Title: VP Innovation and Emerging Technology, ForgeRock
Twitter handle: @xmlgrrl
How long have you been in your current role?
I joined ForgeRock’s Office of the CTO in mid-July 2014.
What business technology issue is your role focusing on?
My focus is the next wave of identity relationship management. I’ve been working on a standard called User-Managed Access (UMA) to this end, which ForgeRock and others are implementing. For the last decade, identity professionals have plumbed the depths of authentication, making progress on federated single sign-on, “social login”, and SaaS portals. Now’s the time to push the envelope on authorisation, which will help us make dramatic improvements in federated access control, privacy, and data sharing in the Internet of Things era.
Now’s the time to push the envelope on authorisation, which will help us make dramatic improvements in federated access control, privacy, and data sharing in the Internet of Things era.
What are your interests away from work?
Read more: You want to get on a corporate board, but is your CV ‘board-able'?
I'm a rock ’n’ roller, playing keyboards and singing in a band called Mud Junket. It seems nearly everyone who lives in the Seattle area is in a band; I’m pretty sure it’s a local law. Interestingly, most ForgeRockers are also rockers!
Related: ‘Almost any IT team I have managed has had a disproportionate number of musicians within it’ – Chad Dickerson’
What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
In my time as a Forrester Research analyst, the maxim was, “Be courageous; make the call.” It has stood me in good stead. My husband would probably tell you I’m not short of opinions, but in a world full of options, risks, opportunities, and technologies, it’s important to be crisp and focused in choosing and acting on a direction.
Professionally, who do you admire most?
I admire and am inspired by people who have a comprehensive vision of something big and intricate, and can't rest until they see it through. J. K. Rowling and the band Queen come to mind — and I'm not just thinking of their creative works, but their business sense and innovation.
Read more: ‘Redesign your business on a blank sheet of paper’
How long have you been working in your field? How did you get into your role?
In the early 90's I began defining technical documentation schemas in a language called SGML, and this led me to co-author a book on a schema methodology, and later to participate in creating the Extensible Markup Language (XML) standard. On the strength of my XML knowledge, I got involved in web services security standards in 2001, chairing a group defining a federated single sign-on standard, now widely used, that came to be called the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML). I’ve stayed involved in security, identity, and privacy ever since.
I'm a rock ’n’ roller, playing keyboards and singing in a band called Mud Junket. It seems nearly everyone who lives in the Seattle area is in a band.
If you weren't working in your field, what would you be doing?
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At the moment I can’t imagine leaving, because developments are getting very exciting indeed. However, if I could make a living singing, I’d definitely do it!
Can you share one key pointer for keeping abreast of business technology trends?
It’s about keeping connections to smart, knowledgeable people alive and humming — reaching out to them when I have a question, an idea, or interesting news, and knowing they’ll reach out to me. One's network is a key resource, often overlooked.
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