For Erik Troan, giving people the room to think and the support to act is at the core of how great software gets built. As Chief Technology Officer at Pendo.io, Troan leads a 110-person product engineering team, overseeing everything from architecture to deployment and monitoring. But rather than command decisions from the top, he focuses on building the right environment for smart decisions to surface. “If I’m making a decision, there’s probably something wrong,” he says. Troan’s approach is less about control and more about calibration: asking the right questions, validating thinking, and ensuring team members have what they need to execute confidently. He’s best known for staying close to the technical work while scaling Pendo.io’s platform, a rare balance at his level.
Born in North Carolina, Troan earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science and computer engineering from North Carolina State University. At Pendo.io, he not only guides product strategy and development but also works closely with sales and marketing teams and serves as executive sponsor for key customers. His roots in software run deep: he’s been programming since age six, when his father, an IBM employee, enrolled him in a library coding class. That early exposure turned into a lifelong passion. Troan still writes code today, carefully choosing long-term, low-risk projects that keep him connected to the work without blocking his team.
Troan sees entrepreneurship as essential to solving real-world problems especially when large companies avoid risk. He points out that the energy sector’s clean tech advances haven’t come from industry incumbents, but from smaller, bolder innovators. He’s also candid about the gap in how most universities support entrepreneurship, saying they often prioritize licensing over launching. Outside the office, Troan is a scuba instructor, a skier, a runner, and a father of three teenage boys. He values long family dinners, where conversation stretches far beyond the meal itself mirroring the way he runs his team: with time, openness, and space for ideas to grow.