Our VMware Innovator series allows you to get to know the people working at VMware who have a passion for innovation.This week, we’d like you to meet Joe Beda. Discover how innovating brings him joy!

Where are you geographically from?

I grew up outside of Chicago (Glen Ellyn – western suburbs) and was there through high school. I went to college in Southern California before moving up to Seattle to start my career in tech. That was over 20 years ago now!

What do you do at VMware?

I’m a Principal Engineer in VMware’s Modern Applications Platform Business Unit (MAPBU). We are the primary drivers behind VMware Tanzu, our modern apps platform. I came to VMware via the Heptio acquisition where I was a co-founder. Previous to that I co-founded the Kubernetes project.

I’m on a mission to…

Our mission in MAPBU is to make app teams more productive by connecting them with infrastructure, running anywhere, that meets both their needs and those of the larger company. It is really about unlocking the latent capabilities and talents that exist in every application team.

VMware Careers: What does innovation mean to you?

Joe Beda: For me, innovation isn’t just about interesting and novel technology. It is about finding the intersection of technology, critical customer needs, and the way to turn that into a sustainable business. I’m fundamentally an optimist. Bringing that all together is the positive sum for everyone involved and is a way to make our world better.

VMware Careers: How does innovating bring you joy?

Joe Beda: There is nothing like seeing your work impact real people. Being able to contribute to positive trends in our industry, build communities, and create something that takes on a life of its own is incredibly exciting.

VMware Careers: How is VMware making an impact on Modern App platforms?

Joe Beda: VMware has traditionally helped IT teams make the most of their resources. The company started the virtualization revolution! With the advent of the Cloud, the ways that that infrastructure is changing. We are seeing both a change in the way that teams build and manage apps along with an evolution of those modern platforms. Via VMware Tanzu, VMware is connecting infrastructure teams and application teams like never before. This allows teams to use these emerging techniques and technologies in a way that works with the infrastructure teams. Providing the best of both worlds – empowering app teams to move fast while safely and securely running everywhere the company needs them to: on-prem, across clouds, and at the edge.

VMware Careers: What excites you about the future of applications? What role is VMware playing?

Joe Beda: I’ve been in the industry for 20+ years and I’ve seen a ton of changes in that time – including the rise of the internet and then of mobile. Things always unfold in a way that I never expect! With that in mind, I hesitate to predict the future.

However, I think that we’ll see a move away from centralized clouds towards an active ecosystem of services and experiences that cut across infrastructure providers. Through open-source and common infrastructure tools like Kubernetes, I’m looking forward to providing a rich cloud-like experience to build apps in a way that is decoupled from where those apps are running. By contributing to open source and helping our customers get started in this world, VMware Tanzu is helping to make that a reality.