Eric Braddom, a trailblazer in innovation and transformation, (and one of our changemaker members, who is also on the 2025 Cohort Advisory Committee), shares his vision for creating lasting impact across industries in an exclusive conversation with Unveiled. Discover how allyship and Unveiled’s powerful network are bridging gaps, unlocking opportunities, and driving systemic change.

Q: Your career spans over 27 years, with extensive experience in driving innovation from concept to commercialization. How has your journey shaped your leadership philosophy, and how does it align with Unveiled’s mission of enabling equitable access through innovation?

A: My leadership philosophy centers on building high-performing, diverse teams, hiring people smarter than me, being customer-oriented, and fostering an inclusive culture that values talent and effort, in which everyone is held accountable for meeting their commitments.

Early in my career, while establishing a new engineering and marketing organization in China, I prioritized hiring based on merit. This led to assembling a team with a higher proportion of female engineers than male engineers which was not typically seen in the industry. One male employee expressed discomfort with the team's diversity, but I firmly communicated that working in an inclusive environment was an opportunity for growth and that he was welcome to leave. Ultimately, he adapted and thrived and is a better manager now because of it.

In another instance, I transferred into my team an exceptional semiconductor designer—a minority woman—who was undercompensated relative to her contributions. Recognizing her immense potential and the merits of contributions, I championed annual maximum raises until her pay aligned with her merit. Today, she is a highly successful professional and probably makes more than I do. I am thrilled to see her success and relish the thought that I may have played a small role in her success.

These experiences reaffirm my belief that equitable access to opportunities drives the best possible results. This philosophy aligns with Unveiled’s mission by demonstrating how powerful an equitable culture can be and the importance of a sponsor.

Q: At SRI, you transformed prototypes like the DomiNite® digital night vision camera into high-volume products. What strategies do you prioritize to bridge the gap between groundbreaking technology and scalable impact, and how can Unveiled members apply these strategies in their own fields?

A: Groundbreaking technology must reach the market to drive real change. Key strategies include:

1. Design with the end Market in Mind: Understand market needs and develop prototypes aligned with potential value propositions. The closer a prototype is to what the market wants, the shorter the time-to-revenue will be.
2. Focus on carefully and comprehensively defining Product Requirements: Invest time upfront to understand and define as many product requirements as possible. Overlooking details can lead to costly and time-consuming redesigns. For example, when I used to manufacture wearable products, customers would design and prototype a product only to realize later that they needed it to be waterproof which required a brand-new design, more money, a new manufacturing approach, and took months to implement.
3. Design for Manufacturability: Simplify designs to be mass-production friendly. Prototypes requiring rare skills, specialty materials, invention of new manufacturing processes and machines, and can’t easily be repeated, hinder scalability and increase cost.
4. Build Ecosystems: For new technologies, supporting, creating, or enabling the ecosystem can be critical to market adoption. For instance, electric cars needed charging stations to be broadly available before mass adoption.
5. Plan for Speed: Go fast and always know the next step in your roadmap. Anticipate competition and formulate your plan to be successful in the face of competition.
6. Build a scalable platform. When you scale up the production of your product, you will need to scale everything with it, so implementing foundational systems and processes in advance will help you avoid growing pains.

By embracing these strategies, Unveiled members have a better chance of getting to market and creating a lasting market impact.

Q: Your leadership at TE Connectivity and NXP Semiconductors revitalized businesses and established market-leading positions in emerging technologies. What lessons can leaders in the Unveiled network take from your experience in adapting to market shifts while staying innovative?

A: Leaders must embrace disruption—even self-disruption—to stay competitive. At TE Connectivity, I anticipated the rise of Chinese smartphone manufacturers and advocated the reallocation of resources to support this shift, despite internal resistance. In fact, there was so much resistance that I purchased Chinese smartphones for the leadership team to try. After gaining experience with the Chinese phones, they agreed to make the changes. This proactive approach better positioned the company for success in an evolving market.

Similarly, at NXP, I capitalized on the emerging eReader market by negotiating a display driver's license with eInk and integrating it into a new processor. Although our solution was costlier, it minimized system costs and became the market standard.

A critical lesson is recognizing that maintaining market leadership requires bold, forward-thinking decisions. Leaders must balance short-term stability with long-term innovation, although it is very difficult to do. I once offered new, disruptive technology to a product manager who had the number one market share in his consumer product category. He told me that he would rather not use the technology I was offering because if he changed something and consequently lost market share, it would be his fault.

Q: How has your board experience with eMagin Corporation influenced your perspective on leadership and governance, and how can aspiring leaders in Unveiled leverage board roles to expand their impact?

A: Serving on eMagin’s board during its acquisition by Samsung deepened my understanding of governance and strategic decision-making. Viewing challenges through the lens of investors sharpened my ability to align operational goals with shareholder value.

As board members, we are responsible for maximizing shareholder value. Advocating for a workplace where employees are rewarded based on their talents, effort and accomplishments is everyone’s best interest. And teaching about sponsorship is something that a board member can and should do.

Aspiring leaders can leverage board roles to broaden their impact by seeking opportunities that align with their expertise or career goals. However, securing board positions while working full-time can be challenging. Gaining employer support and selecting synergistic roles are key steps toward balancing these responsibilities.

Q: What advice would you give to members of Unveiled seeking to commercialize technology or ideas, particularly when navigating challenges in underfunded or underrepresented industries?

A: Gaining executive sponsorship is essential. Without a CEO’s backing, reallocating resources from established businesses that are making money to fund risky ventures is nearly impossible.

Additionally, explore ways to leverage external funding and use other people’s money. Collaboration with other business units, partnerships with external companies, or government grants can alleviate financial constraints.

Ultimately, success often hinges on securing champions within your organization and creatively funding your initiatives.

Q: Innovation often involves managing risk. How do you strike the right balance between taking calculated risks and ensuring sustainability, and what parallels can you draw for Unveiled members who are driving systemic change in their industries?

A: Effective risk management involves:
1. Data-Driven Decision-Making: Use insights to inform strategies.
2. Scenario Planning: Anticipate outcomes and prepare contingency plans.
3. Gated Investments: Invest incrementally, validating assumptions at each stage.
4. Failing Fast: Quickly identify and pivot from approaches that don’t work.
These practices ensure calculated risks support both innovation and sustainability—a balance critical for systemic change.

Q: Your academic background combines engineering and business. How has this combination influenced your ability to lead and innovate, and what advice would you give to Unveiled members about the importance of interdisciplinary thinking?

A: Combining technical and business expertise has been invaluable for aligning engineering innovation with market needs. For example, deciding which products to develop requires understanding market dynamics, financial models, and operational feasibility.

Interdisciplinary thinking fosters collaboration across teams and ensures that every aspect—from design to commercialization—aligns with organizational goals. My advice to Unveiled members is to embrace diverse perspectives and continuously expand their knowledge across disciplines.

Q: In your work with electro-optics, sensors, and displays, you've driven product growth in both niche and mainstream markets. How do you identify and capitalize on opportunities in emerging markets, and how can Unveiled members apply this insight to amplify their impact?

A: Growth opportunities come from (in increasing level of difficulty):
1. Maximizing Existing Customer Relationships: Engage customers to understand their future needs.
2. Expanding in Target Markets: Tailor products for new customers by addressing their specific requirements.
3. Leveraging Technology in Adjacent Markets: Adapt existing technologies for new applications with minimal investment.
4. Inventing for New Markets: Use research and market analysis to identify and prioritize transformative opportunities.

Each of these use different techniques of discovering and developing new products.

How do you filter many different opportunities? The best way to do this is to create a measure of market attractiveness and a measure of position strength for new opportunities and see which ones provide the best combination of market potential and a strong position. And finally, if there is already a passionate team in place that wants to drive this product then it is probably more likely to succeed.

Unveiled members can amplify their impact by strategically pursuing growth from the easiest paths first and applying intelligent filters to identify diamonds in the rough.

Q: What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in transforming technology from prototype to commercialization, and how can Unveiled members navigate similar challenges in their efforts to bring innovative ideas to life?

A: Two major challenges stand out:

1. Securing Leadership Buy-In: A supportive CEO or champion is vital for resource allocation and long-term success.

2. Put metrics in place that encourage learning and test assumptions: Treat new ventures like biology lab experiments—test, learn, and adapt based on results. Don’t set up a new venture that requires a lot of learning and evaluate it by how much revenue it books. That is the fastest way to kill it.

Doing these two things will go a long way to your product and personal success.

Q: Looking ahead, what emerging trends or technologies excite you the most?

A: I am particularly excited about no-code platforms, which democratize software development by enabling users to create programs through natural language input.

Q: When you think about our mission of breaking the cycle of being over-mentored and under-sponsored, how can the Unveiled community position itself to continue addressing systemic barriers?

A: Continue to educate and build awareness about sponsorship with companies (and potential sponsors), and with individuals regarding how to be ready to work with a sponsor and how to find a sponsor.

The only thing I would add is that when you make someone successful (an executive), you will be their best friend, and they will want to help you.