A Conversation About Innovation, Collaboration, and Joining the Open-Source Movement

Stefanie Chiras, Red Hat’s Senior Vice President and General Manager, Red Hat Enterprise Linux Business Unit, Shares the Importance of Finding Your Voice and Bringing Value to the Table in the Tech Industry

tefanie Chiras, who was recently engines for her undergraduate degree at Harvard, promoted to Senior Vice President pursuing her master’s degree and PhD in mate- and General Manager, currently rials engineering at the University of California, leads the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Santa Barbara, and completing postdoc work in business unit at Red Hat. Chiras aerospace engineering at Princeton University. Sjoined the organization in 2018 — transitioning Following her studies, as well as a summer intern- from the business side of IBM Systems — excited ship working for NASA, Chiras chose a career in the to move fully into the open-source world that Red technology industry instead of becoming a college Hat is so committed to, building off her experience professor as she originally intended. in hardware space. Chiras began her career at IBM Research in Her background includes studying mechani- 2001, and then transitioned through the engineer- cal engineering with a specialty in combustion ing and development side of the business, where

SAPinsiderOnline.com she worked in everything from chip design to When I went to college, I loved physics and had system architecture, system design, and testing. grown up working with tools, so a mechanical engi- In 2012, she moved to the business side of IBM neering major seemed like the perfect solution. In my Systems, where her first corporate role involved senior year, another professor who was an amazing creating a business in the Linux space. Through that mentor suggested I go to graduate school and encour- exposure to the open-source ecosystem, Chiras aged me to pursue teaching at the college level. But gained familiarity and interest in Red Hat, which first, I took a summer internship at NASA in the she worked closely with as a trusted partner before materials program in Langley, Virginia, working in a eventually joining the organization. huge airplane hangar that was converted into a lab, SAPinsider recently spoke with Chiras to learn breaking sample materials apart, and studying how more about her journey in the technology industry they fractured. It was the first time I saw the passion and in the SAP space in particular. In this Q&A, she of people working together in a field like that. It was discusses the path that led to her current role, how a magnificent environment, with everyone so happy key mentors have influenced her life, and the rela- to be there every day, sharing ideas and fueling one tionship that Red Hat and SAP have forged to offer another’s innovation. I absolutely loved it. joint customers value today and into the future. In grad school, I went into materials engineering and pursued my PhD in that space with the full inten- tion to teach. I started teaching at the college level Q: Was there anything specific during my postdoc work and then decided to change about your upbringing or over to the commercial side of the industry. While education that helped lead you I loved the teaching aspect of academia, the lure of to a career in technology? collaborative and unified research being done in the industry was very appealing to tackle real-world prob- While I was growing up, both of my parents were lems. I joined IBM Research and ended up working in public school teachers. And my dad felt he could fix processor chips. I slowly worked my way up the stack anything that could be taken apart, no matter what it and gained a background in everything from metaliza- was — he just had to try. For example, he once wanted tion to chip design, system architecture, system design, me to help him fix a transmission that had gone out testing, and characterization. Then, around 2012, I on an old car. When I told him that I couldn’t do it, he moved from the engineering development side over said, “People do this every day. You can certainly do it to the business side, which was a big shift. once.” That was his line, and he gave me a fearless atti- tude toward tackling things, such as auto mechanics, that I didn’t know much about. Very few of the things Q: You’ve had quite a journey I have done in my life were things I knew everything throughout your schooling about before I got started. That exposure early on to and your career. Are there any going ahead anyway helped shape a worth-a-shot, particular skills you developed can-do view that helps guide everything I do, and that you feel helped your continually urges me to move to the next step and progression? take on anything. During my high-school education, I was very lucky I learned early on how important it is to surround to have a physics professor who was an unbelievable yourself with subject matter experts in other areas mentor. His teaching style was very pragmatic — he and be willing to learn from them. For example, when followed a this-is-how-the-world-works approach rather you get a PhD, you know a whole lot about a very than a textbook approach — which opened my eyes focused topic. Then, when you look to apply all that to a different view of science and changed how I’ve knowledge, it only works if it is complemented by other looked at things throughout my life. people’s expertise in other areas. Knowing your area

SAPinsiderOnline.com is only part of it — it is far more important to know the boundaries of your knowledge and how it interacts with everything around it. It’s a choice to be open to learning. It’s okay to lack knowledge about something, and it’s a gift to find an expert in that area and work with them. Looking for new places to learn from is something that has kept me motivated throughout my career, and it’s one of the reasons I joined Red Hat. It’s so rewarding to listen to customers and act as that liaison to bring what they need upstream. For example, customers that run their business on SAP Q: What spurred your move software ask what we can do to help ensure they can from the hardware side of move forward, and that, in turn, feeds our ecosystem the technology industry to decisions — whether that is a choice of processor, enterprise software, and what public cloud, or SAP application. I find that three- do you love most about your dimensional arrangement so exciting because it’s like current role at Red Hat? an engine of innovation with many requirements from different areas, and it’s never stagnant. Coming from the business side in the systems division at IBM, and working in the Linux space, I had a great appreciation for the value of the ecosystem. I had an Q: What are your current opportunity to absorb Red Hat from the outside in, priorities and plans for helping and I was very intrigued by its approach, culture, and to bring SAP customers into the open-source aspect. The collaborative nature of the future? the environment was very appealing to me. I believe in the vision of open source and the innovation it builds Our core principles — of listening to customers first, on, and so it felt very natural and comfortable to me. ensuring we deliver what they need today, focusing Having come from the hardware side, I was eager to on what they need tomorrow, and giving them flex- engage in a space with a much broader ecosystem ibility going forward — are very similar to what SAP and upstream communities of everything from chip is delivering to its customers as it works to help them manufacturers to architecture suppliers, cloud provid- modernize. There’s good alignment between our focus ers, and independent software vendors. areas, and the technologies we deliver are extremely There are jobs and careers, and then there are complementary. With all the innovation that’s coming movements that you want to be a part of. I joined down the pipeline, customers want flexible environ- Red Hat to participate in a movement to understand ments that are resilient, reliable, and secure, and they open source and how to bring that value forward to are looking for partners that stand behind the com- customers. The beauty of my role is that it sits in the mitment to ensure all that while keeping up with the middle of that. It gives me the opportunity to work technology. And that’s where we come in. Red Hat is with Red Hat Enterprise Linux customers and under- very focused on what we call “the open hybrid cloud,” stand their needs, what problems they need to solve, which is a platform that provides customers with the what’s coming down the pipeline, and where they flexibility they want to deliver today and allows them want to move their business next. And it lets me take to more easily consume innovation and change as what we do with Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating they move forward, but without compromising their system, which serves as the technology underpinning security, stability, and resiliency. of all our other products, and helps connect that to Customers’ strategies and needs are forever chang- the rest of the portfolio. It also gives me the ability to ing and are very diverse. Some companies might want still touch the engineering and technology side, which to run their systems on premise for a long time, and feels like a core part of me. others might decide to run multiple public clouds. In

SAPinsiderOnline.com “There are jobs and careers, and then there are movements that you want to be a part of. I joined Red Hat to participate in a movement to understand open source and how to bring that value forward to customers.”

— Stefanie Chiras, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Red Hat Enterprise Linux Business Unit, Red Hat response to these changing needs, we have evolved business strategies, such as the COVID-19 crisis, the our offerings beyond Linux to become a portfolio most critical questions that customers raise with us company that responds to developing trends in the revolve around which migration approach is right for open-source space and keeps the ecosystem relevant them, and how to prioritize what step to take first — and future-ready. or next — on their journey. Today, lots of customers want to use as-a-service Our focus is all about helping customers understand offerings and managed services, and this open-hybrid- where to build a consistent and sustainable infrastruc- cloud world is expanding. Without knowing exactly ture. Do they want to run it on premise or on a public what will come down the pipeline, we give customers cloud? There are so many choices, and prioritizing a foundational platform that allows them to build on those decisions is a challenge. The open hybrid cloud everything they’ve already done, to leverage that next is different for everybody. But the biggest question is thing, and to simply and easily take their SAP work- what to do first and how to start tackling that in a way loads where they want to take them — and we do that that makes strategic sense for the business and allows with an ecosystem. We have a trusted partnership with the flexibility to move forward. SAP, as evidenced by our collaborative testing efforts, which has only grown as our platform has expanded. For example, we introduced capabilities such as our Q: Did you have many female Kubernetes platform, OpenShift, and our automation peers throughout your management platform, Ansible, which we can deliver education and career? And do with the SAP portfolio. In that way, our offerings are you see the tech industry as well aligned both in how we view our customers and becoming more inclusive of how we want to bring them value today and deliver women? what they need tomorrow. There were very few women in my undergraduate program, and I can remember only two women during Q: In terms of what you want my summer internship, but it wasn’t until graduate to deliver to customers today, school that I realized that most of my peers were male, what strategic priorities and and I felt a little out of place as a woman. That led key decisions are they seeking me to internalize doubts about raising my hand or to address with your help? worries about saying the wrong thing. For me, that was the first time being different felt tied to my gender With all the change and opportunity that innovation rather than something else that was easier for me to offers today, and everything affecting and accelerating rationalize.

SAPinsiderOnline.com “The open hybrid cloud — a platform that provides customers with the flexibility they want — is different for everybody. But the biggest question is what to do first and how to start tackling that in a way that makes strategic sense for the business and allows the flexibility to move forward.”

— Stefanie Chiras, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Red Hat Enterprise Linux Business Unit, Red Hat

In grad school, I had a great professor who would to ensure we start with a very diverse population from consistently call me out — in a room where I was the which to pick the best candidate. We all have a respon- only woman among 300 men eager to answer every sibility to build the pipeline and engage early on to question — and encourage me to answer. I was very ensure everyone feels comfortable making the choice quiet and never felt compelled to be the first one to to apply. The second piece is ensuring we have the speak up, even if I knew the answer. This professor right leadership training. It’s important for leaders to told me, “You need to find your voice.” That was a feel their feet are firmly on the ground, especially if a very good lesson, and of everything I learned in grad leader is one woman in a team of 20 men, for example. school, that is quite honestly what has stuck with me These first two areas — the hiring aspect and leader- the most throughout my life. ship training — have metrics that people can track to I have definitely seen an improved focus on achiev- see if progress is being made. The third area, however, ing gender balance, but there is more work to be done, is probably the most important and hardest to mea- and I think this needs to start at a young age. Having sure: creating an inclusive view so that everyone is an experience early on that strengthens your confi- heard and asked for their point of view, which takes dence and emboldens you to take risks is important. real consistency and effort to build. It matters, and we There are many outreach programs, such as Girls Who need to solicit feedback from everyone to participate Code, which Red Hat is very active with, where the in making that culture. intent is to provide all girls with the opportunity for I find there is a lot more awareness and dialogue choice. They can try out coding, and they can decide around diversity happening today, and there is much whether or not to do it again — no one is making that more of a willingness and openness to feedback or cor- choice for them. As they go through their careers, this rections, which is the way to change. And this gives me is an important point to remember. Someone might hope that the industry — and society as a whole— will do something to make them feel uncomfortable or feel work to achieve that. It’s great to already see a focus like they’ve said the wrong thing. That part is out of on ensuring there’s no bias in job descriptions. That is their control. But they can decide how they react and a very important step. what they will do next — they own that choice. Because of all the innovation happening today, it’s When I look at diversity in the tech industry over- never been so important to have more diverse views at all, the attention and progress I see in some areas the table. With customers themselves being so diverse, is wonderful, but it’s important for everyone in the companies must be able to look at their varied needs industry as a group to continue to focus on three key through different perspectives so they can come up areas. First, there’s the hiring aspect, where we need with ideas and solutions that are equally diverse.

SAPinsiderOnline.com bonding experience and gave me a network that I still rely on when I need to call on a mentor.

Q: As mentorship seems to be a Q: How is Red Hat focusing on big part of your career growth, diversity and inclusion efforts? is that something you try to reciprocate to others? Open source starts with the premise that the best ideas can come from anywhere. It’s the purest form It is very important to me. I’ve had a number of men- of collaboration. There are coders across the globe tors external and internal to Red Hat who I have all contributing to make something that is greater learned so much from just by listening to other per- than its parts. What’s interesting is everyone is viewed spectives and different points of view. That’s some- anonymously, with their identity based on the ID thing all of us need. No one wants to feel isolated. they use. Their code speaks for them, which serves to And we can try to make a difference by helping each obscure any unconscious biases. Our goal at Red Hat other make a difference. So it’s my opportunity to is to mirror that magic of the open-source world and give back and reinforce to someone else that it’s bring it to the next level, where people can bring their important to be yourself, express yourself, and have whole selves to work. We do that by building on layers people you can talk to. Being a mentor to someone of what we call “the open culture.” is rewarding for me because I hopefully can help We have open management practices for our leader- someone move forward and I inherently learn a lot ship, which were created with collective input, pulling in the relationship as well. ideas from everyone on how best to build an open and collaborative environment. We have a set of core priorities and multipliers that are all about communication and Q: What specific advice or how to treat each other with respect. By ensuring that encouragement would you these principles are consistent and cohesive across the give to other women to help company, both at a leadership level and at an individual them move forward? level, we keep it foremost in people’s minds that what we do is important, but how we do it is equally important. At the end of the day, we all want to add value and To create that culture, you absolutely need the make an impact. But value is relative to what is right hiring practices and leadership programs, but needed at one point in time — for that team, in that what matters most is the day-to-day inclusion practice. space, in that moment. We are trained, particularly That’s where a company either differentiates itself or in science, that we are either right or wrong and that not, and Red Hat has done a great job. There is still value is brought to the table by the person who is more we can do, and we work at it every day. “the best.” But being valuable and being the best are Our diversity and inclusion efforts are very visible not synonymous. Seeking to be valuable is a much and often discussed, which gives us a platform to rein- more fruitful goal, and understanding that even if force those practices all the time, and we certainly you aren’t the best at something (such as coding a have groups dedicated to diversity and inclusion. kernel), you can bring value by finding someone to When I first joined Red Hat, I was lucky enough to work with who is. participate in a two-day summit with a small group There’s only one best, but everyone can bring of women dedicated to discussing ways to create a value. Looking at the world that way helps level the more inclusive culture at Red Hat. It was the most playing field and brings different perspectives to the grounding and amazing experience to come into a table, which brings value. It is the responsibility of all new company and, right away, spend two days with today’s leaders to help the next generation of leaders about 12 senior women at Red Hat — all with very figure out their own way to bring value, because they diverse backgrounds — and focus on how to make will create the next wave of great innovations. We are the company a better place for women. It was a great all in this together.

SAPinsiderOnline.com