KIM POLESE

I grew up in Berkeley, California and became very involved in science early on. Growing up, it was important to me to excel in academics but to also have a balance of sports and extra-curricular activities as well. I took a lot of science theory and I went up to the Lawrence Hall of Science, at the University of California at Berkeley, which is a science teaching institute in the San Francisco, Bay area. I completed a B.S. in Biophysics from the University of California, Berkeley and then went on to study Computer Science at the University of Washington, Seattle.

My position as CEO does require long hours and commitment, but my responsibilities vary each day and are a combination of internal and external activities. There is not a typical work day for me at Marimba. A day's activities can range from leading an internal "all hands" meeting held once a month for the entire company to meeting with customers to giving a keynote speech at a conference or having dinner with a member of the press.

I am frequently asked the question about what I see for the future of the internet. I believe that very soon in the near future the Internet will become a utility like water or electricity. You will just plug something into it anywhere. We won't focus on the technology. That will sound silly- like if you went to plug in a blender and said, "I am going to use some electricity." Instead the Internet will be more of a service that can provide anything from home banking to updating a new software program. That is what we focus on at Marimba, is making the Internet easier to use and more service oriented.

Archive of Virtual Take Our Daughters to Work Day chat on April 23, 1998.