"As vendors, we should sell the vision, but we should also sell
the path."

Kay Hammer: From Icelandic sagas to SQL

Current Position: President and CEO, Evolutionary Technologies, Inc.

Time in Current Position: 4 years

Years in the Industry: 15 years

Place of Birth: Shreveport, LA

Age: Forty-something

Car She Drives: 1993 Lincoln Mark 8 ("my middle-age crazy car")

Latest two books read: The Map of the World and The Alienist

Favorite Non-Work Activity: "I dabble in sculpting and painting."

Career Advice: "If it takes therapy to fix your boss, leave."

Future of Open Systems: "The development of open systems and interoperability is one of the most important challenges we have now. The danger lies in oversimplification. In open systems, you're never going to be totally there. It's always going to be an evolution and a struggle. People sometimes focus on the benefits and minimize the technical gotchas. But if management expectations get too far out of line, the technology will fall out of favor. Sometimes we vendors are our own worst enemies in terms of overselling a solution."