We’re back with another exciting Patch Notes: People Edition! This time, we’re sitting down with Matt Hastings, our VP of Product Management.
Matt brings an incredibly robust and expansive background in security to NinjaOne. He’s worked with organizations to build and implement security programs and products for over a decade – starting out in incident response (serving as engagement manager and technical lead for investigations involving nation-state, IP theft, espionage, and financial crime) before managing and leading risk and security portfolios at organizations like Tanium and Red Canary.
Security is at the core of the NinjaOne platform. As threats evolve, we’re focused on giving customers and partners the tools needed to secure their expanding endpoint estates and stay ahead of risk. Matt and his team play a huge part in making that happen by bringing advanced security products and use cases to market.
With so much focus always on security, we thought it fitting to sit down with Matt and learn a bit more about him, his team, and what he enjoys most about being a part of Team Ninja.
Let’s get to know Matt!
Hi Matt. Tell us about yourself. What do you do at NinjaOne?
I’m the VP of Product Management at NinjaOne. I’ve been here for about 2 years now and work remotely from Northern Virginia. The product management team focuses on building (alongside engineering, of course) new features and products based on feedback from our customers and stakeholders throughout the company.
What’s an industry conversation that you find really exciting right now?
The obvious answer is around AI and how it is going to drive efficiencies and the next generation of products and features. But I’m also interested in how IT and security teams can work more closely, the overlap between the two, and where this will lead over the next 5-10 years. Security is at a point where the lines between some of the tooling and processes of traditionally siloed teams could start blurring, making both groups more efficient and organizations more secure.
What initially drew you to security? What keeps you in the field all these years later?
I’ve always really liked the challenge of learning how things work. When I first got into security, I was on the compliance side, doing IT audits, which helped me learn how corporate networks were configured and secured. From there, I moved into incident response. In that field, I really enjoyed computer forensics and answering questions around how breaches happened, as well as helping organizations recover from and better prevent those incidents from happening again. It’s like being a detective.
What’s a moment at NinjaOne that made you stop and think, “Wow, this is a really special place to work”?
As corny as it might sound, I think I have these kinds of moments pretty regularly at NinjaOne. We have a unique ability to work together in a way that’s respectful and fun while also holding each other accountable. One of the things we say internally is, “Always assume positive intent.” And I think that’s a really powerful statement that drives our culture.
What’s something you believe GREAT product leaders do differently?
I believe great product leaders need to understand, at an incredibly detailed level, the products, the customer, and the market that they operate in to understand the unique nuances of their industry. Then, they need to hire amazing people who know specific areas of their market better than they do and let them run. Product leaders can’t be experts in every single area, so they must find people who are experts and empower them to lead the products they’re building. Knowing not just how to build great products but also how to lead great teams – that’s the main difference.
What kind of impact do you hope your work at NinjaOne has on the industry—or your team?
I hope that customers continue to use our products decades from now and are happy to do so. And from a team perspective, I hope that anyone who’s part of our team – at any point and for however long – looks back at their time at the company fondly.
To the latter point, one of the things that I think about is how many people from a company I’ve worked with I now send Christmas cards to. And I’d love if people come away from their experience at NinjaOne with a long list of co-workers to stay connected with.
What’s a fun fact about you most people at work don’t know?
When I was a kid, I took private recorder lessons for an entire year. My parents had gotten me a nice wooden recorder, but because there was a pretty limited range of recorder music available, I churned through most of it in about a year. I ended up changing instruments (I switched to the saxophone), but I think I’m probably one of the only people in the world who’s taken private recorder lessons.
What can we say? We’re a multifaceted bunch! Do you have what it takes to be a true Ninja or battle Matt for recorder-sensei supremacy? Drop us a note!
That’s all for this Patch Notes: People Edition! Thanks for reading. You can find more information on open roles and careers at NinjaOne here: https://www.ninjaone.com/careers/
