Meet Our Mentors: Brian Johnson

Brian Johnson
VP of Product Management — Intelligent Platform Solutions at SGH — SMART Global Holdings

I’m a reformed engineer turned product management executive. My career has been primarily focused on defining and delivering computing system products for AI, High-Performance Computing, and Cloud.

“The TMMBA program was so instrumental in my career progression. I continue to use the principles and skills I learned in that program today, and I am happy to pass on what I’ve learned to current students”

As a mentor, I excel at…

• Leadership development
• Engineering
• Product Management transition
• Career planning

When I have free time, I…

cook. Primarily in the backyard on the barbeque or smoker.

My motto/tagline is…

“The hardest achievement in business is killing a product.” I say this to my team all the time. Projects have inertia, are almost impossible to kill (especially lukewarm/good ones), and take up resources. You can’t take on great projects if other projects are taking up all the resources, so killing a project that has not lived up to expectations should be celebrated.

My favorite podcast is…

Lately, I’ve discovered the “Smartless” podcast. Just nonsense, but fun nonsense.

The one piece of technology I couldn’t live without is…

My coffee machine. I assume no explanation is necessary.

Don’t ask me about…

The former NBA team in Seattle. 15 years after they were stolen from us, I still miss the Sonics. Still a little bitter.

Originally published at https://blog.foster.uw.edu on February 13, 2022.