As CEO of SpikeSource, Kim Polese is responsible for guiding the company's business vision: enabling businesses to harness the power of open source as a flexible, reliable and cost-effective option for business-critical software. Prior to SpikeSource, Kim cofounded Marimba in 1996, and as President and CEO she led the company to profitability and a successful public offering. She then served as Chairman until Marimba's acquisition by BMC Software in April 2004. Before cofounding Marimba, Kim worked at Sun Microsystems and was the original product manager for Java, leading its launch in March 1995. Prior to Java, Kim worked in Sun's software division on object-oriented development environments. Previously, she worked at Intellicorp, Inc., helping Fortune 500 firms implement expert systems.

Kim earned a Bachelor's degree in Biophysics from U.C. Berkeley and studied Computer Science at the University of Washington, Seattle. Kim serves on the executive council of TechNet, a bipartisan coalition of executives focused on the growth of the technology industry and economy, on the board of the Global Security Institute, and the University of California President's Board on Science and Innovation. She is a Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University's Center for Engineered Innovation.

• The Alumni Report