What's in the SOSS? An OpenSSF Podcast From Manager to Open Source Security Pioneer: Kate Stewart's Journey Through SBOM, Safety, and the Zephyr Project
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Sep 23, 2025 In this engaging discussion, Kate Stewart, a prominent figure at the Linux Foundation and expert in safety-critical open source, shares her unique journey from Motorola manager to open source advocate. She explains the evolution of Software Bill of Materials (SBOMs) and how they enhance security in software development. Kate also highlights the Zephyr project's dedication to security, detailing its achievement as a gold-level OpenSSF exemplar. Listeners will gain insights into regulatory challenges, contributing to open source, and navigating the complexities of licensing.
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Manager Turned Open Source Initiator
- Kate Stewart entered open source as a manager at Motorola, not as a developer, navigating lawyers to contribute upstream.
- Her work with licensing teams led to SPDX to share repeated metadata and ease compliance across companies.
Career Path Through Major Open Source Roles
- After Motorola she was Ubuntu's release manager and later worked at Linaro before joining the Linux Foundation in 2015.
- These roles taught her dependency, release and security challenges at scale.
SBOMs Reveal Real Vulnerability Risk
- An SBOM exposes component metadata and relationships to reveal risk and transitive dependencies.
- Accurate SBOMs help determine if a component is actually used and therefore vulnerable.