Interviewed by Dag Spicer, on April 1, 2025 in Mountain View, California,
© Computer History Museum
In this oral history, Ned Barnholt reflects on his decades-long career at Hewlett-Packard and Agilent Technologies, offering insights into engineering leadership, corporate culture, and strategic transformation in Silicon Valley. Beginning as an engineer at HP in 1966, Barnholt advanced through management roles, contributing to key innovations in signal generators and network analyzers, and helping expand HP’s instrumentation business.
He discusses the formative influence of The HP Way—its emphasis on trust, respect, and decentralized decision-making—and its lasting legacy in shaping employee engagement and customer focus. Barnholt also explores the rationale and execution of HP’s historic 1999 spin-off, which created Agilent, where he served as the first CEO. At Agilent, he prioritized speed, focus, and accountability while maintaining the cultural foundations inherited from HP. The conversation concludes with reflections on board service, leadership philosophy, and the balance between continuity and change in a rapidly evolving technological and business landscape.
- Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information – http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/300000016
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Catalog number: 300000017
Lot number: 2025.0041
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