Thanks for joining me today on 5G Talent Talk. I'm Carrie Charles, your host. Happy to be here, and I'm also very excited about our guest today, Donna Johnson. She is the Chief Marketing Officer of Cradlepoint. Donna, thanks for being here with me today. Thanks for having me. I'm looking forward to it.

Yes, I am too, I am too. So there's so many people, and especially women in telecommunications and tech that really have their eyes set on the C-suite. And I'm just curious about your journey and how you got to your seat today. Well, like many people's careers, it was not a straight journey. Somebody once told me that, there's no such thing as a career ladder.

that implies a linearity that just doesn't exist, to be honest. So I kind of wended my way back and forth, always with technology companies, started in engineering, did a lot of work in product management, kind of vacillated between the two, got into product marketing, which turns out it really matched a lot of my skills, which are around talking about the product, but also understanding the technology.

and really melding those in a way of trying to explain technology to our customers, our market, our stakeholders in a way that was very clear. It turns out that was a really good combination of skills that I had been building to and didn't know it. And then eventually just grew into more of an overall marketing role. So went from talking about the product to how do we obviously generate demand for the product and just get more people excited about where we're going and sort of buying into the journey that we're on.

And so yeah, it wasn't straightforward. I will say that I've had people kind of ask me, well, like you said, how do you get there? And I don't think that it's a career path to get there. But I would say, particularly for women who want to advance, a few things that I did that I thought were great was always be interested in what's new, be open to new things, take new opportunities. Don't ever feel like I'm pigeonholed, I'm in this role and I have to stay here. Always be curious about what happens around you.

what's happening in the rest of the business, what's happening in the world, what's happening in technology. Take on new opportunities. And if you do that, good things happen to you. You move up, you move sideways, you move around, but eventually I think you can land somewhere in a job you enjoy, which is what I've done. Well said, Donna, well said. So tell the cradle point story. That's what you're an expert at, right? Telling that story, so let's hear it. Well, I should have thought about...

First of all, saying I was an expert and then being forced to prove it. I guess now you'll have to be the judge of whether I was right. We'll give you some grace. It's okay. But so Craterpoint's been on a long journey actually. And I've been here about six years. So I've been fortunate enough to experience quite a bit of that. And when I started, we really had a vision around cellular at the time, largely 4G, as a source of business transformation. So businesses,

and to some extent government agencies, first responders, a lot of organizations needed a better way to connect. They often were forced to either be in an office, a fixed location, literally with wires, kind of tying them down. Sometimes those were unreliable. Sometimes they were hard to come by, particularly in more rural or small towns and things like that. Or they were in a vehicle and they were trying to use their phone or a little USB stick to connect.

But with connectivity being so fundamental to business of all types, we felt like there was a better way to connect to ensure reliability, and that was to use the cellular network. But not just as a hotspot, but use it really in a way that enterprises, IT folks and enterprise companies were used to thinking about network connectivity, something predictable, something reliable, something they could really base their business on. But at the same time, get away from the tyranny of wires and be able to take that business anywhere.

So that's really where CreativePoint started, was in this connectivity bringing enterprise scale, enterprise manageability to a technology that had often been thought of as kind of a consumer technology. And by doing that, we were able to make businesses more reliable. They could fall over to cellular if they had a failure, they could use cellular to open a new business quickly instead of waiting on wires. They could take their business on the road. They can incorporate IOT, kiosks and signage and other types of things.

to really expand the way that they did business. Eventually during COVID, they could send their employees home and still allow them to connect securely using cellular. I get excited and I tend to run on, so please raise your hand if I go on too long. But that's where we started. And then over the last couple of years, we've expanded that vision to really say, well, what else do businesses need to take on the road with them?

It's not just the connectivity, it's the security. So if you're going to move from office to home to vehicle to work site to a temporary location, you need to make sure you have consistent security. You need to take application optimization. How do I make sure that I'm getting to my cloud and my applications or my network reliably, making sure I have good quality? How do I take advantage of the cellular network, including slicing in the 5G network to be able to get some predictability in that connection?

In general, how do I bring a trusted, secure, reliable, optimized experience with me everywhere that I go? And we feel like that's really going to continue to allow our customers to innovate, to take more advantage of the reliability and the flexibility that 5G offers them. And really, let them feel free to focus on their business and less on their connectivity. So Cradlepoint is part of Ericsson. It is, yes. Thank you for reminding me of that. Yeah.

I should have said that in my introduction. No, it's great. It's right behind you. It's awesome. It's fair. Yeah, exactly. So we, about three years ago now, were acquired by Ericsson, which was such a fantastic fit. Because many of your listeners, well, you're on a 5G telecon, so they all know who Ericsson is. But over 50% of 5G traffic outside of China goes through Ericsson radius.

And so they have a huge vested interest and a shared vision in 5G as an enterprise transformational technology. And so becoming part of them really let us say, we've got the IT, the enterprise side of that connection, as well as the infrastructure side, the network side. And we felt like those two things together would allow us to really innovate in that connectivity beyond the way other companies treat the 5G network, which is kind of as a black box.

So we've already started to innovate on things like network slicing on the 5G network to be able to allow more predictability and best fit networks. We're looking at AI types of capabilities across the network. We're looking at actual programmability. If you're following the conversation around the global network platform to actually be able to allow our enterprises to say, not only do I want to use the 5G network, but this is what I want from it. This is how I want it to adapt to me.

And those are all innovations that have been possible because we're part of Ericsson. So there's been an evolution of 5G, right? Over the really, I don't know, many years, but let's say the last five years specifically. Where are we today in that evolution? So I sometimes tell people, I think we may have oversold 5G five years ago. And again, your listeners probably are aware of that because they've been following 5G.

And I think that we started out by talking about the eventuality of 5G, but we got there a little too fast. We got there before the technology supported it. And so in the beginning, I think, you know, we talked about a lot, but we sort of ended up with a network that was better than 4G, but potentially for a lot of people, not noticeably better. With the introduction of C-band a few years ago, I think that really started to kickstart 5G because we started to see speeds that were not only better than 4G,

But honestly, that were better than the broadband connections that many people could get. And I think that's where 5G really started to be a game changer for everyone, the consumers, but particularly businesses who needed that kind of performance and that kind of reliability. I think now we're starting to see, you know, millimeter wave is still kind of slowly rolling out at, you know, in different places around the world.

But we're going to see the standalone networks come out soon. And we're already seeing some coverage of that. And that's increasing. And Ericsson is a big part of that. And that standalone network is going to allow us to take advantage of the slicing that I mentioned. It's really where we're going to get some of the extremely low latency applications. And again, improved performance. So I think we're going to continue to see 5G evolve. We really want to take advantage of what's there. We don't want to just treat it as yet another connection. We really want to treat it as something that

is different than say a static broadband connection. It's a dynamic connection that we can take advantage of as well as potentially change through things like programmability. We've also started to see 5G become more prevalent as a lay on technology. So again, many of you may be familiar with the concept of a private 5G network where we actually take a 5G network and we build it inside your facility, your airport, your warehouse, your factory.

And sometimes that can be using the spectrum that your carriers use. And sometimes it can use unlicensed spectrum, such as CBRS. But what it lets you do is create an extremely fast, low latency, low cost network that's completely suited to your needs. And kind of get away from Wi-Fi, because in a lot of cases, Wi-Fi doesn't either have the performance it needs needed. It definitely doesn't have the capacity. So you end up with a lot more.

Wi-Fi access points than you would say 5G radios supports concepts like completely isolated networking and edge compute. So I think 5G has evolved on the public side to be faster, adaptable with more services. And on the private side has really moved into a competitive source of a land connection. So a big part of your world is messaging and obviously marketing. So what are some of those challenges

when you're messaging 5G today? So it used to be not as much anymore that whenever we would talk about 5G, people would say, well, I was driving down highway 101 and my phone call dropped. Therefore, I don't wanna trust my business to cellular. And so we've had some challenges just in sharing the difference between the types of connectivity we offer to the 5G network from the experience you might have had on your phone even a few years ago.

So really getting people to understand that it is a highly reliable network with capacity, it has predictability, and that it really is something that your business can depend on as a sole connection or as a secondary connection, or even sometimes as two connections with traffic moving seamlessly between the two or even bonding two cellular connections together. So that's been one of the challenges of messaging. It's just getting over this initial sort of concern.

on just using cellular as a business technology. I think we've done a great job. I mean, I'm at myself and our company on the back a little bit. I think we've done a good job in messaging around that. And so now I think we're getting more still concerns about cost data plans. So that's something that we and Ericsson work with our service providers on that. And they're very interested in how do they attract more enterprise business? So how do they get competitive data plans?

I think that's been a big one. And then just in general coverage, is it available where it needs to be? Does it have the performance that I need? If I open a store in two locations, will I get consistent performance across both of those locations? Those are the types of concerns we tend to hear. How will 5G facilitate business transformation in the future from this point forward?

Well, I'm glad you asked that because that's really what we're excited about. And we've moved beyond talking about 5G as a connectivity source to 5G as a source of transformation. And if you just think about it as a network in my building or my storefront that I can use, then I think you miss out on the real value of it because it's something that goes with you everywhere. And that's a simple statement, but I think it has a lot of ramifications because what it means is.

You can not just open a new business where you want. It means you can open a business whenever and wherever you want. So you really can have the freedom to say, I'm just gonna do, I'm gonna do things in a park. I'm gonna do things at home. I'm gonna do things in a different location in the city. I'm gonna expand nationally. And I know that my network follows me. And that's a really powerful statement. So right there, you just get an agility that you didn't have before. I still think that's probably one of the biggest transformational aspects.

But I think when you couple 5G with the cloud, that's really where you start to see the big changes because it's not enough for just your network connectivity to follow you. You really need your entire infrastructure, your security infrastructure, your application infrastructure, your SD-WAN infrastructure. That all needs to travel with you as well. Because if you go to a park to open up a business and you have your connectivity, but you don't have your security, then...

then you're sort of only got half of the problem solved. So when we couple the mobility of 5G and the agility of 5G with the mobility, really an agility of cloud, you really end up being able to take your entire business infrastructure with you wherever you go. So whether you're working at a coffee shop at home, a temporary location, an office, all of a sudden you've got this rich set of policies and user identification and application identification and zero trust capabilities.

that go with you wherever you go. And that really gives your freedom, your business the freedom to innovate, to grow, to reach out to customers in new ways or to work with employees in new ways. I have never heard it described like that before. I mean, that's, and I mean, I get it. I really get it. Even as I understand, I'm in this world every day, but even as somebody who may not be in this world or in enterprise, I mean, I really get that.

So yes, Donna, you have now become an expert. Okay, I can check the box. You know that that's, it's pretty cool. I love, I love what you just said. Let's expand on that a little bit because I'd like to hear your thoughts about emerging trends in the marketplace. Well, I would be remiss if I didn't talk about AI as an emerging trend. I probably would never be invited back to another podcast. Right, exactly.

So no question, one of the trends that we're seeing is AI. And of course that crosses all industries and all technologies. That's not just 5G. But I think the way that we want to use AI is to help. So one of the trends that we're seeing, and we think 5G helps with this, is a reduced amount of staff or time, and sometimes even talent in the IT space.

It's hard to recruit IT, particularly with things like security knowledge. I think we all know that. And so we feel like 5G helps you reduce the amount of people, literally, that you need to manage your network by having you have a single connectivity source, by simplifying your network overall. But AI kind of takes that further. So AI allows us to provide more assist on how do you...

optimize your network, how do you configure your network, how do you troubleshoot your network, how can you get a better understanding of what's going on without always having to have just more people doing that. So I think again, the combination of a sort of 5G, networking trends in general and AI is gonna really help us reduce the head count and actually improve the experience. Because if you can really see where, when do I use applications, what's the demand they make on the network.

How can I better support that? Even eventually, what slice should I use to optimize both my application performance and my cost? Those are things that AI can really help us with. So we're really excited about innovations that both Ericsson and Cradlepoint are doing in that area. So I think that's a big trend. If I can state the second obvious, security. It's a big concern about cybersecurity threats.

So again, that's something that we're trying to address. And again, it's not just a connectivity source, although 5G is a very secure network in and of itself. It's addressing things like isolation of your network, isolation of your IoT devices. And really the way we've taken it is building zero trust into everything. So our mantra is validate first, then connect, as opposed to connect first and then validate.

So from the very beginning, we make sure that, you know, you are who you are. We can use SIM based authentication, which is a big capability that we have as a 5G player that traditional networking companies don't have to make sure that your device is what it is. And then we inherently limit what you can connect to and even can look at things like, where are you? What network are you connecting on to control that as well? So, and then we have added a cybersecurity layer

that actually allows you to be isolated from malicious websites, phishing attacks, even believe it or not malicious AI. Because we've definitely seen people uploading confidential information to these large language models, generative AI products that basically put it into the public database. And so we're actually protecting against that as well. So I think, AI is for the good, but also security,

which is, I guess, kind of for the bad. So we see both of those as trends continuing to grow in 2024. And again, I think we see that connectivity can't be the only part of the network you think about. We really need to have an infrastructure that carries all of that along with it. Right. So let's talk a little bit about workforce and company culture. In your words, and again, from your perception, right? As a leader, describe the cradle point company culture.

What's it like to work there? I would love to, because that's something we're so proud of. And not only that we've built a good culture, but that we've been able to preserve it even as we become part of Ericsson, and maybe even modifying Ericsson's culture. But I would sum it up in our outgoing CEO, George Mulhern, used to say that we're humble and hungry. And that's really a good part of it. And then a second major message is, don't point a finger, lend a hand. And I think those two.

are probably of all the companies I've ever worked for. They all have a vision statement. They all have corporate philosophies, but those two, we really live. And every member of the company can cite those. And what it's created is an environment that's very welcoming, that's very appreciative of everybody's voice, differences among us, and really collaborative. And I think that's just so important, because in the end, collaboration is what makes work fun.

Work is work. Of course, we all love technology. But in the end, your job satisfaction comes from the people you work with. And so respecting people, being collaborative, listening to people, searching for answers but not pointing a finger, and remaining all of us humble about ourselves. But at the same time, still be ambitious. I think that's the culture that we built. And I know I started out by bragging that I was good at messaging. So I feel like maybe that wasn't being humble. So.

No, no, no. It's good. And it's okay. I truly believe it's okay. Because we have to though, seriously, and, you know, as just humans in the workforce, I mean, we do have to state our strengths, right. And I think we can be humble about stating our strengths, which is exactly what you did. So I think I think you're good there. And by the way, you need to have a strength. Okay, in messaging to be a CMO.

So box checked. Okay. Um, so let me ask you this, you know, there's, uh, there's been a talent shortage in tech. We've heard about it. I mean, and then all the, you know, the, the layoffs and all the people that have, have entered, reentered the, uh, you know, the marketplace and what's happening in your view right now, are you seeing a tighter labor market right now? Are you seeing things loosen up? Um, anything, you know, anything special that you, you know, that you're doing?

at Cradle Point to attract new talent? Yeah, it's funny. I think that we, more in the US maybe, but also globally, I think there's a sense that there's no jobs out there, but there's also a sense by employers that there's no candidates out there. So it's kind of this weird schizophrenia that we have going on right now. I know that there's been layoffs in technology across the board, but at the same time, I think there's a tight market for talent.

I think that we're always looking for good people. And we're looking for people who have curiosity, who have skill sets, of course, that they can bring to the job, but a desire to expand those skill sets, to do more, to be curious, to expand. Because I think that a truism of the labor market over the last couple of decades has been that what you start doing may not be what you end doing. You've got to be careful.

Yeah, it's in my job. It's probably in your job. I don't know, when you were a little girl, did you want to grow up and do what you're doing now? No, no, I did not have dreams of being in staffing when I was 10 years old. No, I think that's true for all of us. So we're always looking for people who bring soft skills, communication, intelligence, the ability to collaborate, the ability to draw conclusions that allows them to move even from the role they were hired for into other roles.

Of course you have to have experience. You have to know what you're doing. You have to know your job. But I think those soft skills are so important. And when I look at people who've lasted at companies for years and grown in companies, it's generally because they have those skillsets rather than they bring any particular talent. No disrespect to my programmers and developers and IT engineers. I know you have highly specialized skillsets, but I think it's still somewhat true. Yes, I couldn't agree more. What advice would you give?

today for people who are looking for career growth.

I don't want to be trite because I think some of them you've probably heard before, but it's about reaching out to your network is such a big part. Talk to people, ask questions, listen to talks like this. Talk to people throughout your network and say, what are you doing? How did you get there? What do you recommend? Because just like when you were a little girl of 10, you probably didn't know that staffing existed as a position. Even at my age, I don't always know what's out there. I'm always shocked by, oh, that's a job?

had never heard of that. And you don't know that unless you talk. So I would say the biggest thing is take advantage of the people you know and the people they know, and just learn about what the other opportunities are. Ask about, you know, know what you're good at and then ask, hey, what are the types of jobs out there that could take advantage of that skillset? And then be open to new opportunities. Don't turn down a job or a promotion or a transfer because you don't know how to do that job.

You're never gonna know until you do it. So really be open. So I said in the beginning that careers are not a ladder. They're not one directional up. I was at a presentation a few years ago and they said your career is like a jungle gym. You know, you go up, you go sideways, you go up a ladder, you go down a slide. And I think if you think about your career that way and think about a move, might not always be up. It might be sideways, might even be slightly down. But only by taking those moves can you open up new avenues. So.

talk, listen, and be open to change are probably the biggest. There's a lot of wisdom in that, Donna. In fact, we all at my age with children who are just entering the workforce right now, they all need to listen to this episode. And I tell my kids that and I don't think they have any respect for that message. So thank you. Right, right. Well, they don't when we say it, right? But when somebody else says it, they do. So talk about the future of Cradlepoint. What's the vision?

Well, we were bought, as I mentioned, about three years ago. And we're continuing really to go through still an ongoing transition as part of that. So I think you're going to see us become more strongly identified as Ericsson and part of Ericsson. So losing a little of that cradle point name, but not the culture, not the great products or technology or people. But we think that as part of doing that, we'll be able to get better, tighter integrated with the network itself.

And even looking to see what can we do with the other enterprise solutions offered by Ericsson. So you may know Vonage, they're also part of Ericsson, one of the largest providers of communication platforms, as well as network programmability tools and communication APIs. So, you know, we think there's a lot we can do together as an organization. So we really have just a shared vision of how can we continue to transform the enterprise. We have a vision that, you know,

a business should be able to start and the only cord they should have to worry about is the power cord, right? Everything else should be in business. They should just be able to pull their communications, their network, their security, their infrastructure from the air and carry it with them everywhere. And so we're trying to figure out how can we increase that? In fact, I even had a conversation today with someone and they said, well, can we not pull power from the air? And it turns out there's some things in 6G that are actually leaning towards that. So...

you know, we're really looking for that transformation in businesses and then how can we be part of that? And how can we bring what we think we're good at in a shared vision with our customers to support that transformation? So Donna, the Cradlepoint website, what is it? Where can we get more information on open jobs? I'm sure there's people listening right now that are like, gosh, this is really cool. You know, how do I apply for a job? What's going on with Cradlepoint? It's cradlepoint.com.

I'm assuming slash careers. I should know that as CMO, but I think it's easy to find. Definitely some jobs out there. We're a global organization. So we operate not just in the US. That's where our headquarters is. We have operations around the world in marketing, but also in lots of technology positions, sales positions, and other types of roles. So please take a look. And then there's Ericsson as well. They have a lot of positions as well. And so.

Please come by, visit, let us know what you're good at and let's have a conversation. Wonderful, Donna, thank you for coming on the show. This has just been a pleasure and I love this subject of marketing, I know we talked about so much, but this is one of my passions is marketing. So I just really, really enjoy it. It's not too late for you also to have a career shift. See, never know. You never know in my second half of my life or whatever that looks like, right? Thank you so much, Donna. I enjoyed it as well.

Thank you so much for inviting me on. Absolutely. Take care.