I am a Mainframer: Sarah Julia Kriesch

In this episode of the Mainframe Connect podcast's I Am a Mainframer series, Sarah Julia Kriesch, Senior Lead Mainframe Architect (Open Source) at Kyndryl, shares her journey from Linux system administration to leading the Linux Distribution Working Group at the Open Mainframe Project. Starting with her bachelor thesis on Kubernetes on mainframe through Germany's Academic Mainframe Consortium, Sarah transitioned from IBM to Axians consulting and founded the working group that coordinates Linux distributions on s390x.Sarah discusses how the group collaborates on upstream challenges, serves as a point of contact for developers (like COBOL compiler teams), secures hardware upgrades, and leverages the LinuxONE Community Cloud for free VMs. She highlights successes with Rust, PyPI modules, and multi‑architecture testing, plus her vision for blockchain networks connecting bank mainframes with confidential computing and integrated AI.Celebrating Women's History Month – Sarah exemplifies women leading mainframe innovation through open source collaboration and community building during Women's History Month.#mainframe #opensource #IamaMainframer #podcast #openmainframeproject #LinuxFoundation #Kyndryl #StevenDickens #SarahJuliaKriesch #LinuxONE #MainframeConnect #WomenInTech #WomensHistoryMonth