pub struct DateTime {
-    seconds: i64,
-    subsecond_nanos: u32,
+    pub(crate) seconds: i64,
+    pub(crate) subsecond_nanos: u32,
 }
 
 /* ANCHOR_END: date_time */
diff --git a/rust-runtime/aws-smithy-types/src/date_time/ser.rs b/rust-runtime/aws-smithy-types/src/date_time/ser.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5ea5f55dcd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rust-runtime/aws-smithy-types/src/date_time/ser.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
+use super::*;
+use serde::ser::SerializeTuple;
+
+impl serde::Serialize for DateTime {
+    fn serialize<S>(&self, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
+    where
+        S: serde::Serializer,
+    {
+        if serializer.is_human_readable() {
+            match self.fmt(Format::DateTime) {
+                Ok(val) => serializer.serialize_str(&val),
+                Err(e) => Err(serde::ser::Error::custom(e)),
+            }
+        } else {
+            let mut tup_ser = serializer.serialize_tuple(2)?;
+            tup_ser.serialize_element(&self.seconds)?;
+            tup_ser.serialize_element(&self.subsecond_nanos)?;
+            tup_ser.end()
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod test {
+    use super::*;
+
+    /// check for human redable format
+    #[test]
+    fn ser_human_readable_datetime() {
+        use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+
+        let datetime = DateTime::from_secs(1576540098);
+        #[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, PartialEq)]
+        struct Test {
+            datetime: DateTime,
+        }
+        let datetime_json = r#"{"datetime":"2019-12-16T23:48:18Z"}"#;
+        assert!(serde_json::to_string(&Test { datetime }).ok() == Some(datetime_json.to_string()));
+    }
+
+    /// check for non-human redable format
+    #[test]
+    fn ser_not_human_readable_datetime() {
+        {
+            let cbor = ciborium::value::Value::Array(vec![
+                ciborium::value::Value::Integer(1576540098i64.into()),
+                ciborium::value::Value::Integer(0u32.into()),
+            ]);
+            let mut buf = vec![];
+            let mut buf2 = vec![];
+            let _ = ciborium::ser::into_writer(&cbor, &mut buf);
+            let _ = ciborium::ser::into_writer(&cbor, &mut buf2);
+            assert_eq!(buf, buf2);
+        };
+
+        {
+            let cbor = ciborium::value::Value::Array(vec![
+                ciborium::value::Value::Integer(0i64.into()),
+                ciborium::value::Value::Integer(0u32.into()),
+            ]);
+            let mut buf = vec![];
+            let mut buf2 = vec![];
+            let _ = ciborium::ser::into_writer(&cbor, &mut buf);
+            let _ = ciborium::ser::into_writer(&cbor, &mut buf2);
+            assert_eq!(buf, buf2);
+        };
+
+        {
+            let cbor = ciborium::value::Value::Array(vec![
+                ciborium::value::Value::Integer(i64::MAX.into()),
+                ciborium::value::Value::Integer(u32::MAX.into()),
+            ]);
+            let mut buf = vec![];
+            let mut buf2 = vec![];
+            let _ = ciborium::ser::into_writer(&cbor, &mut buf);
+            let _ = ciborium::ser::into_writer(&cbor, &mut buf2);
+            assert_eq!(buf, buf2);
+        };
+    }
+}