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“I neither intended to be a CEO, nor did I intend to pursue a career in technology.”
This is the first thing José Ferrel says when asked about his career. For most people, it’s an apt description of their career choices. But Ferrel is the CEO of tech startup ClearMatrix, assuming the role after over two decades in IT. Ferrel and his partners believe they can harness the power of AI to help organizations embrace AI faster and more holistically. It may sound a little meta—AI helping people adopt AI—but the leadership team at ClearMatrix has the experience to anticipate what their customers need before they do.
Ferrel spent fifteen years on the other side of the fence, as a customer of IT service organizations in three distinct but profound roles. Most recently, he was head of technology management services at Netflix. Though he considered Netflix his dream company, his perspective has evolved over time. Now, what’s more important to Ferrel than working for a particular company is to continue growing as a leader.
“‘It’s not who you are that holds you back; it’s who you think you’re not.’”
José Ferrel
The way Ferrel tells it, ClearMatrix cofounders Aaron Calloway (chief technology officer) and Baker Hasan (chief revenue officer) had to put in some serious work to convince Ferrel he was CEO material. Ferrel had relocated to Amsterdam for his role at Netflix two years prior and was ready to take on new challenges, build out international expertise, and tackle some speaking engagements in Denmark, Germany, Belgium, and Greece. Then he got a phone call from his former colleagues about ClearMatrix.
The company was no more than an idea, but Calloway and Hasan convinced Ferrel to fly to Chicago for a week of whiteboarding. Together, they mapped out what they wanted to build, their mission and values, and what kinds of partnerships they wanted for their business. Still, Ferrel hesitated.
“I was so reluctant to take this role, but a good friend I asked for advice—who has been CEO at another startup for over ten years—shared a quote with me that got stuck in my head,” Ferrel remembers. “‘It’s not who you are that holds you back; it’s who you think you’re not.’” The words boosted Ferrel’s confidence. “I decided to place faith in my ability to adapt and my passion for leadership.”
ClearMatrix aims to help businesses produce AI enablement plans that make sense for them. The startup believes that AI readiness support doesn’t need to be labor-intensive, time-consuming, or cost-prohibitive.
“We’re at the beginning of this massive technological shift,” the CEO says. “There’s plenty of work to go around, and I definitely want to approach problems from a perspective of abundance, not scarcity.”
This perspective is one of Ferrel’s differentiators. He believes cooperation, not competition, leads to the greatest gains. In the competitive startup world, where the pressure to create, ship, and perform for investors is so high, Ferrel still believes there’s some room for humanity and vulnerability. His business, at its core, is still about meeting people—employees, customers, partners, and investors—where they are, not where he wants them to be.
“You have work to find common ground on how to succeed and grow together,” Ferrel explains. “Adversarial relationships with partners don’t create long-term benefits on any side of the equation.”
Ferrel also draws inspiration from his passion for craft beer. He enjoys exploring new beers, new breweries, and new approaches to the business. He also admires the camaraderie he sees in the industry. Most people he’s encountered view competitors as fellow enthusiasts who have a deep passion for the same thing, not enemies to crush.
“It’s so much less about competition than curiosity,” Ferrel says. “I love that. You lead with that curiosity, and good things are going to happen.”
Throughout his career, Ferrel has followed his curiosity. He has taken risks, continuously challenged himself, and broken from what was comfortable, as when he moved to Amsterdam. “Although they have not always worked out for me,” he says, “it’s these types of bets that have delivered the most value and growth in my career.”
