Open-source is more than free code. It’s a way to build for the future
From sovereign AI to open-code culture, Margaret Dawson on what it really takes to build for the AI era
Margaret Dawson, SUSE's Chief Marketing Officer, explains that open-source is more than just free software. In the era of artificial intelligence, open-source is a development model, a technology process, and an architectural strategy. It provides control, choice, and speed for startups scaling rapidly. Open-source allows companies to avoid vendor lock-in, fine-tune models on their own intellectual property, and innovate without restrictions.
It also ensures developers work with technologies they prefer, offering the option to purchase supported enterprise versions later.
Sovereign AI, according to Dawson, means having control over data and model lineage, supply chain transparency, and operational autonomy. Indian startups are beginning to focus on these aspects, particularly in regulated enterprise workloads and fine-tuning open-weight models on private data. They are moving away from cloud-first approaches to hybrid, governed architectures. Transparency and open standards are crucial to ensure true control in building a sovereign future.
For an open-source culture to thrive within a company, it must embody three pillars: Open Standards, Open Architecture, and Open Culture. InnerSourcing, which applies open-source principles within an organization, enables this culture by removing hierarchical barriers and valuing contributions over titles. InnerSourcing changes the operating model by treating information as a collaboration opportunity, focusing on blameless learning, and prioritizing prototypes over seniority.
This approach allows self-taught engineers, women in tech, and career-switchers to thrive, addressing skill shortages faced by many enterprises.
Written by urgent.news from YourStory's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
