In this episode, host Steven Dickens sits down with Natalie Carrillo from IBM, who shares her unique journey into the mainframe ecosystem. As someone responsible for nurturing relationships with Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) on the IBM Z platform globally, Natalie brings a fresh perspective on building a diverse and skilled mainframe community. From her non-technical background in marketing to her pivotal role in fostering innovation and collaboration, Natalie’s story highlights the welcoming nature of the mainframe community and the exciting opportunities driven by technologies like the z17 and AI. Read on for the full conversation!
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Transcript:
Steven Dickens: Hello and welcome to another episode of the I Am a Mainframer podcast, brought to you by the Linux Foundation’s Open Mainframe Project. Today, our guest is Natalie Carrillo from IBM. Hey Natalie, welcome to the show!
Natalie Carrillo: Hi, thank you for having me. I’m excited to be here.
Steven Dickens: You told me off-camera that you’re a fan of the show, so I’m looking forward to this.
Natalie Carrillo: I am, I am! I’ve listened to several episodes, including the one spotlighting Phoenix Software, and many others. So, yes, I’m thrilled to be here.
Steven Dickens: Fantastic. We’re really grateful to have you on the show. So, let’s dive in and get our listeners and viewers oriented. Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do. After the initial introductions, maybe share your mainframe journey, and we’ll use that as a jumping-off point.
Natalie Carrillo: Absolutely, that’s a great question. I’m responsible for nurturing retention of our Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) on the IBM Z platform globally. ISV stands for Independent Software Vendors. My role focuses on building a vibrant, diverse, and skilled community, working with our ISVs to bring their applications to the platform. Additionally, I ensure we have a strong talent pipeline for the platform. It’s a fun and unique role. I have the privilege of collaborating with ISVs during different stages of their development cycle—whether it’s early testing, enabling new technology, driving adoption, organizing events, or working on joint advocacy plans. It’s a fascinating role because you get to see how ISVs operate around the world. Some develop applications, others create tools, and within those categories, they specialize in areas like security, automation, or workload management. Being part of those conversations is truly remarkable, especially now with the launch of the new z17. There’s a lot of excitement in the market, new use cases, particularly with AI, and I feel like I’m learning every day—literally every day—especially since I don’t have a technical background.
Steven Dickens: Let’s use that as a jumping-off point for the next part of the conversation. How did you end up on the ecosystem team? How did you join IBM? Was it straight out of college? And how did you end up working with mainframes? That’s the arc we find most interesting on these podcasts—how people end up here. Can you elaborate on that?
Natalie Carrillo: I have to admit, I was torn between studying systems engineering and marketing. Ultimately, I chose marketing, which is funny because I’ve been working with highly technical teams for almost 15 years now. I used to work on the distributed side, also with ISVs, but focused on software areas like IT management, big data, security, and marketing optimization. I enjoyed the human element—working with people, solving problems, and building relationships. When the opportunity to work with the mainframe community came up, it made sense to do something community-focused with a technology that’s highly relevant to the world. I still remember my interview. The first interviewer was a very nice lady with a fantastic New York accent—I love New York accents, or maybe it was a Boston accent, I don’t know why I love them! She said, “Okay, I think we’re ready to move forward to the final interview with our executive.” So, I showed up for the final interview, but the executive never appeared. I thought, “Oh my gosh, they must have hired someone else.” I reached out to my manager, and she said, “Oh, don’t worry, I just forgot to send the invite to the executive. Don’t worry about it.” When the interview finally happened, the executive was a very smart and kind lady. I still remember one of her questions: “How do you handle people in conversations?” I answered, though I don’t recall exactly what I said. Just before closing the call, she asked me the same question again, and I thought, “Oh, this is not good.” I went home and told my husband, “I’m not sure I’m going to get selected.” But five years later, I’m still with IBM, and it feels like it’s only been two years. There’s no better time to be a mainframer than today, especially from a technology perspective. From a community standpoint, the mainframe community is incredibly welcoming. I remember my first industry event, SHARE. People asked, “Is this your first SHARE?” When I said yes, they were like, “Oh my gosh, let me introduce you to so-and-so. You need to meet this person!” That combination of technology and community is what keeps people engaged with the mainframe, even if they change roles or switch companies—they stay connected to the platform.
Steven Dickens: I think you mentioned something fascinating about this community. I’ve been in this community for 11 or 12 years now, and I think there’s a really distinct community around this technology compared to others. The differentiator, as you mentioned, is the desire to help people within this community. It’s fascinating and gives me a segue into my next question. You talked about how you help people onboard. You also said it’s the most interesting time to be a mainframer, and I genuinely believe that too. There’s a vibrancy and renewed technology focus. You mentioned AI—what are we, 10 minutes into the podcast in 2025? We’ve got to mention AI at least five times every two minutes! Joking aside, how are you working with vendors to onboard them, and how are you seeing the AI conversation play out as they experiment with things like Spire and the capabilities inside the z17? It’s a chance to engage new and existing partners in different conversations. What are you seeing, and how is that manifesting in your day-to-day work?
Natalie Carrillo: There are, of course, a lot of conversations about assistants, but really advanced agents—not just the next assistant, but how these advanced agents are helping onboard new people from a skills perspective. A year ago, it might have taken someone a year to understand certain aspects of the mainframe. Now, we’re cutting that time down significantly, and that’s a use case I’ve heard a lot about in the market. They’re leveraging AI to accelerate this process.
Steven Dickens: Are you having that conversation at a technology level around Spire exploitation, or is it at a more complete stack level? Can you double-click on that and provide some more context?
Natalie Carrillo: It’s about how they can leverage everything from a technology perspective—both the hardware component and the software in combination. It’s also about taking full advantage of their current investments. Those conversations help us understand different use cases and how they’re benefiting our mutual customers.
Steven Dickens: Natalie, talk me through this at a high level, not the technology level. Suppose I’m a new ISV with a banking application, and I see that the mainframe has a huge installed base in the sector I want to sell into. How do I engage with IBM? What does the overall program look like for me as an ISV? What kind of support—marketing, technical—can I expect as I join this program?
Natalie Carrillo: That’s a great question. We have several development programs to help an ISV meet their needs. They can leverage our data centers, access the z17 system, or even start working with our mainframe. The advantage of these programs is that we help you take full advantage of the technology and collaborate on joint advocacy plans. We can divide and conquer to provide the best optimal results for our mutual customers. This includes technical help, marketing support, and planning go-to-market strategies. We also have skills programs where ISVs can earn badges and leverage marketing components. It’s a comprehensive program to help them progress on their journey.
Steven Dickens: Let’s start to bring this home. One key piece I try to understand is people’s journey with the platform. If you could go back and talk to Natalie at 21 or 22, coming out of college—we have a lot of college kids listening to this podcast who are looking to build a career—what advice would you give them? You’ve built a career at IBM with this technology. What would you tell them to start their journey?
Natalie Carrillo: I’d say don’t be afraid to fail. The greatest breakthroughs don’t come from playing it safe. They come from curiosity, resilience, and the courage to share your ideas, even if they’re new. It takes courage, but failure will teach you more than success ever could.
Steven Dickens: I love that! That’s the tagline for this episode: “Failure will teach you more than success ever could.” If our producer team wants to snip a clip to promote this episode, that’s the sentence right there. Now, another question, and it’d be fascinating to get your perspective. You engage with so many ISVs and build partnerships through this program. If you could look into a crystal ball, where do you see the platform—not the z18 or the next box, but three, five, ten years out? You see a lot of people coming onto the platform for the first time. Where do you see the trajectory going?
Natalie Carrillo: That’s a tough question because technology moves so fast. I think we’ll see much tighter integration with AI—not just assistants, but advanced agents, like I mentioned. Quantum-safe cryptography will become a normal part of everyday conversations, just like AI is now—it’ll be table stakes. From a skills standpoint, I see system administrators from other platforms shifting to mainframe system administrators. That diversity will bring more innovation to the platform.
The continual innovation from IBM, like with the z17 and Spire, is powerful, and the collaboration and diversity in the mainframe community—across groups like the Open Mainframe Project—are driving even more innovation.
Steven Dickens: Well, Natalie, thank you so much for being on the show. You’ve been listening to another episode of the I Am a Mainframer podcast, where we highlight mainframe journeys on the platform. If you like what you heard today, check out our other episodes and click to subscribe. We’ll see you next time. Thank you very much for watching.
Outro: Thank you for tuning in to the Mainframe Connect podcast and this episode in the I Am a Mainframer series, sponsored by Phoenix Software International and Vicom Infinity, a converge company. Like what you heard? Subscribe to get every episode or watch us online at openmainframeproject.org. Until next time, this is the Mainframe Connect podcast.
