The Accidental Queen of the Database Dominion – Month one

Exactly one month ago, I found myself stepping into the role of CEO at MariaDB Foundation. It was a bit like being handed the keys to a beloved old ship and being told, “Don’t worry, it mostly steers itself… unless there’s a storm. Or a kraken. Or a GitHub issue.”

As someone whose surname gives away a bit of context, it’s both an honor and a deeply personal journey to be entrusted with stewarding this next chapter. I used to say that I have done my bit for the project by adding “Maria” to “MariaDB”, but what do you know it turns out – there is a lot more out there for me to do!!! So the past month has been about listening, learning, mapping, and trying to come to terms with comments like “Oh, Anna has been intimidating even before she became a CEO”

From Royal Doubts to a Loyal Fellowship

I’ll be honest. That first week came with a heavy dose of impostor syndrome—cue the internal monologue: “Any minute now someone will find out that I have no idea how to be the Queen of the whole known and some of the unknown MariaDB realm” … Hic sunt dracones…. you don’t say….

But it turns out, stepping into the Foundation feels less like ruling from a throne and more like joining a deeply committed fellowship—each with their own domain of brilliance.

Dispatches from the Database Dominion

• Alliances & Diplomacy: Strengthening the Ties with MariaDB plc: One of my top priorities was to engage with MariaDB plc – on so many levels, but especially –  to build even smoother, more transparent code contribution processes. We’re not just sharing a name—we’re sharing a mission, a vision!  We just made a few first steps on this new journey together and there is so much more to explore! This collaboration is key to ensuring that MariaDB remains vibrant, community-driven, and technically excellent.
  
• The Council Assembles: Charting the Quests Ahead Together with the amazing staff of the Foundation, we rolled up our sleeves (virtually and literally) to align everyone’s quarterly objectives with our six Foundation goals. Seeing the energy and alignment come out of those meetings was like watching the Ents finally decide to march—slow to start, but unstoppable once moving.
  
• Festivals & Gatherings: Raising the Banners for a New Season: If you haven’t heard about this yet, you soon will. We have a lot of events planned out, in fact we have a whole new approach to events! New sponsors, new formats, new participants – just wait a little and we reveal it all. And oh, don’t’ forget the hackathons! First one is coming pretty soon
  

The Six Goals: Our Compass Points

Every decision we make is tied back to our Foundation goals: Openness, Adoption, Continuity – also Quality, Inclusivity, and Innovation. It’s been heartening to see how much of the groundwork is already there—and how much potential there is to grow further. We’re not reinventing the wheel; we’re oiling the gears, charting new paths, and occasionally fixing that one wheel that insists on wobbling.

Taking the Road Less Patched

This is only the beginning. In the coming months, we’ll continue deepening our community engagement, push forward with governance transparency, and build more bridges between contributors, users, and partners. And we’ll do it with a lot of humour, a dash of nerdy references, and a steadfast belief that open source is strongest when we build together.

Yours in open source,

Anna Widenius
CEO, MariaDB Foundation

P.S. Turns out the crown is just a GitHub issue assigned to me with the label high-priority-and-slightly-on-fire.