Red Hat Inc. sprang a surprise today as it announced that Matt Hicks has been promoted to be its new president and chief executive officer, effective immediately.

Hicks (pictured) takes the reins from current president and CEO Paul Cormier, who has moved upstairs to become the open-source software provider’s new chairman.

Red Hat is a subsidiary of IBM Corp. and seen as one of the pioneers of open-source software. Its flagship product is the Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system, which is widely used to power thousands of enterprise data centers around the world. The company also sells tools around virtualization, software containers, middleware and various other applications. It was acquired by IBM in 2019 for $34 billion.

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said Red Hat serves as the foundation of thousands of enterprises’ technology strategies thanks to its open-source, hybrid cloud capabilities. “Matt’s deep experience and technical knowledge of Red Hat’s entire portfolio makes him the ideal leader as Red Hat continues to grow and develop innovative, industry-leading software,” he said.

During IBM’s most recent quarterly earnings report, the company called out Red Hat as a key and growing revenue driver. Red Hat’s sales jumped 21% in the quarter from one year prior. IBM said it’s well-positioned to enjoy further growth too, having recently forged a partnership with Nvidia Corp. that will see it create new, artificial intelligence-powered applications that span data centers, clouds and the network edge.

Incoming chief Hicks joined the company back in 2006 as a software developer on one of its information technology teams. He became a key member of the engineering team that created Red Hat OpenShift, the company’s Kubernetes platform, helping expand that offering to cover multiple clouds and other environments.

Hicks has also helped the company to deliver new managed cloud offerings, AI capabilities and cloud-native applications. His importance to the company was on show during the most recent Red Hat Summit in May, where he delivered part of its keynote address.

During that event, Hicks stopped by theCUBE, SiliconANGLE’s mobile livestreaming studio, where he discussed how the company’s commitment to open-source software helps to drive innovation:

“There has never been a more exciting time to be in our industry and the opportunity in front of Red Hat is vast,” Hicks said in a statement today. ”I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and prove that open source technology truly can unlock the world’s potential.”

Reaction to the news from industry analysts was positive. Charles King of Pund-IT Inc. told SiliconANGLE that Hicks is an interesting if somewhat predictable choice as Red Hat’s next CEO, given that he has both experience and credibility in terms of engineering leadership and commercial product development.

“The fact he’s a longtime Red Hat management figure is an important point, since it suggests that the company is looking to continue its stable progress and evolution,” King added. “That’s further emphasized by Cormier’s elevation to the chairman role. Overall, Red Hat appears to be in a good place individually and also in its collaboration with IBM.”

Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. said IBM needed to get its choice of CEO right, because it’s betting the farm on the future success of Red Hat’s software offerings.

“Luckily, Red Hat appears to be in good hands with Hicks, who has been steering both product and platform with a good track record,” Mueller said. “This could signal the beginning of a change at Red Hat, where it evolves to become more of a research and development subsidiary than a full-fledged auxiliary with its own go-to-market strategy.”

Cormier had sat in the CEO hot seat since 2020, having taken over from predecessor Jim Whitehurst, who became chairman of IBM after Red Hat was acquired. In his new role, he will work on scaling up the company, expanding customer adoption, and mergers and acquisitions, IBM said. In a statement, Cormier said Hicks is “absolutely the right person” to serve as Red Hat’s next CEO, noting how his experience across different parts of the business has given him the depth and breadth of knowledge to remain a hybrid cloud leader.

“He understands our product strategy and the direction the industry is moving in a way that’s second to none,” Cormier said. “As chairman, I’m excited to get to work with our customers, partners and Matt in new ways.”

Photo: SiliconANGLE