Brian Dawson
Developer Relations | Product Leader | Strategic Advisor
30+ years building developer ecosystems, driving technical adoption, and creating thought leadership for CloudBees, Linux Foundation, Ripple, and Sony. 100+ keynotes and presentations, hosted top-ranked DevOps Radio podcast (30+ episodes), and created the academically-cited DevOps Quadrant Maturity Framework.
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Professional Experience
CIQ
Product Leader
Driving product strategy and delivery for enterprise Linux solutions, with a core focus on AI/ML and HPC workloads.
Defined and delivered Linux solutions optimized for AI workloads, contributing to CIQ becoming the first Linux distribution authorized to deliver the complete NVIDIA AI software stack
Utilized LLMs (Claude, Gemini Pro, ChatGPT) for market research, competitive analysis, and product documentation
Integrated AI-driven analytics into product strategy to identify emerging customer needs
Ripple
Global Head of Partner Relations/Success (Founding Leader)
Founded and led the partner relations/success function, building the team and program from the ground up. Managed and nurtured a global network of over 150 partners representing more than $750 million in capital investment.
Guided partners in architecture, solution development, and go-to-market strategies
Judged XRPL developer and Creator Fund grant programs, assessing 50+ grant applications
Selected as one of only 8 (out of 800) staff members approved for media and press interviews
Created partner training materials, improving onboarding efficiency
Stynger
Head of Strategy and Operations
Developed and executed operational plans to integrate major label music into video games and the metaverse.
Collaborated with Roblox, Linden Labs, EA, Warner Music, UMG, and Downtown Music
Developed tokenized music solutions and AI-driven playlist generation strategies
Established strategic partnerships enhancing business reach in Web3 and gaming
Creators Union X DJ Jazzy Jeff
Technical Director
Led the development of a token-based community platform, acting as liaison between development and business teams.
Deployed AI Digital Twin for DJ Jazzy Jeff
Facilitated discussions between developers, musicians, and AI executives
Defined tokenomics strategy driving the platform's economic model
Linux Foundation
Vice President of Developer Relations and Ecosystem Development
Led developer relations and ecosystem development initiatives, driving community engagement and technical adoption.
Developed ecosystem strategies driving technical adoption across multiple open-source communities
Created and implemented training programs enhancing developer skills
Led community initiatives fostering developer collaboration
CloudBees, Inc.
Senior Director of Product and Solutions Marketing, DevOps Evangelist (Founding Member)
Founding member of the product marketing team. Drove product and solutions marketing efforts, enhancing market reach and adoption of CloudBees' DevOps solutions.
Hosted top-ranked DevOps Radio podcast for over 2 years with 30+ episodes
Delivered keynote presentations at Quality Jam 2018 and DevOps World/Jenkins World (2016-2020)
Conceived and developed the cited DevOps Quadrant Maturity Framework
Co-authored 'Building Cloud Native Apps Painlessly' and contributed to O'Reilly's 'Jenkins 2: Up and Running'
Evangelized DevOps through 100+ public webinars, presentations, and workshops
Sony Computer Entertainment of America / PlayStation
Director of Tools and Technology (Employee #90, Program Founder)
Employee #90 at Sony Computer Entertainment of America. Founded the Tools and Middleware Program and led the Tools and Technology team, supporting product development and innovation for the PlayStation platform.
Directed tools and technology development for PlayStation 1, 2, and 3
Led cross-functional teams to deliver innovative solutions for game developers
Contributed to the success of 34+ shipped video game titles including Ratchet & Clank and SOCOM II
Received Sony Computer Entertainment International Global Excellence Award
Introduced voice recognition technology still in use today
Skills & Expertise
AI/ML & Emerging Technologies
Cloud & DevOps
Programming Languages
Blockchain & Web3
Awards & Recognition
DevOps Evangelist Finalist
DevOps.com
2017-2020
Marketing Content MVP Award
CloudBees
2018
2x Presidents Club (non-sales)
CloudBees
2017-2018
Global Excellence Award
Sony Computer Entertainment International
2004
Thought Leadership & Publications
100+ presentations including keynotes at DevOps World/Jenkins World (2016-2020) and Quality Jam 2018 • 30+ podcast episodes as host of top-ranked DevOps Radio • 2 published books and numerous technical articles
4 Quadrants of DevOps Maturity Model
Framework
Widely adopted enterprise DevOps transformation framework, academically cited and keynoted at Quality Jam 2018
The DevOps Trinity
Framework
Core DevOps implementation framework (People & Culture, Process & Practices, Tools & Technology), cited in O'Reilly publications
Building Cloud Native Apps Painlessly
Book
Co-author of CloudBees publication on cloud-native development
Jenkins 2: Up and Running
Book
Contributor to O'Reilly publication, jacket endorser
DevOps Radio
Podcast
Host of top-ranked podcast for over 2 years, 30+ episodes covering DevOps transformation, CI/CD, and enterprise practices