Matt Hicks, a 16-year Red Hat veteran, was recently elevated to CEO and has been in the position for a few weeks now. When Paul Cormier, his predecessor, stepped down to take up the chairmanship, he stepped into his shoes.

Red Hat’s new CEO, Hicks, has the support of his old mentor, Cormier, to help him through this transition. He must walk a fine line between reassuring consumers and workers that the company’s leadership will remain stable while going ahead and putting his own stamp on things when he assumes his new position.

As far as Hicks is concerned, he intends to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Daniel Cormier. Since buying Red Hat for 34 billion in 2018, IBM has mostly left the company alone. As a result of IBM’s sales power, Red Hat has stayed autonomous, with a wide range of partners, including several that are not IBM.

“The way Arvind defines Red Hat is that IBM will be opinionated on Red Hat, but it can’t work the other way around,” said Cormier in a May interview. In other words, IBM has made Red Hat its exclusive hybrid platform, according to Cormier.

Red Hat aided IBM’s development after a lengthy period of stagnation under Cormier. Big Blue’s most recent financial report showed a 9% increase in sales. IBM’s growth strategy has benefited greatly from Red Hat’s 12 percent year-over-year growth.

He has a tough job ahead of him in leading Red Hat to new heights. The transfer to his new post and what it implies for everyone involved, from customers and staff to IBM’s parent company, was the subject of a recent conversation I had with him.