About Mike Franke

I've been making
complex things feel
simple since I picked
up a guitar.

Turns out it's the same skill: find the signal in the noise, cut what doesn't serve the experience, make something hard feel effortless to the person holding it. I've been applying it to software teams and product orgs for 15+ years.

Currently UX Manager & AI Strategy · Red Hat
Based in Raleigh-Durham, NC
Open to Manager · Sr. Manager · Director
Let's Talk → Resume ↓
Mike Franke performing live on stage
At a glance
RH
Red Hat AI Excellence Award 2025
Product Engineering
◈
Company-Wide Figma AI Rollout
Built VP business case · Q1 2026
⬡
15+ Years in Design Leadership
Enterprise · Healthcare · Product
🏆
MM&M Top 40 Under 40
Healthcare Marketing & Media
01 — Track Record

Where I've done this.

2021 → Present
Red Hat
Senior Designer → Associate Manager → UX Manager in 3 years
Managing 8 designers across RHEL and Edge. Running AI strategy for the full 150+ person UX org. Shaped VP quarterly goals, ran the Figma AI pilot end-to-end through company-wide rollout, created Red Hat's first reusable AI governance path, and formed a cross-functional AI working group with three tiger teams. Led continuous discovery across 20+ external orgs including Cisco, IKEA, Lockheed Martin, and ExxonMobil.
RHEL Edge AI Tooling
2016 → 2021
MicroMass Communications
Sr. Art Director → Assoc. Creative Director → Assoc. Director of Experience
Three promotions in five years. Built the UX function from scratch for enterprise pharma clients. Grew Novo Nordisk account revenue 30% in four months. Led concurrent teams across research, prototyping, websites, dashboards, and patient support programs.
Novo Nordisk GSK J&J AstraZeneca Merck
2003 → 2016
Gaming, Government & Media
Creative & Digital Lead roles
Led creative and multimedia teams shipping published game titles, military training simulations, and media projects. Built the cross-functional muscle for delivering under pressure with technical and non-technical stakeholders. That foundation drives everything today.
US Army Showtime Marvel Planet Fitness
02 — What I Believe

Opinions I'll defend.

Take 01
Most "AI strategies" are just vendor demos.
Real AI strategy means governance, evaluation frameworks, and rollback plans. Not a pilot that impresses execs but never scales. At Red Hat, I built the governance path that every team after mine now follows.
Take 02
Process debt kills faster than tech debt.
Teams don't fail because they picked the wrong tool. They fail because nobody knows how decisions get made. I obsess over decision rights, documentation, and operating cadence. It's why my teams ship consistently across orgs.
Take 03
The best AI keeps humans in control.
I'm not interested in automation that removes judgment. I build AI workflows where humans have oversight, transparency, and easy overrides. That's not just an ethics position: it's what actually makes better product.
03 — Beyond the Work

The stuff that doesn't fit a resume.

Mike with the Red Hat team at a conference
Mike performing on stage with guitar
Mike and family at a Hans Zimmer concert
Mike and wife dressed as Mario and Luigi
Mike with his two boys at a Carolina Hurricanes game
Work · Music · Family · Priorities

Outside of work, I'm a husband and a dad to two boys, which, honestly, is the most complex systems design challenge I've ever faced. No documentation, constant edge cases, and the feedback loops are deeply non-linear.

I've been playing guitar since 1993. It's the one thing that's been a constant across every chapter, from a kid learning power chords to now deep-diving into tone chasing and signal chains. If there's a piece of gear I haven't read seventeen reviews and three forum threads about, it probably doesn't exist yet.

🎛️
Current rabbit hole
Obsessing over amp in a box pedals and trying to convince myself I don't need another drive pedal. Spoiler: I probably do.

I bring the same energy to gear research that I bring to work: thorough, opinionated, and endlessly curious. Probably why I ended up in a career where "thinking hard about how things actually work" is the job description.

🎸 Guitar since '93 👦 Dad of 2 boys 🔧 Gear nerd 🎮 Former game dev 📍 Raleigh, NC
Hiring for AI, product, or strategy leadership?
I'd rather have a conversation
than send a deck.
Let's talk about what you're building and where I might fit.
Let's Talk → LinkedIn ↗
📍 Raleigh, NC · Remote friendly