Table of Contents
George Kurian transformed NetApp from a fading tech relic stuck at $30 per share into a $20 billion cloud powerhouse—proving that with the right leadership, even "has-been" companies can write entirely new chapters and reclaim their position at the forefront of technology innovation.
NetApp peaked at $120 per share during the dot-com boom, then spent 15 years bouncing between $20-40 as the market moved beyond traditional data storage. When George Kurian became CEO in 2015, he faced the ultimate leadership challenge: how to reinvent a successful company for an entirely new technological era without losing what made it great.
Key Takeaways
- NetApp's renaissance required writing a "new chapter" rather than optimizing the old one, transforming from on-premises storage to hybrid cloud data management and AI-ready infrastructure
- Kurian's leadership philosophy centers on humility and "eating glass"—hiring people based on the distance they've traveled rather than their pedigree or prestigious backgrounds
- Successful companies often fail to transition between technology eras because past victories become "sofas to sit on" rather than "springboards to push forward"
- CEO loneliness intensifies around major strategic pivots, like Kurian's decision to create separate cloud divisions despite unanimous management team opposition
- Family priorities remained non-negotiable throughout the turnaround, with an integrated calendar system ensuring daughter's plays received equal scheduling priority as board meetings
Timeline Overview
- 00:00:00–01:12 — Introduction: Setting up the conversation and Kurian's current role transforming NetApp into a modern cloud and AI company
- 01:12–05:09 — Commuting to Sunnyvale: Discussion about Bay Area commuting challenges and early career experiences in the storage industry
- 05:09–08:38 — Growing up in India: Kurian's childhood in Bangalore, working through college, and the cultural context of his upbringing
- 08:38–10:13 — Protect the child: How childhood experiences shape authentic leadership and maintaining humility despite success
- 10:13–13:53 — Raising kids in Silicon Valley: Challenges of parenting wealthy children, flying economy, and avoiding private jets to maintain perspective
- 13:53–16:18 — Money motivation: Kurian's relationship with wealth, immigrant mentality, and prioritizing family financial security over personal luxury
- 16:18–23:27 — NetApp's renaissance: The company's journey from $120 peak to $30 valley and back to $120 through strategic transformation
- 23:27–25:14 — Writing new chapters: Why successful companies struggle to transition between technology eras and the psychology of reinvention
- 25:14–29:03 — Culture shifts: How success attracts "passengers" instead of "drivers" and the challenge of maintaining startup energy at scale
- 29:03–32:25 — Coming to NetApp: Kurian's decision-making process for joining a struggling company and what attracted him to the opportunity
- 32:25–35:40 — Surprise! You're the CEO: The unexpected promotion story, family consultation process, and immediate priority decisions
- 35:40–40:48 — Making sacrifices: Balancing CEO responsibilities with family commitments through integrated calendars and non-negotiable priorities
- 40:48–46:32 — Doubt & lonely decisions: The isolation of strategic pivots, creating cloud divisions against team consensus, and seeking peer advice
- 46:32–49:32 — The data wave: NetApp's current positioning in AI infrastructure, partnerships with hyperscalers, and evolution beyond traditional storage
- 49:32–56:16 — Enterprise AI: Realistic timeline for AI adoption in large organizations versus Silicon Valley hype and consumer market dynamics
- 56:16–58:21 — Starting your own company: Why Kurian chose corporate reinvention over entrepreneurship and the philosophy of "making something new again"
- 58:21–01:01:36 — Navigating difficulty: Hiring philosophy focusing on "distance traveled," driver vs passenger mentality, and "eating glass" resilience
- 01:01:36–01:02:21 — Who NetApp is hiring: Current recruitment needs in data science, security, and quick learners for cloud transformation
- 01:02:21–01:02:47 — What "grit" means to George: Finnish concept of "sisu" as resilience and the ability to reset after difficult days
- 01:02:47–END — Outro: Closing thoughts and appreciation for the conversation
The Golden Era and the Great Stagnation
NetApp's story begins as one of Silicon Valley's most spectacular success stories. Founded during the rise of technical computing and workstation collaboration, the company rode the perfect wave when businesses needed shared data storage across multiple computers. Their breakthrough came from recognizing that the old model—where every computer manufacturer provided their own storage—was fundamentally broken for collaborative work environments.
"We essentially became the platform for what we call files based storage or unstructured data storage, and then we added storage for databases called block storage and a variety of data management capabilities for security and multi-tenancy."
The growth was extraordinary. NetApp jumped from $4 billion to $6 billion in revenue in a single year—meaning there was never a $5 billion year in the company's history. This rocket ship trajectory continued through the late 1990s and early 2000s, with the stock reaching $120 per share as businesses embraced virtualization and the company's technological innovations dominated the market.
But success bred complacency. As the cloud wave emerged with Amazon, Microsoft, and Google building data centers on behalf of customers, NetApp found itself fighting yesterday's war. The growth of on-premises data centers slowed dramatically while customers increasingly preferred renting infrastructure and applications rather than building their own. The stock spent the next 15 years fluctuating between $20-40 per share.
The technological shift represented more than market evolution—it challenged the core assumptions that had driven NetApp's success. Traditional storage attached to specific computers gave way to cloud-native architectures where data management became a service rather than a product. Companies that had built their reputations on hardware excellence suddenly faced software-first competitors with fundamentally different economic models.
The Humility Imperative: Lessons from Bangalore
George Kurian's approach to leadership was shaped long before he arrived at NetApp, rooted in childhood experiences that created a foundation of humility despite extraordinary professional success. Growing up in Bangalore as part of India's middle class, he learned early that achievement without character meant nothing—a lesson reinforced constantly by his mother.
"She would say 'Well done' and then she would say 'well have you called your daughter and made sure you're going to her play tomorrow that you committed to doing?' She would say 'Hey you know when you go to Princeton you need to remember where you came from and the roots that you have.'"
This perspective proved crucial when navigating Silicon Valley's wealth and status dynamics. Despite becoming CEO of a major technology company, Kurian deliberately maintains practices that keep him grounded: flying economy class, avoiding private jets, and ensuring his children understand that privilege requires responsibility rather than entitlement.
The humility extends to practical leadership decisions. Kurian maintains an "integrated calendar" where his daughter's school plays receive the same scheduling priority as board meetings. He keeps his office accessible to employees at every level and tries to "walk a mile in someone's shoes" before making policy decisions that affect frontline workers.
"You want to make sure that people have a perspective on what are the real needs of people in the world as opposed to the imagined ones. Humans regardless of where you grow up always create a sense of need and a feeling of entitlement and you got to be real about that."
This philosophy influences everything from compensation philosophy to strategic planning. Rather than assuming executive perspective provides complete insight, Kurian regularly seeks input from salespeople, engineers, and customer service representatives who understand day-to-day operational realities that boardroom discussions often miss.
The Transition Trap: Why Success Breeds Failure
NetApp's decade-plus stagnation illustrates a pattern common across technology companies: the inability to transition from one era of dominance to the next. Success creates psychological and organizational barriers that make reinvention extraordinarily difficult, even when market signals clearly indicate the need for change.
"When you are really successful in one era it's really hard to say you got to write the next chapter because writing a next chapter you need to have both the risk-taking appetite but also the humility of being a startup all over again."
The problem compounds because successful companies attract people who want to ride existing momentum rather than build new capabilities. As growth accelerates and companies appear on industry "fastest growing" lists, they begin attracting what Kurian calls "passengers" rather than "drivers"—people drawn to prestige and compensation rather than the mission of solving difficult problems.
This cultural shift creates institutional resistance to change. Teams that built their careers on previous technological waves have strong incentives to believe those approaches remain relevant. Admitting the need for fundamental transformation requires acknowledging that expertise developed over decades may no longer apply—a psychologically difficult transition for high-achieving professionals.
"All the victories and all the championships you won in your period of dominance they are not a sofa to sit on but a springboard to push you forward."
The challenge intensifies for mid-sized companies like NetApp that lack the resources to simply acquire their way into new markets. While tech giants can buy innovative startups and absorb their capabilities, smaller players must reinvent themselves organically—requiring the energy and risk-taking appetite of entrepreneurial organizations despite having established bureaucracies and stakeholder expectations.
The Unexpected CEO: A Study in Preparation Meeting Opportunity
Kurian's promotion to CEO demonstrates how leadership opportunities often emerge when least expected, requiring immediate decision-making about personal priorities and family commitments. The story illustrates the human side of corporate succession planning and the importance of maintaining perspective during career inflection points.
The promotion happened on a Thursday afternoon as Kurian rushed to catch a flight to his Princeton 25th reunion. Called into an unexpected meeting with the Chief Human Resources officer, he initially assumed he was being terminated when he saw two board members waiting in the conference room.
"I looked at her I said what did I do now and she said no you need to listen to these guys. So they told me it was a Thursday and they told me that I would be named CEO and I said well I'm sure we can have that conversation when I get back I'm trying to catch a flight and they said no we're going to announce it on Monday."
The immediate response reveals Kurian's leadership philosophy: no major life decisions happen in isolation. Before accepting the role, he called his wife and children to ensure they supported the additional commitments and sacrifices the position would require. His mother's advice proved equally important: succeed without losing authenticity or becoming consumed by the title.
"She said listen you know there's no downside, the only downside is if you get caught up in being a CEO versus just being the person you are."
This consultation process reflects an integrated approach to work-life balance that would characterize his tenure. Rather than compartmentalizing professional advancement and family responsibilities, Kurian established from day one that CEO duties would be balanced against personal commitments—a philosophy that proved essential during the demanding turnaround period.
The Loneliness of Strategic Pivot Points
CEO decision-making becomes particularly isolating during major strategic transitions when conventional wisdom conflicts with future necessity. Kurian's experience creating separate cloud business units despite unanimous management team opposition illustrates how leaders must sometimes move ahead of their organizations to position for long-term success.
"Everybody in the management team at that time said why would you do that, you should keep it functional, and then you had to go against the grain to do that and so that was a fairly lonely decision."
The cloud division decision represented more than organizational restructuring—it required acknowledging that NetApp's traditional functional approach wouldn't succeed in a fundamentally different market. Cloud businesses needed different talent, partnership strategies, financial structures, and resource allocation methods that conflicted with the company's historical operating model.
This type of strategic loneliness intensifies because CEOs exist between their teams and their boards without true peers in either direction. Team members remain subordinates despite personal friendships, while board members serve as advisors and evaluators rather than collaborative equals. Major pivots often require moving faster than consensus allows.
"The CEO job is a fairly lonely job because you are between your team which you want to be friends with them but you are also not a peer right, and then the board who are your advisers but they're in some sense your superiors right not your sort of friends."
The psychological challenge involves maintaining conviction despite lacking complete information or organizational support. Unlike startup founders who can pivot quickly with small teams, established company CEOs must convince large organizations to abandon proven approaches for uncertain new directions—requiring extraordinary confidence and communication skills.
Building for the Data Wave: AI and Cloud Convergence
NetApp's current positioning reflects successful navigation from the storage era through cloud transformation toward artificial intelligence readiness. Rather than simply adapting existing products for new markets, the company rebuilt its technological foundation to serve as infrastructure for data-intensive applications that didn't exist during its original growth period.
"We are in the data wave right. We've always been a data management company. I think that the way that we used to do the data management was typically through selling storage systems to customers to deploy in their Data Center."
The strategic evolution involved partnering with hyperscale cloud providers rather than competing against them. By working with Microsoft, Amazon, and Google to create services that leverage NetApp technology within their platforms, the company transformed from a hardware vendor into a cloud-native software provider while maintaining its core data management expertise.
This transition required rebuilding customer relationships and business models simultaneously. Traditional enterprise sales focused on storage capacity and performance metrics, while cloud services emphasize consumption-based pricing and integration capabilities. The shift demanded new skills across engineering, sales, and customer success organizations.
Current AI positioning builds on this cloud foundation by adding capabilities for data preparation, cataloging, and security that enable machine learning workflows. Rather than creating AI applications directly, NetApp focuses on the infrastructure layer that makes AI deployment scalable and reliable—a strategic choice that leverages existing strengths while avoiding competition with specialized AI companies.
"On top of that we are layering on additional services so that people can search for their data they can catalog it they can get it ready for AI by using much more streamlined embedding and rag capabilities we're building in tools for really Advanced security protection."
The Hiring Philosophy: Distance Traveled Over Destination Reached
Kurian's approach to talent acquisition emphasizes character and resilience over credentials and pedigree, reflecting lessons learned about the importance of hiring "drivers" rather than "passengers" during periods of organizational transformation. This philosophy becomes particularly important when building teams capable of reinventing established companies.
The evaluation framework focuses on three key dimensions that reveal more about potential than traditional resume screening. First, understanding the distance someone has traveled in their career journey rather than their current position—recognizing that people starting from different circumstances may demonstrate greater capability despite reaching similar outcomes.
"It's really important to know the distance a person has come in their Journey versus where they're now right because two people that started in very different places can be at the same place in their career but one's come a really long way and that shows character and it shows their ability to navigate difficult situations."
Second, distinguishing between people who drove outcomes versus those who benefited from others' work. Many candidates join successful companies after the foundational work was completed, making it crucial to understand individual contributions rather than assuming organizational success translates to personal capability.
The third criterion involves what Kurian calls "eating glass"—how candidates handled extraordinarily difficult circumstances, whether self-created or externally imposed. These experiences rarely appear on resumes because they're not glamorous, but they reveal resilience and problem-solving abilities that prove essential during challenging periods.
"Most people don't put that on their resume because it's not glamorous to say you made mistakes or you were in a very difficult period most people want to say that it was smooth sailing."
This philosophy extends beyond individual hiring to team composition and organizational culture. Building diverse teams requires looking beyond traditional recruiting pipelines to find people with different backgrounds and experiences who can contribute unique perspectives during strategic transitions.
The Integrated Life: CEO Responsibilities and Family Priorities
Managing CEO responsibilities while maintaining family relationships requires intentional systems and unwavering commitment to personal values. Kurian's approach demonstrates how successful leaders can avoid the common trap of sacrificing family relationships for professional advancement, even during demanding turnaround periods.
The foundation involves an integrated calendar system that treats personal commitments with the same priority as business obligations. Children's school plays, family dinners, and personal time receive dedicated calendar blocks that aren't negotiable regardless of business demands or external pressures.
"I have an integrated Calendar One calendar that combines all my personal and professional responsibilities and I review that calendar every month and every quarter to make sure I'm balancing it correctly."
This systematic approach prevents the gradual erosion of family time that often accompanies senior leadership roles. Rather than hoping to find time for personal commitments, the calendar integration ensures they receive proactive protection and equal scheduling weight with business meetings.
The philosophy extends to travel and daily routines. Despite managing a global technology company, Kurian maintains practices that prioritize family presence during important moments. The day after his first company-wide CEO announcement, he attended his daughter's midday school play—sending a clear message about priorities to both family and organization.
"The most important thing to me has been that I'm still dad that's my most important job and I never compromised on things that were really important to my kids and my family."
This approach requires exceptional delegation skills and team development to ensure business operations don't suffer from leadership availability constraints. Building strong executive teams becomes essential not just for organizational capability but for personal sustainability during long-term leadership tenures.
The AI Reality Check: Enterprise Adoption Timelines
Kurian's perspective on artificial intelligence adoption reflects a nuanced understanding of the difference between technology possibility and market reality, particularly in enterprise environments where transformation timelines differ significantly from consumer markets and venture capital expectations.
"I think the consumer AI wave is ahead of the Enterprise AI wave. I think in the Enterprise which is our Focus there are clearly some opportunities that are already today right software development simplifying certain elements of customer support using AI to make your products and services better those are all there."
This assessment challenges Silicon Valley's tendency to assume enterprise markets will adopt new technologies at consumer-like speeds. While coding assistance and customer support automation show immediate promise, broader transformative applications require substantial change management and business process re-engineering that takes years to implement effectively.
The enterprise adoption pattern reflects practical constraints that consumer applications don't face. Large organizations must consider integration with existing systems, data security requirements, compliance obligations, and workforce transition challenges that slow implementation timelines regardless of technology readiness.
"In terms of broadscale transformative use of AI I think we're still a couple years out maybe a few years out."
NetApp's positioning strategy focuses on infrastructure layer capabilities that enable AI implementation rather than specific AI applications. This approach leverages the company's data management expertise while avoiding competition with specialized AI companies that may have temporary advantages in model development.
The perspective also reflects understanding of enterprise buying patterns where technology adoption follows business value demonstration rather than innovation excitement. CIOs and IT leaders increasingly seek proven ROI and clear implementation paths rather than experimental deployments that may not deliver promised productivity improvements.
Corporate Reinvention vs. Startup Creation
The choice between joining an established company's transformation versus creating something entirely new reflects different appetites for risk, responsibility, and impact. Kurian's decision to focus on corporate reinvention rather than entrepreneurship illustrates how leaders can find fulfillment in restoration and renewal rather than pure creation.
"I enjoy helping take the creation of somebody else and making it its full and best self. I think part of what I have really liked about the journey at net app was something that Quakers teach which is the importance of conservation of taking something that was beautiful once and then making it new again."
This philosophy draws inspiration from his children's Quaker school housed in a renovated Levi Strauss denim factory—an example of preserving historical value while adapting for modern use. Rather than discarding the building for modern construction, the restoration maintained San Francisco's character while creating educational opportunities for new generations.
The corporate reinvention parallel involves preserving NetApp's core values and technological capabilities while adapting business models and market positioning for cloud and AI eras. This approach maintains institutional knowledge and relationships while building new capabilities for future growth.
The choice also reflects practical considerations around financial responsibility and risk tolerance. Having immigrated from India with family obligations, Kurian prioritized building predictable financial security before considering the uncertainty of startup creation—a decision that ultimately enabled more ambitious risk-taking within established corporate structures.
"For a long time the responsibility to family and other things said that you know I needed to build a predictable Financial platform for taking care of my parents and other things and I just felt that it was important to do that."
Finnish Sisu: The Resilience Philosophy
Kurian's definition of grit draws from his wife's Finnish heritage and the concept of "sisu"—a cultural value emphasizing resilience and determination in the face of adversity. This philosophy provides both personal and organizational guidance for navigating the inevitable challenges of corporate transformation.
"My wife's Finnish origin Heritage and so she talks about the word called sisu which is a Finnish word for resilience you know you can have a bad day but the next day you pick yourself up and go at it just like you went you know it's a brand new day."
The concept transcends simple persistence to encompass psychological reset capabilities—the ability to approach recurring challenges with fresh energy rather than accumulated frustration. This mental approach proves essential during long-term turnarounds where progress comes slowly and setbacks are frequent.
Sisu differs from typical American concepts of determination by emphasizing quiet endurance rather than dramatic gesture or motivational rhetoric. The philosophy suggests that sustainable success comes from consistent daily effort rather than heroic moments or inspirational leadership speeches.
This approach influenced NetApp's transformation strategy by emphasizing steady progress over dramatic announcements. Rather than promising immediate results or revolutionary changes, the company focused on methodical capability building and market positioning that would create sustainable competitive advantages over time.
The personal application involves maintaining perspective during inevitable CEO challenges and lonely decision periods. Rather than allowing difficult days to compound into ongoing stress, the sisu philosophy enables psychological reset and renewed focus on long-term objectives.
Common Questions
Q: How did NetApp transform from a $30 stock to $120 during Kurian's tenure?
A: By transitioning from traditional on-premises storage to hybrid cloud data management, partnering with hyperscalers like Microsoft and Amazon, and positioning for the AI wave with advanced data services.
Q: What was the biggest challenge in NetApp's turnaround?
A: Overcoming the cultural belief that past success methods would continue working, requiring the company to "write a new chapter" rather than optimizing existing approaches for changing markets.
Q: How does Kurian balance CEO responsibilities with family priorities?
A: Through an integrated calendar system that gives personal commitments equal scheduling priority to business meetings, plus unwavering commitment to attending children's important events regardless of work demands.
Q: What makes Kurian's hiring philosophy different from typical tech recruitment?
A: He focuses on "distance traveled" in someone's career journey, their role as "driver vs passenger" in previous successes, and how they handled extraordinarily difficult circumstances ("eating glass").
Q: Why does Kurian believe most enterprise AI adoption is still years away?
A: While specific applications like coding assistance work today, broad transformative AI use requires substantial change management and business process re-engineering that takes years to implement effectively in large organizations.
George Kurian's leadership of NetApp demonstrates that corporate reinvention is possible when leaders combine humility with strategic vision, maintaining core values while adapting to technological change. His approach offers a roadmap for transforming established companies without losing what made them successful in the first place.
