April 29, 2026 • 22 mins
Gabie Boko is the Chief Marketing Officer at NetApp. She has spent over 22 years in the technology industry and led transformations in senior marketing roles for companies including Cognos, SAP, Sage and HPE. Her experience has focused on connecting customer success to innovative experiences in software applications and cloud services, digital marketing and websites, customer storytelling, product UX and events. Born and raised in Alaska, Ms. Boko is an avid outdoors person, wildlife photographer and advocate for protecting our natural resources and rural communities.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I was born and raised in Alaska.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
And before you interrupt and say I have never known
anybody who was born and raised in Alaska, I think
there's actually more of us than that people count on.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
But yeah, I was born and raised in Alaska.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
My parents were teachers, and they were recruited to go
there out of college. And I was really blessed to
grow up in a state that prided itself on education,
on learning, on experience, being outdoors.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I'm just really proud of the state that I come from.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
So, and I went to school in a lot of
different places because my parents were teachers. My parents really
wanted me to experience college in a variety of places,
mostly because they wanted me to experience different learning environments.
So I went to college at a lot of different
places South Carolina, Washington, California, and Alaska.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
But I do have a degree, so in case anybody else.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
It's comical when we talk to people that have been
in business a long time in the lead companies about,
you know, what they wanted to do coming out of school,
what the plan was to what they're doing today, And
some were right on the button and some are just
all over the place. Because there's so many different paths
out there. What did you want to do when you
were coming out of school?
Speaker 1 (01:12):
That's so true.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
I believe, you know, I wanted to be a lawyer,
probably in part because of Perry Mason and you know,
all the other lawyer shows that were out there at
the time. But I found that just in interning and
being a paralegal and everything else, that it really wasn't
for me. I went to you know, started and stopped
(01:38):
because I just found that it wasn't how I wanted
to think. It wasn't how I wanted to make decisions,
and it wasn't how I wanted to participate in life.
My mother was quite disappointed by this, handed me a newspaper.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
By the way, you're not the first person to disappoint
their parents, So I know.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
I know, I know.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
I think she thought I was I was going to
do I was going to go backwards and maybe not
be successful. But I think I surprised her and ended
up being successful. But she said, you know, go find
something you love. Here's a newspaper, because in Alaska we
still had newspapers at that time.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
She's like, go find a job.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
And I took a job actually at out of a
Seattle newspaper that was forwarded from Arizona. At a little
company called Insight, which is a partner of net apps today,
and I worked in a division of theirs, and I
got bit by a marketing bug and sela VI, I
mean tech was it? I wanted to be in tech.
(02:34):
I found the energy in that and I'd never looked back.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Well, I can already tell about the passion you have
for the industry, and that's kind of a common theme
when we talk to leaders of companies, having the passion
to lead a company or create one. You know, as
I look, Gabe at your incredible resume, you know, SAP, Sage, HP,
You've worked at some incredible companies. And before we talk
about an app, I'd like to maybe kind of roll
(02:59):
everything together other and your experiences at some really big
companies leading to the one you've been at for four
plus years. What was the experience like jumping to different
big companies like that?
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Yeah, you know, my I think when people look at
my resume they're like, oh, you're a big company girl.
I actually didn't start off as a big company girl.
I started off in startups because remember I was I
was so bit by the tech bug. I knew I
was going to take one that hit, and I was
going to be a bajillionaire and life was going to
be over and it was going to be amazing.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
That is not how it happened.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
I found that all of the small companies I participated
in and quite honestly, was not successful at I made
bad choices. I learned a lot about my craft. I
learned about how to sell to a board. I learned
about how to sell to a customer. I learned about
what things worked and didn't work. So all of the
failures really led to one that hit, and that was OutlookSoft,
(03:52):
and that company turned me onto going into you know,
got acquired by SAP, and then the story got wrote.
I stayed in companies because I felt like I had
learned my craft, but I didn't learn how to do
it in a big company environment. And what a big
company environment really demonstrates to you is how do you
learn how to collaborate? How do you integrate? How do
you how do you partner to get something done? How
(04:14):
do you create momentum in a market that feels uncreatable
because you are the market, right, So I really wanted
to learn that and that's that's really what sap HPE
stage was about. I think it was a reinvention of self,
maybe a reinvention of the craft, a reinvention of falling
in love with tech. Every single one of those was
(04:37):
I have to love this tech before I get into it,
and I fell in love with the tech at every
single one.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Well, let's talk a little bit about your journey now
at NetApp. As we talked about, your resume is really cool.
It's there's so many different things you've done, and I
can see why ned app was interested in you, But
why were you interested in joining that company?
Speaker 2 (04:55):
You know, I want to I all through my career,
I really like to be first, wanted to be I
picked based on technology. I picked based on what it
could provide me how I grew, and NetApp was the
same kind of choice. I was at HP at the
time and I kept saying no to the recruiter who
was calling me. I was like, I'm really happy here,
super happy. Leave me alone. It's like, just please take
(05:18):
one call. And I took one call and that turned
into four calls and turned into a conversation with George
Currey and the CEO, and I was like all right.
I remember walking out and talking to a loved one
and saying, I am bit and this is bad. I
was not expecting to get bitten by this one. But
that comes back to that I like to be first. Right,
(05:38):
what metap is doing for us is and for the
world of data infrastructure is the same kind of inflection
point they want to be first. They're telling a story
about evolution from just storage in data management into data infrastructure,
which is at the core of an AI era.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Right.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
You can't do the compute volumete volumes that you need.
You can't make all of the decisions or the AI
workloads that you need to utilize unless you paid attention
to what's happening with your data, where it lives, how
it's moving, and if you have enough capacity to even
manage AI.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
So I thought that that was exciting.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
I thought it was going to be exciting to change
their narrative from one that we were lovingly referred to
as a brand of commas into being something intentional and
focused on bringing intelligence to your data infrastructure.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
We call it intelligent data infrastructure.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
And it's fun being part of a company who is
rebuilding themselves but also rebuilding the backbone of everything that's
happening in AI. So you know, and honestly, I just
I wanted the opportunity and I'm glad they gave it
to me. I want to be the one to bring
that story to scale.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
I like to talk about your ascension too, because you
came in as senior vice president portfolio marketing, correct me
if I'm wrong, and then you as send it to
a really incredible position. When you came to the company,
you obviously knew what you wanted. They knew what they
wanted out of you. Was the plan that you did
want to ascend it and have a much large and
if so, why you know, I.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Think there's always a plan. You always have the belief
that you can ascend. They probably thought that I would
be a good interviewee at the time. I don't think
that there was a prescribed plan. But again, I think
that's career path and I think that that's coming into
into a company and deciding what you want and then
doing it. I think for CMOS or for anybody in marketing,
(07:23):
and my job is portfolio marketing, it was making a
difference and making it very quickly.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
I especially think that AI and in the ear we
are in right now.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
In tech, is that the faster you can get into
market and the faster you can enact change, the faster
you are going to be recognized and your company is
going to be recognized.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
And I think that that's what happened to me.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
I made some bold moves, I made some strategic changes,
and honestly, I started clicking with the leadership and and.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
It was just something that felt like a good move
for both of us. I wish it had been planned,
but I think it was.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
It was it was an excellent outcome to some thing
that neither one of us had planned, but felt like
it was a good move.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
We hear that story a lot that sometimes organically it
just happens. There's no plan there, and then it just
happens for the best, and that's really cool. Before we
talk about all the programs and capabilities that you have
in NetApp and also what you do there, i'd like
to talk about mission and vision. I know to most companies,
especially what you do for a living with your team
is very important.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
Can you talk about mission and vision?
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Yeah, I'll start with me first because I think that's
really important because if I can't do it for myself.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
I think it's really hard to do it for the company.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
My personal mission is to prove what marketing can do
when it has a seated the strategic table that's brand
to demand.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
But that's also position.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Marketing needs to be the part of the company that
helps make a market, that helps define a direction, that
helps define trajectory. And so if I can't do that
for myself personally, then I think it's really.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Hard to do that as a leader.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
And that really transcends into what I believe the mission
statement that we created for net app is right. Our
goal is to remove the friction between data and innovation.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
That's netap's north star. That's the.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Genesis and the emphasis of what intelligent data infrastructure brings.
It's about making data accessible, protected, able to move, and
ready to be at the availability of anything you need
to do with at any workload. That gets back to
the personal mission, right, I really like things that connect
to each other, maybe concentric circles.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Right.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
If I believe that my goal is to be a
strategic driver, then I really do believe that us creating
this mission for netap is is the best example of
me being a leader and best example of my mission
coming to life through what mission we've created for the company.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Well, I love that. That's very real said, and you're
touching on a little bit. But I know a lot
of our listeners are very familiar with NetApp. For the
one that aren't, if you were to give a thirty
thousand foot view about exactly what you do, what would
you tell people?
Speaker 2 (09:54):
I have to start with that we're the intelligent Data
Infrastructure company and that we're here to help your company manage,
move and secure your data, whether no matter where it sits.
It could be in a data center, it could be
in the cloud, it could be in a hybrid environment.
But we really believe and are committed to helping you
make the most of your data strategy. And that is
(10:15):
so important for every company today because, as I said,
in the AI era, everybody needs needs to understand where
their data is, how to secure it, how to protect it,
how to grow it. So at the core of what
we believe in is data. That's why it's the middle
of those three words.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
Support, services, programs, capabilities.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
I know that a lot, and I know we can't
tack all of them, but if you could do me
a feed right, you know, whether it's what your clients
really need today, what you're most proud of. I'm sure
you're proud of all your products out there, but could
you go over some of them for us?
Speaker 4 (10:45):
So what you offer everybody?
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (10:47):
I think when we talk about data infrastructure, we're not
just talking about storage, which is what we're renowned for.
We're really talking about the layer that sits above that.
Data infrastructure is something that is unified, that it adds
intelligent as embedded AI, embedded security, security, and really allows
you to say that everything we've thought of, we thought
(11:09):
about it because we've built it in.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
We are not bolting it on.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
We want everything to be seamless and accessible and secure.
So when we think about AI, we're thinking about AI
not as an add on. We're building it in. When
we think about security, we're not thinking about it as
an add on or a bolt on. We're thinking about
it built in. A lot of partners of ours were
actually customers before us. Quite frankly, the NFL, dream Works,
(11:34):
asd and Martin, they were all customers before they were
actually let's say, sponsors, And that really to me tells
the kind of value that intelligent data infrastructure has. It
is it is something that is part of everybody's how
they build, how they dream, how they design, And that's
what I love about those stories I just gave you,
(11:56):
and that is proof on that built in, not bolted on.
So I think that's kind of what separates us. I
think that kind of encapsulates what our key components are.
But you know, honestly, that's us in a nutshell, and
why and how we chase value and not just the transaction.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
What kind of challenges present themselves in the industry currently
right now for you and your.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Team, I think it's the same challenges as everybody else.
But I would say that the one that we're more
focused on is speed. I would say it's I.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Think the pace has changed.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Where you were looking at maybe eighteen to twenty four
month cycles, you're looking at six to twelve. Now, that's
an incredible pace of change. I think security is also
another one. And while all of these do come back
to data, I think that both of those together demand
a different kind of architecture, not just from technology, but
it demands a different kind of business model. I think
(12:49):
those people who are or those marketers even let's just
stick with my own practice, if you're not thinking about
of AI in your marketing practice, then you are not
thinking about your marketing model and how you need to proceed.
If it's if you're in technology or you want to
buy technology, and you're not thinking about what you need
to do with your data or how you need to
secure it, then you're not thinking about how AI is
(13:12):
going to have an impact on your business model. So
I think that the speed of everything is changing, and
I think security is the biggest kind of outlier, not outlier,
but board level imperative. Now that is no longer an
outlier that demands a stronger data practice.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
For people like me. Layman AIS in the news all
the time and I hear about it. I use all
the different things that people can use them for simple things,
And I know AI has been around for a long time,
but it really has ramped up in the last five years. Obviously,
it's a big part of what you and your team do,
and I'm sure everything is fluid without going too deep
into AI, how is it integrated with your customers and
(13:49):
your team?
Speaker 4 (13:50):
How to use it and what are you excited about?
Speaker 2 (13:52):
I use AI and the way that I've asked my
team to think about AI is totally in line with
how our company thinks about it. We want it to
become an embedded part of how we think and how
we drive our business forward.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
We don't want it to just be an experiment on
the side.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
You know, if you're a marketer, think think of the
think of the KPIs of you know, like there're ninety
five million Instagram posts a day, right, There's there's hundreds
of thousands of hours of video a day that we
have to process and that's all. Some of them are
AI driven, some of them are physically built. But when
you think about that volume that's coming at you, then
(14:29):
you need an AI response mechanism built into your to
your business model. But you also need to be able
to be able to answer that with the same level
of content and the same level of reporting. So you know,
I believe that means I have to earn my seat
at the table every single day. Quite frankly, I believe
that AI and data infrastructure is part of my model
(14:50):
that I think about as a CMO, I have to
think about that for my company.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
My company thinks about it.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
That means if I'm thinking about it, my company's thinking
about it. Hopefully we're ahead of where our customers are
thinking about it and we can become good examples for them,
you know, honestly, it's it's about if we talked about
this being in security that we talked about before, how
do you preserve the impact of the relationship, not just
(15:15):
the technology. And I think that that's at the core
of you know, how to deal with AI, it's the
core of the relationship. How do you change your business
model and how are you able to internalize at every
single level of your organization, from the you, to the
business to the customer.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
No client names have to be mentioned here, because I
know sometimes you can be in the super secret business.
That's fine, But I do love to ask this question
about this is why we get up every morning to
change lives with companies and our partners and our clients
out there. You've been there for a while now, and
I'm sure you've got some incredible success stories. Is there
one that sticks out or maybe a few that you
could share with us about saying, you know what, we
(15:50):
really did make a difference today with a client and
this is why we get up every day. Can you
share one with us?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
I can, I'm going to share two. I could share
a couple bits well please, let's go. Let's go with
the ESA, the European Space Agency. This is one that
just makes me super excited. Right when you think about
when you think about the volumes and petabytes of data,
you know, it can feel enormous and something that isn't approachable.
But when you talk to the ESA, the European Space Agency,
(16:16):
it's really how they're keeping all of their data secure
and also how that's enabling them to do more discovery,
discovery of new galaxies, discoveries of new stars, and making
it available so that everybody can explore space. And the
passion that these people have for the universe is just
(16:39):
I mean, they actually call that, they call it the universe.
Their database of the universe is just spectacular. So that's
one that's really exciting. And then one that feels probably
a little closer to home for a lot of people
is the NFL. You know, when you're managing petabytes of
video and security across stadiums during games.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
We just did it for the Super Bowl with them.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
I mean that also is something that just feels like, hey, listen,
we're the third man on the field hopefully for them,
and that gets exciting for us too. So you know,
when we think about all of our customers, DreamWorks I
mentioned before, Aston Martin I mentioned before, you know, the
Children's Cancer Institute. There are so many ways that our
customers are changing lives, having fun, creating a future for
(17:21):
all of us.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
That's what I get passionate about every single day.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
And that's why, you know, when I think about the
power of data, the power of data is behind all
of that, and it's just.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Making them successful. That's that's what makes me get up
in the morning.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
You know, as you were listening some of your clients,
I think there's a coolness factor because I know a
lot of different companies that do similar things to you
do that they work with government agencies. But the variety
of clients you have must make it a lot of
fun because it's always different every day.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
I imagine it is.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
It is, and you know what the stories are, what
are what keep you coming back. It's it's important to
note that when we're in technology, right, you can my
boss calls it nerd nobbing out right when you when
you get in you can like totally geek out and
you can go into the and you talk. You can
get into every single widget, every single feature, function.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
But if you can elevate that story to something it's like,
well what are you doing? Like how would I explain
this to my mother?
Speaker 2 (18:12):
That's where you really see them like get these little
grins on their faces and that that's the kind of
stuff that makes us excited every day because we see it.
We're excited about the technology. But when you see them
grin and when they want to explain it, then then
you know you've connected and you've got magic.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
I love the analogy. I don't know about you, but
I'm tech support from my mother and my mother in
law all the time. Every day, I'm on call twenty
four seven, three sixty five, one hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
That's the way, and they got to understand it too,
So you've got to.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
Find ways to tell them that's right that I love
that analogy. I did want to talk to you just
for a moment. And philanthropic and charity work I know
is important to a lot of companies out there, and I
imagine you and your company are need deeping it.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
When you have time to be a part of.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
It, what do you like to be a part of
their We we sponsor several different agencies and several different companies,
but we're really focused on training the next generation. We
want to give them access to data. We want them
to learn and to be the data explorers. And so
that's really what we're focused on in our charities but
also our give back work. And you know, we really
(19:13):
tie that back to our brand campaign, which is about
unleashing genius.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
For us, it's not just a tagline.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Every person brings something irreplaceable, but that idea about unleashing genius.
It starts young, and we want to foster that in
our youth. We want to be part of the direction
of how they think and how they're going to continue
to grow this for when we're not here. And so
that's you know, the data explorers and how we continue
to show up with our partners like the forty nine
(19:40):
ers in bringing that to life with Steam and STEM.
That's that's a really exciting part of what we do
and how we bring our brand to life is the
Intelligent Data Infrastructure Company.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Well, I love that, and I think it's an excellent
segue to talk about leadership. A lot of things you've
talked about our leadership. You do have a team you
mentioned them with that said, is I mentioned the word
lead ship to you, how do you execute it and
what does it mean to you.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
I believe in really making myself available, you know, I
think it's it's interesting as women in tech sometimes we
get so focused on doing the job, but we are
the standard bearer of the women around us. So I'm
personally committed to making room not just for women, but
anybody who feels underrepresented. My door is always open. I
(20:23):
take a lot of meetings. I like to answer the questions.
I don't always have the answers. I just like to
be the ear. I like to continue to foster the
thinking and the and the personal development because you know,
after I've I've been in this space for a really
long time.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
I'm not going to tell you how long, because I
hope that I look like I'm twelve. But it's this.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Industry can feel so representative some on some days and
so underrepresented at other days, and so I just I
want to continue to drive technology forward in representing the
best that every single person who's in tech has to offer.
And that's really what I'm committed to, and both in
terms of how I lead, how I mentor, and how
(21:03):
I like to show up and participate.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Even with my boss standing, well, let's do this. I
want to get some final thoughts from you. We're going
to give the website to everybody, but let's kind of
recap what we talked about, just some final thoughts from you.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
The floor is yours.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Be first in the pool, be bold, be curious, you know,
do the things that matter, and quite frankly, you know,
don't be afraid.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Marketing and technology is about risk. Jump in the water.
Is just fine.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
No. I like that you say that because I got
advice a long time ago as a program director and
on air host of my industry and radio and my
boss said, you know what, stop fretting over things and
just run a play and then we'll deal with it afterwards.
I think that's kind of what you're saying, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
It absolutely is right.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
We're looking for people, and we are continuing to push
our own selves to say, hey, if you don't try,
you're never going to see you see it succeed, and
if it fails, then you'd learn something and you can
go try again.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
That's well said. What's your website for everybody?
Speaker 1 (21:55):
NetApp dot com?
Speaker 2 (21:56):
The technology, customer stories and everything we talked about are
all up on com and just as a reminder, because
we are the intelligent data infrastructure company you know what,
we really would love it if you would come check
us out to see how we can help you unlease genius.
Speaker 4 (22:10):
I love that you have a great website.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Your team put together a great website, easy and navigate
lots of information out there, folks. It's just fantastic, Gabie.
I can't tell you how much I appreciate your time.
I know that you're very busy. Please get my best
to your team, and I'm glad we could feature you
on the program.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Thanks so much, Dennis
I was born and raised in Alaska.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
And before you interrupt and say I have never known
anybody who was born and raised in Alaska, I think
there's actually more of us than that people count on.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
But yeah, I was born and raised in Alaska.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
My parents were teachers, and they were recruited to go
there out of college. And I was really blessed to
grow up in a state that prided itself on education,
on learning, on experience, being outdoors.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I'm just really proud of the state that I come from.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
So, and I went to school in a lot of
different places because my parents were teachers. My parents really
wanted me to experience college in a variety of places,
mostly because they wanted me to experience different learning environments.
So I went to college at a lot of different
places South Carolina, Washington, California, and Alaska.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
But I do have a degree, so in case anybody else.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
It's comical when we talk to people that have been
in business a long time in the lead companies about,
you know, what they wanted to do coming out of school,
what the plan was to what they're doing today, And
some were right on the button and some are just
all over the place. Because there's so many different paths
out there. What did you want to do when you
were coming out of school?
Speaker 1 (01:12):
That's so true.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
I believe, you know, I wanted to be a lawyer,
probably in part because of Perry Mason and you know,
all the other lawyer shows that were out there at
the time. But I found that just in interning and
being a paralegal and everything else, that it really wasn't
for me. I went to you know, started and stopped
(01:38):
because I just found that it wasn't how I wanted
to think. It wasn't how I wanted to make decisions,
and it wasn't how I wanted to participate in life.
My mother was quite disappointed by this, handed me a newspaper.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
By the way, you're not the first person to disappoint
their parents, So I know.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
I know, I know.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
I think she thought I was I was going to
do I was going to go backwards and maybe not
be successful. But I think I surprised her and ended
up being successful. But she said, you know, go find
something you love. Here's a newspaper, because in Alaska we
still had newspapers at that time.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
She's like, go find a job.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
And I took a job actually at out of a
Seattle newspaper that was forwarded from Arizona. At a little
company called Insight, which is a partner of net apps today,
and I worked in a division of theirs, and I
got bit by a marketing bug and sela VI, I
mean tech was it? I wanted to be in tech.
(02:34):
I found the energy in that and I'd never looked back.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Well, I can already tell about the passion you have
for the industry, and that's kind of a common theme
when we talk to leaders of companies, having the passion
to lead a company or create one. You know, as
I look, Gabe at your incredible resume, you know, SAP, Sage, HP,
You've worked at some incredible companies. And before we talk
about an app, I'd like to maybe kind of roll
(02:59):
everything together other and your experiences at some really big
companies leading to the one you've been at for four
plus years. What was the experience like jumping to different
big companies like that?
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Yeah, you know, my I think when people look at
my resume they're like, oh, you're a big company girl.
I actually didn't start off as a big company girl.
I started off in startups because remember I was I
was so bit by the tech bug. I knew I
was going to take one that hit, and I was
going to be a bajillionaire and life was going to
be over and it was going to be amazing.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
That is not how it happened.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
I found that all of the small companies I participated
in and quite honestly, was not successful at I made
bad choices. I learned a lot about my craft. I
learned about how to sell to a board. I learned
about how to sell to a customer. I learned about
what things worked and didn't work. So all of the
failures really led to one that hit, and that was OutlookSoft,
(03:52):
and that company turned me onto going into you know,
got acquired by SAP, and then the story got wrote.
I stayed in companies because I felt like I had
learned my craft, but I didn't learn how to do
it in a big company environment. And what a big
company environment really demonstrates to you is how do you
learn how to collaborate? How do you integrate? How do
you how do you partner to get something done? How
(04:14):
do you create momentum in a market that feels uncreatable
because you are the market, right, So I really wanted
to learn that and that's that's really what sap HPE
stage was about. I think it was a reinvention of self,
maybe a reinvention of the craft, a reinvention of falling
in love with tech. Every single one of those was
(04:37):
I have to love this tech before I get into it,
and I fell in love with the tech at every
single one.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Well, let's talk a little bit about your journey now
at NetApp. As we talked about, your resume is really cool.
It's there's so many different things you've done, and I
can see why ned app was interested in you, But
why were you interested in joining that company?
Speaker 2 (04:55):
You know, I want to I all through my career,
I really like to be first, wanted to be I
picked based on technology. I picked based on what it
could provide me how I grew, and NetApp was the
same kind of choice. I was at HP at the
time and I kept saying no to the recruiter who
was calling me. I was like, I'm really happy here,
super happy. Leave me alone. It's like, just please take
(05:18):
one call. And I took one call and that turned
into four calls and turned into a conversation with George
Currey and the CEO, and I was like all right.
I remember walking out and talking to a loved one
and saying, I am bit and this is bad. I
was not expecting to get bitten by this one. But
that comes back to that I like to be first. Right,
(05:38):
what metap is doing for us is and for the
world of data infrastructure is the same kind of inflection
point they want to be first. They're telling a story
about evolution from just storage in data management into data infrastructure,
which is at the core of an AI era.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Right.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
You can't do the compute volumete volumes that you need.
You can't make all of the decisions or the AI
workloads that you need to utilize unless you paid attention
to what's happening with your data, where it lives, how
it's moving, and if you have enough capacity to even
manage AI.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
So I thought that that was exciting.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
I thought it was going to be exciting to change
their narrative from one that we were lovingly referred to
as a brand of commas into being something intentional and
focused on bringing intelligence to your data infrastructure.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
We call it intelligent data infrastructure.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
And it's fun being part of a company who is
rebuilding themselves but also rebuilding the backbone of everything that's
happening in AI. So you know, and honestly, I just
I wanted the opportunity and I'm glad they gave it
to me. I want to be the one to bring
that story to scale.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
I like to talk about your ascension too, because you
came in as senior vice president portfolio marketing, correct me
if I'm wrong, and then you as send it to
a really incredible position. When you came to the company,
you obviously knew what you wanted. They knew what they
wanted out of you. Was the plan that you did
want to ascend it and have a much large and
if so, why you know, I.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Think there's always a plan. You always have the belief
that you can ascend. They probably thought that I would
be a good interviewee at the time. I don't think
that there was a prescribed plan. But again, I think
that's career path and I think that that's coming into
into a company and deciding what you want and then
doing it. I think for CMOS or for anybody in marketing,
(07:23):
and my job is portfolio marketing, it was making a
difference and making it very quickly.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
I especially think that AI and in the ear we
are in right now.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
In tech, is that the faster you can get into
market and the faster you can enact change, the faster
you are going to be recognized and your company is
going to be recognized.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
And I think that that's what happened to me.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
I made some bold moves, I made some strategic changes,
and honestly, I started clicking with the leadership and and.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
It was just something that felt like a good move
for both of us. I wish it had been planned,
but I think it was.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
It was it was an excellent outcome to some thing
that neither one of us had planned, but felt like
it was a good move.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
We hear that story a lot that sometimes organically it
just happens. There's no plan there, and then it just
happens for the best, and that's really cool. Before we
talk about all the programs and capabilities that you have
in NetApp and also what you do there, i'd like
to talk about mission and vision. I know to most companies,
especially what you do for a living with your team
is very important.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
Can you talk about mission and vision?
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Yeah, I'll start with me first because I think that's
really important because if I can't do it for myself.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
I think it's really hard to do it for the company.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
My personal mission is to prove what marketing can do
when it has a seated the strategic table that's brand
to demand.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
But that's also position.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Marketing needs to be the part of the company that
helps make a market, that helps define a direction, that
helps define trajectory. And so if I can't do that
for myself personally, then I think it's really.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Hard to do that as a leader.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
And that really transcends into what I believe the mission
statement that we created for net app is right. Our
goal is to remove the friction between data and innovation.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
That's netap's north star. That's the.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Genesis and the emphasis of what intelligent data infrastructure brings.
It's about making data accessible, protected, able to move, and
ready to be at the availability of anything you need
to do with at any workload. That gets back to
the personal mission, right, I really like things that connect
to each other, maybe concentric circles.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Right.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
If I believe that my goal is to be a
strategic driver, then I really do believe that us creating
this mission for netap is is the best example of
me being a leader and best example of my mission
coming to life through what mission we've created for the company.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Well, I love that. That's very real said, and you're
touching on a little bit. But I know a lot
of our listeners are very familiar with NetApp. For the
one that aren't, if you were to give a thirty
thousand foot view about exactly what you do, what would
you tell people?
Speaker 2 (09:54):
I have to start with that we're the intelligent Data
Infrastructure company and that we're here to help your company manage,
move and secure your data, whether no matter where it sits.
It could be in a data center, it could be
in the cloud, it could be in a hybrid environment.
But we really believe and are committed to helping you
make the most of your data strategy. And that is
(10:15):
so important for every company today because, as I said,
in the AI era, everybody needs needs to understand where
their data is, how to secure it, how to protect it,
how to grow it. So at the core of what
we believe in is data. That's why it's the middle
of those three words.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
Support, services, programs, capabilities.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
I know that a lot, and I know we can't
tack all of them, but if you could do me
a feed right, you know, whether it's what your clients
really need today, what you're most proud of. I'm sure
you're proud of all your products out there, but could
you go over some of them for us?
Speaker 4 (10:45):
So what you offer everybody?
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (10:47):
I think when we talk about data infrastructure, we're not
just talking about storage, which is what we're renowned for.
We're really talking about the layer that sits above that.
Data infrastructure is something that is unified, that it adds
intelligent as embedded AI, embedded security, security, and really allows
you to say that everything we've thought of, we thought
(11:09):
about it because we've built it in.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
We are not bolting it on.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
We want everything to be seamless and accessible and secure.
So when we think about AI, we're thinking about AI
not as an add on. We're building it in. When
we think about security, we're not thinking about it as
an add on or a bolt on. We're thinking about
it built in. A lot of partners of ours were
actually customers before us. Quite frankly, the NFL, dream Works,
(11:34):
asd and Martin, they were all customers before they were
actually let's say, sponsors, And that really to me tells
the kind of value that intelligent data infrastructure has. It
is it is something that is part of everybody's how
they build, how they dream, how they design, And that's
what I love about those stories I just gave you,
(11:56):
and that is proof on that built in, not bolted on.
So I think that's kind of what separates us. I
think that kind of encapsulates what our key components are.
But you know, honestly, that's us in a nutshell, and
why and how we chase value and not just the transaction.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
What kind of challenges present themselves in the industry currently
right now for you and your.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Team, I think it's the same challenges as everybody else.
But I would say that the one that we're more
focused on is speed. I would say it's I.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Think the pace has changed.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Where you were looking at maybe eighteen to twenty four
month cycles, you're looking at six to twelve. Now, that's
an incredible pace of change. I think security is also
another one. And while all of these do come back
to data, I think that both of those together demand
a different kind of architecture, not just from technology, but
it demands a different kind of business model. I think
(12:49):
those people who are or those marketers even let's just
stick with my own practice, if you're not thinking about
of AI in your marketing practice, then you are not
thinking about your marketing model and how you need to proceed.
If it's if you're in technology or you want to
buy technology, and you're not thinking about what you need
to do with your data or how you need to
secure it, then you're not thinking about how AI is
(13:12):
going to have an impact on your business model. So
I think that the speed of everything is changing, and
I think security is the biggest kind of outlier, not outlier,
but board level imperative. Now that is no longer an
outlier that demands a stronger data practice.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
For people like me. Layman AIS in the news all
the time and I hear about it. I use all
the different things that people can use them for simple things,
And I know AI has been around for a long time,
but it really has ramped up in the last five years. Obviously,
it's a big part of what you and your team do,
and I'm sure everything is fluid without going too deep
into AI, how is it integrated with your customers and
(13:49):
your team?
Speaker 4 (13:50):
How to use it and what are you excited about?
Speaker 2 (13:52):
I use AI and the way that I've asked my
team to think about AI is totally in line with
how our company thinks about it. We want it to
become an embedded part of how we think and how
we drive our business forward.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
We don't want it to just be an experiment on
the side.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
You know, if you're a marketer, think think of the
think of the KPIs of you know, like there're ninety
five million Instagram posts a day, right, There's there's hundreds
of thousands of hours of video a day that we
have to process and that's all. Some of them are
AI driven, some of them are physically built. But when
you think about that volume that's coming at you, then
(14:29):
you need an AI response mechanism built into your to
your business model. But you also need to be able
to be able to answer that with the same level
of content and the same level of reporting. So you know,
I believe that means I have to earn my seat
at the table every single day. Quite frankly, I believe
that AI and data infrastructure is part of my model
(14:50):
that I think about as a CMO, I have to
think about that for my company.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
My company thinks about it.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
That means if I'm thinking about it, my company's thinking
about it. Hopefully we're ahead of where our customers are
thinking about it and we can become good examples for them,
you know, honestly, it's it's about if we talked about
this being in security that we talked about before, how
do you preserve the impact of the relationship, not just
(15:15):
the technology. And I think that that's at the core
of you know, how to deal with AI, it's the
core of the relationship. How do you change your business
model and how are you able to internalize at every
single level of your organization, from the you, to the
business to the customer.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
No client names have to be mentioned here, because I
know sometimes you can be in the super secret business.
That's fine, But I do love to ask this question
about this is why we get up every morning to
change lives with companies and our partners and our clients
out there. You've been there for a while now, and
I'm sure you've got some incredible success stories. Is there
one that sticks out or maybe a few that you
could share with us about saying, you know what, we
(15:50):
really did make a difference today with a client and
this is why we get up every day. Can you
share one with us?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
I can, I'm going to share two. I could share
a couple bits well please, let's go. Let's go with
the ESA, the European Space Agency. This is one that
just makes me super excited. Right when you think about
when you think about the volumes and petabytes of data,
you know, it can feel enormous and something that isn't approachable.
But when you talk to the ESA, the European Space Agency,
(16:16):
it's really how they're keeping all of their data secure
and also how that's enabling them to do more discovery,
discovery of new galaxies, discoveries of new stars, and making
it available so that everybody can explore space. And the
passion that these people have for the universe is just
(16:39):
I mean, they actually call that, they call it the universe.
Their database of the universe is just spectacular. So that's
one that's really exciting. And then one that feels probably
a little closer to home for a lot of people
is the NFL. You know, when you're managing petabytes of
video and security across stadiums during games.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
We just did it for the Super Bowl with them.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
I mean that also is something that just feels like, hey, listen,
we're the third man on the field hopefully for them,
and that gets exciting for us too. So you know,
when we think about all of our customers, DreamWorks I
mentioned before, Aston Martin I mentioned before, you know, the
Children's Cancer Institute. There are so many ways that our
customers are changing lives, having fun, creating a future for
(17:21):
all of us.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
That's what I get passionate about every single day.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
And that's why, you know, when I think about the
power of data, the power of data is behind all
of that, and it's just.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Making them successful. That's that's what makes me get up
in the morning.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
You know, as you were listening some of your clients,
I think there's a coolness factor because I know a
lot of different companies that do similar things to you
do that they work with government agencies. But the variety
of clients you have must make it a lot of
fun because it's always different every day.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
I imagine it is.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
It is, and you know what the stories are, what
are what keep you coming back. It's it's important to
note that when we're in technology, right, you can my
boss calls it nerd nobbing out right when you when
you get in you can like totally geek out and
you can go into the and you talk. You can
get into every single widget, every single feature, function.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
But if you can elevate that story to something it's like,
well what are you doing? Like how would I explain
this to my mother?
Speaker 2 (18:12):
That's where you really see them like get these little
grins on their faces and that that's the kind of
stuff that makes us excited every day because we see it.
We're excited about the technology. But when you see them
grin and when they want to explain it, then then
you know you've connected and you've got magic.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
I love the analogy. I don't know about you, but
I'm tech support from my mother and my mother in
law all the time. Every day, I'm on call twenty
four seven, three sixty five, one hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
That's the way, and they got to understand it too,
So you've got to.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
Find ways to tell them that's right that I love
that analogy. I did want to talk to you just
for a moment. And philanthropic and charity work I know
is important to a lot of companies out there, and I
imagine you and your company are need deeping it.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
When you have time to be a part of.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
It, what do you like to be a part of
their We we sponsor several different agencies and several different companies,
but we're really focused on training the next generation. We
want to give them access to data. We want them
to learn and to be the data explorers. And so
that's really what we're focused on in our charities but
also our give back work. And you know, we really
(19:13):
tie that back to our brand campaign, which is about
unleashing genius.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
For us, it's not just a tagline.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Every person brings something irreplaceable, but that idea about unleashing genius.
It starts young, and we want to foster that in
our youth. We want to be part of the direction
of how they think and how they're going to continue
to grow this for when we're not here. And so
that's you know, the data explorers and how we continue
to show up with our partners like the forty nine
(19:40):
ers in bringing that to life with Steam and STEM.
That's that's a really exciting part of what we do
and how we bring our brand to life is the
Intelligent Data Infrastructure Company.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Well, I love that, and I think it's an excellent
segue to talk about leadership. A lot of things you've
talked about our leadership. You do have a team you
mentioned them with that said, is I mentioned the word
lead ship to you, how do you execute it and
what does it mean to you.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
I believe in really making myself available, you know, I
think it's it's interesting as women in tech sometimes we
get so focused on doing the job, but we are
the standard bearer of the women around us. So I'm
personally committed to making room not just for women, but
anybody who feels underrepresented. My door is always open. I
(20:23):
take a lot of meetings. I like to answer the questions.
I don't always have the answers. I just like to
be the ear. I like to continue to foster the
thinking and the and the personal development because you know,
after I've I've been in this space for a really
long time.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
I'm not going to tell you how long, because I
hope that I look like I'm twelve. But it's this.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Industry can feel so representative some on some days and
so underrepresented at other days, and so I just I
want to continue to drive technology forward in representing the
best that every single person who's in tech has to offer.
And that's really what I'm committed to, and both in
terms of how I lead, how I mentor, and how
(21:03):
I like to show up and participate.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Even with my boss standing, well, let's do this. I
want to get some final thoughts from you. We're going
to give the website to everybody, but let's kind of
recap what we talked about, just some final thoughts from you.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
The floor is yours.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Be first in the pool, be bold, be curious, you know,
do the things that matter, and quite frankly, you know,
don't be afraid.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Marketing and technology is about risk. Jump in the water.
Is just fine.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
No. I like that you say that because I got
advice a long time ago as a program director and
on air host of my industry and radio and my
boss said, you know what, stop fretting over things and
just run a play and then we'll deal with it afterwards.
I think that's kind of what you're saying, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
It absolutely is right.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
We're looking for people, and we are continuing to push
our own selves to say, hey, if you don't try,
you're never going to see you see it succeed, and
if it fails, then you'd learn something and you can
go try again.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
That's well said. What's your website for everybody?
Speaker 1 (21:55):
NetApp dot com?
Speaker 2 (21:56):
The technology, customer stories and everything we talked about are
all up on com and just as a reminder, because
we are the intelligent data infrastructure company you know what,
we really would love it if you would come check
us out to see how we can help you unlease genius.
Speaker 4 (22:10):
I love that you have a great website.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Your team put together a great website, easy and navigate
lots of information out there, folks. It's just fantastic, Gabie.
I can't tell you how much I appreciate your time.
I know that you're very busy. Please get my best
to your team, and I'm glad we could feature you
on the program.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Thanks so much, Dennis
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