In just over 20 years, Matt Hicks has gone from computer engineering student to developer, and now to chief executive officer of Red Hat. Hicks joined the open-source software company in 2006 as an IT developer, and he’s climbed the ranks organically—serving as an engineering manager, SVP of engineering, and EVP of products and technologies along the way. He was appointed as the company’s new CEO to succeed Paul Cormier, who will move to serving as chairman.
Hicks’ rise to the top has been fueled by his on-the-ground experience, which gives him a unique intuition on the direction hardware is moving and what enterprise IT companies need. He also believes that for a developer to become an effective leader, they must be more than just a top-tier coder—they need to be a great communicator, too. One of his primary challenges will be to find the right industries and partners to advance the company’s edge computing goals.
Red Hat expects to see around $250 billion in spending on edge computing by 2025, and it’s already working on projects with General Motors, ABB, and Verizon. With the guidance of Hicks, an engineer at heart, the company looks poised to pursue the edge as far as it goes.
