Red Hat has firmly established itself as a leader in the open source domain by delivering enterprise-grade solutions and simplifying open source adoption. The company strategically focuses on platforms centred around enterprise Linux, hybrid cloud environments, containerisation, and automation. By investing in upstream communities, cultivating a robust partner ecosystem, and providing comprehensive training and certification programs, Red Hat bridges the crucial gap between open source innovation and enterprise stability. This makes Red Hat a trusted ally for organisations transitioning to open source while also ensuring adherence to stringent compliance and security mandates.
Red Hat’s open and innovative ethos, combined with the vast reach of its communities, empowers organizations to navigate the evolving technological landscape with greater ease and capitalize on emerging opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud-native modernization, all while maintaining speed and agility. Open source innovation is a significant driving force behind many of the major advancements witnessed in AI today. Mirroring the transformative impact of open source on Linux, cloud computing, and containerization, Red Hat, along with others, is working to establish a consensus that AI delivers optimal value to enterprises when it is built on an open ecosystem of communities, customers, and partners. We talked about this with Andrew Brown, senior vice president and chief revenue officer at Red Hat.
Open source has moved from a niche technology to the backbone of much of the modern digital world. What are the biggest opportunities and challenges you currently see for enterprise open source, and how is Red Hat positioning itself to lead in this evolving landscape?
Today, open source software is everywhere. In fact, recent estimates suggest that 96 per cent of all software relies upon open source software.
Red Hat has positioned itself as a clear leader in this space by offering enterprise-grade open source solutions and streamlining open source consumption, focusing on platforms around enterprise Linux, hybrid cloud and containerization, and automation, investing in upstream communities, building a strong partner ecosystem, and providing training and certification. This strategy allows Red Hat to bridge the gap between open source innovation and enterprise stability, making us a trusted partner for organizations adopting open source while also addressing critical compliance and security requirements. Our open, innovative approach, paired with the sheer scope of our communities, helps organizations more easily adapt to the evolving landscape and address emerging opportunities like artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud-native modernization with speed and agility.
Open source innovation is already fueling much of the significant innovation we see in AI. The same force empowered Linux, cloud computing, and containerization. The work we and others are doing has the potential to create a consensus: AI is best delivered to enterprises when it’s powered by an open ecosystem of communities, customers, and partners.
The connection between AI and open source is clear. The AI market, currently dominated by proprietary and cloud providers, presents opportunities over the next several years for an open source, AI-enabled application platform and models. According to a global Red Hat survey, when looking at what factors determine trust in an enterprise model for generative AI, respondents noted transparent, modifiable models with explainability of sources (89%) as top-of-mind. Open source helps provide this transparency, and many organizations are finding ways to accelerate their AI and cloud ambitions through enterprise open source solutions. Nearly half of respondents (45%) identified accelerated innovation as a primary advantage of adopting enterprise open source for AI, with another 43% naming trust and transparency and 39% citing cost efficiency.
Red Hat’s success has been built on a unique blend of community-driven innovation and enterprise-grade support. As the open source ecosystem becomes increasingly complex, how do you see Red Hat maintaining this balance and ensuring that the needs of both communities and large enterprise clients are met effectively?
Red Hat’s legacy as a leader in the open source community is well-documented. Founded in 1993, the company revolutionized enterprise IT by providing a robust, enterprise-grade version of Linux. Red Hat’s commitment to open source principles fostered a vibrant community of developers and users, and our flagship product, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), became the backbone of many organizations’ IT infrastructures. Red Hat’s journey in the open source community is a tale of innovation, collaboration, and commitment to open principles. With tens of millions of new open source projects launching each year, open source communities are a hotbed of pure innovation, constantly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. For enterprises, this represents a thrilling opportunity to access cutting-edge technology and stay ahead of the curve.
Maintaining the balance between community-driven innovation and enterprise-grade support in an increasingly active open source ecosystem is crucial for Red Hat’s continued success. Red Hat remains a significant contributor to upstream projects, ensuring they don’t fork projects and create fragmentation. This involves dedicating resources to community development, actively participating in governance, and prioritizing open standards. And we constantly embrace transparent communication and collaboration, including clear roadmaps, active feedback mechanisms, and fostering collaborative development processes.
Hybrid cloud and multi-cloud strategies are becoming increasingly prevalent. How is Red Hat evolving its offerings to empower businesses to navigate this complex environment and maximize the value of open source across different platforms?
It took a while for the industry to figure out that the “right” cloud platform wasn’t private or public, but rather a combination of both. Red Hat has since become an industry leader in driving open hybrid cloud strategies with customers, helping them navigate their cloud journeys, wherever that may be, on the trusted, consistent foundation of Red Hat platforms. Now, in today’s booming AI era, we can use the lessons learned on our hybrid cloud journey to inform AI strategies and implement AI technologies more effectively from the start. Data lives everywhere, whether it’s on-premise, in the cloud or at the edge. Therefore, data by nature is hybrid, and because AI needs to run where your data lives, it must also be hybrid. In fact, we often tell customers and partners that AI is the ultimate hybrid workload.
So, it is not necessarily that the hybrid cloud replaces the need for smaller models, but rather that the hybrid cloud empowers organizations to leverage smaller, more precise AI models more effectively and closer to where the data actually lives. This speeds up the time it takes to build, test and deploy AI-enabled applications wherever it makes the most sense for an organization’s business goals. Red Hat employs the concept of “build once, deploy anywhere” for both hybrid cloud and AI so customers can realize better results where they need it most.
This is the guiding strategy behind Red Hat and IBM’s recently launched InstructLab project, which provides a new way of looking at enterprise AI through specialized, smaller models designed to move faster at a lower cost. Domain and subject matter experts, not just data scientists, can use InstructLab to contribute skills and knowledge to a model, building solutions that address business-specific needs without the need for complicated architecture or extended engineering expertise. Simply put, it places AI in the hands of the customer. And, true to open source, these additions can actually be contributed back to the project to help foster even more innovation for the open source community.
Over time, many governments and public organizations have adopted enterprise open source platforms to innovate their processes and offer more advanced services to citizens. What are the current needs of this specific industry, and do you see as the most relevant value that Red Hat can offer in this space?
Governments and public organizations face increasing pressure to modernize their processes and deliver better services to citizens. Open source technologies have often played a critical role in this evolution due to their benefits in terms of costs but also to their openness and independence from specific vendors. Government entities may be considered early adopters of the open source technology, looking for cost sustainability, transparency and independence since the early 2000s. Over time an explicit ‘cloud first’ strategy has pushed further adoption of open source technologies as an innovation accelerator, helping to close the gap between the public sector and other industries. Innovation in critical services must come with resilience, security, long-term sustainability and reduced vendor lock-in, which are the basic pillars of open source technology.
The underlying hybrid cloud paradigm resonates in the complex collaboration model of government organizations, helped by a fast-aligning ecosystem of independent software vendors and system integrators. As a pioneer in enterprise open source, Red Hat is able to combine all of these elements, bringing together the right ecosystem collaborators with the technology to drive open innovation in areas such as enterprise Linux, hybrid cloud, automation, and AI while addressing critical compliance and security standards in the public sector. We may see the same motion in the AI adoption: small pivotal projects to get quick wins, with relatively modest spending, tuning their own path to the innovation, lowering the skills gap. Once again, it is an approach familiar to the open source communities and to Red Hat’s open culture.
Talent acquisition and development are crucial in the rapidly evolving tech landscape. What strategies is Red Hat employing to attract, retain, and develop the talent needed to drive innovation and support its customers in the open-source domain?
The world, workplace and market are changing rapidly, so Red Hat remains committed to better positioning our associates and communities to take on these changes and opportunities. We do this by providing the right environment and tools for our associates to grow their skills for success. With our roots in open source, we’re always learning and iterating, and we support associates in doing the same. For example, Red Hat associates have access to any Red Hat Training course or Red Hat Certification exam free of charge to further their technical development.
Red Hat Online Learning Environment (ROLE) provides the most flexibility, allowing associates to watch high-quality recorded videos, study class materials, and access labs at any time of day. We also offer a mentoring program for associates to create meaningful connections with other associates to unlock potential and promote an inclusive culture. In the program, global Red Hatters are matched together for a 6-month mentoring relationship, and resources, events, and support are provided to build their partnership.
Another priority is our Emerging Talent program, which involves attending on-campus events to recruit students and early-in-career professionals for internships and job opportunities that will help shape Red Hat’s future workforce and accelerate career growth through internal training and connections with mentors and colleagues.
Beyond technology, what role does open source play in fostering a more collaborative and inclusive business environment? How does Red Hat promote these values both internally and within the broader open-source community?
Open source has evolved into a full-fledged philosophy that can offer strategic direction to various aspects, from technology and process optimization to leadership and culture. Who wouldn’t want to work in an environment where processes are continuously optimized, people and systems collaborate transparently and securely, talent is fully utilized, and employees learn from one another? Open source software is the technical aspect of this ideal working environment. The process-oriented and human side is open leadership. Open leadership is a management style based on the core values of open source, such as collaboration, transparency, and knowledge sharing. In short, it involves creating a culture where trust, inclusivity, and shared responsibility are central.
Red Hat has always been at the forefront of this evolution, with a strong belief that open leadership is essential for organizations, but the path to it is not always straightforward.
One of the key elements that are needed is a tailored implementation strategy. A model frequently mentioned in this context was the 4C model (Customer, Convenience, Cost, and Communication), where ‘Communication’ can have the greatest impact on the aforementioned barriers. It turns out that when organizations embrace transparent communication—with top-down guidance from leadership and bottom-up feedback from employees—a foundation of trust is created.
To support this cultural shift, organizations can implement modern corporate design principles, reconsider structures to promote open collaboration and dismantle traditional hierarchies. For instance, cross-functional teams with clear accountability can be established to ensure continuous alignment between departments. Regular feedback moments can bring issues to light early and create a sense of shared objectives. The first step toward open leadership is creating a culture of openness and trust..
