Nancy Bohannon, VP of SLED at Red Hat

What lesson will you take with you from the pandemic?

What I’m most proud about is that the team really stepped up to support customers. Our customers were going through incredible challenges that nobody ever saw coming, and the Red Hat community jumped in and was willing to do anything possible to make our customers successful. We really focused on automation and helping our customers do more with less. 

What opportunities do you see today in the SLED market?

I really think we’re transitioning to a citizens-first model. We need to modernize quickly and citizens need to be able to do things from their home. We all need to accelerate that vision across government and academia. I think we’ll get to the point one day when we look back and say “I can’t believe I used to go to the DMV for that.”

How did remote work change your work life?

I really missed airplane time. Airplanes were when I was thinking, when I was writing things down. I missed that. I missed the conversations with my team that did not happen because we weren’t together in the office. I think one of the challenges was we would run from one meeting to another and it was very business-focused versus relationship-building-focused. We’re going to spend the next year figuring out how to navigate this new normal, but I think in the end it’s going to enhance our ability to be connected.