At IBM, our CIO SREs wear two hats. Our first responsibility is what you’d expect: maintaining the availability, performance, security, and automation of our internal systems. But our second “day job” is just as important—we are Client Zero for the products IBM is building for the world. That means we serve as alpha and beta users of our own tools, providing real-time feedback that shapes product direction before release.

Over the last few years, this second role has evolved from a side benefit to a core part of our identity. We're not just keeping systems running—we're helping build better software. Our feedback has influenced roadmaps, driven feature changes, and improved the reliability and usability of offerings that go on to serve thousands of clients.

This dual role affects everything we do: from how we build automation, to how we collaborate with product teams, to how we define success as SREs. It also redefines how the rest of IBM sees us—not just as a cost center, but as a strategic contributor to the business and the product lifecycle.

This session isn’t a sales pitch. While I’ll mention IBM products, the focus is on how we tested and matured them internally, how we influenced their evolution, and how our experience as early users made them stronger before reaching customers. I'll share lessons, challenges, and stories from the front lines of being both operators and co-creators.