Neal Sample

Back in 1995, Neal skewered the competition during a national debate championship with the topic: “This house would forego economic progress for cultural integrity.” He claims those same skills now help him lead the team that’s building the end-to-end technology platform for the Commerce Operating System. Neal says that pushing the boundaries of customer-focused innovation is a lot easier than working on cloud-based software solutions for the CIA’s Office of Research and Development—something else Neal happens to have done (yes, that CIA). He has also managed integration of cloud computing, social commerce, and the Open eBay developer program into the eBay platform infrastructure. He now has nearly 15 years of experience with platform operations and data challenges, which is not nearly equal to his years of riding mountain bikes and playing racquet sports. And let's not forget Neal rocks mad foosball skills… a possible future indicator of more success.