F5ers shaping AI: A Q&A with Hunter Smit on culture, growth, and meaningful work

F5 Newsroom Staff

As AI becomes a core driver of how F5 delivers and secures digital experiences, the people behind that innovation matter more than ever. In this first installment of our Life at F5 Q&A series spotlighting F5ers who are shaping AI, Hunter Smit shares his journey at F5, the culture that drew him in, and the values that continue to shape his growth. He also reflects on how his work helps translate complex AI and application security technologies into clear, human-centered communication that enables organizations to innovate with confidence.

Q: What first drew you to F5 — and what’s kept you here?

Hunter: I first discovered F5 when I was an undergraduate student at Whitworth University. Every time I logged into my student email, I saw “F5 BIG-IP” on my laptop screen. One day I finally looked it up and realized that the company behind that name was headquartered in Washington and had a significant presence in Spokane.

As I was finishing graduate school and looking for the next chapter in my career, F5 stood out, not just because of the brand or the products, but also because of the people, culture, and global reach. Every person I met was curious, humble, and genuinely committed to solving real problems for customers. There was a sincerity to the culture that I hadn’t felt with other technology companies.

What has kept me here is that same sincerity. F5 has always been a place where people show up with integrity, where difficult problems are met with thoughtfulness, and where teams care deeply about doing the right thing. Leaving your ego at the door isn’t a platitude; it’s part of the F5 ethos. F5’s BeF5 and LeadF5 values align with my own and how I want to work.

I’ve stayed at F5, because the people raise the bar and the work matters. Every day brings a new challenge that pushes me to grow, sharpen my thinking, and solve problems that have real impact. It is an environment that invests in career growth, and the work is both technical and meaningful, helping organizations operate with greater trust, reliability, and clarity.

Q: How would you describe F5’s culture in three words?

Hunter: Creative, purposeful, human.

F5 is creative in how we solve problems, purposeful in the way we build and deliver technology, and human in how we show up authentically to help our customers. It is a culture that prioritizes and rewards curiosity, integrity, and empathy.

Q: How has working at F5 shaped you professionally?

Hunter: Every day, I work with people who are thoughtful, direct, and deeply committed to doing what is right, and that kind of environment naturally raises your own standards. I’ve learned how to make decisions with more precision, how to communicate in ways that build alignment rather than noise, and how to stay adaptable in an industry that changes faster than any one person can predict. I’ve grown not just as a marketer, but as someone who can bring the right people together to solve complex problems with clarity and purpose.

Working at F5 has shaped me by teaching me the discipline of thoughtful leadership, like listening deeply, asking better questions, and creating space for us all to do our best work. It has strengthened my ability to navigate ambiguity, connect ideas across functions, and move initiatives forward in a way that feels grounded and intentional. Most importantly, it has shown me that meaningful progress comes from cultivating trust, clarity, and shared understanding in every interaction.

For Hunter Smit, Senior Manager of Product Marketing, shaping the future of AI at F5 comes down to doing work that’s grounded in trust.

Q: What does your role at F5 involve, and how does it contribute to F5's mission?

Hunter: As a product marketer, I am responsible for deeply understanding the challenges our customers face as they deliver and secure their digital experiences, while mapping F5 solutions to the exact points where performance and security define the experience. That means turning complex technology and shifting customer needs into clear, actionable messaging that shows how F5 helps organizations grow and thrive. At its core, my role is to make sure that when customers face their hardest digital challenges, from securing applications to moving AI data at scale, F5 is the partner they trust to keep everything running.

Q: What excites you most about the role AI plays in shaping the future of F5’s technology?

Hunter: I get excited about the future of AI because it brings us back to the origins of F5’s story, intelligently delivering and securing applications and data. In the new AI era, if the data is wrong, delayed, or incomplete, the entire lifecycle is compromised. I am proud that F5 has risen as an indispensable partner in the AI era, creating fast, secure foundations to help data get to the right place at the right time. What excites me is that I get to help unlock human ingenuity so organizations can innovate with confidence.

Q: What’s one misconception people often have about AI — and what’s the reality from your perspective?

Hunter: The misconception a lot of people have is that AI is a tool that can replace judgment, intuition, and decision making. AI should not replace human intelligence or our responsibility to think critically. AI is only a tool, one dependent on data that humans feed it to learn and grow. It can help us see patterns, operate with greater efficiency, and expand what’s possible, but it cannot replace the human presence, accountability, or character behind the decisions we make. If anything, AI makes those human qualities more important. It asks us to be intentional, to show up fully, and to stay grounded in what matters. In my experience, the intelligence is less about the model itself and more about the data we feed it and how we choose to use it.

Q: Can you share a moment when AI surprised you or changed the way you think about your work?

Hunter: AI surprised me when I saw how dramatically its outputs improved once I approached it with clear intent, strong intuition, and careful thinking—which reminded me that technology creates the most value when it strengthens human capability rather than trying to replace it. I think back to my great-grandmother, Deanna, and a story she once shared with me about learning Microsoft Excel in the 1990s. At first it was just a grid of cells, but once she understood the logic behind formulas, her accounting and bookkeeping work changed overnight, becoming faster, more accurate, and more scalable not because Excel replaced her judgment, but because it amplified it. This story reinforced something central for me: AI is most powerful when it amplifies human judgment for people willing to think critically.

Q: If you could create an AI solution to make one part of your life easier, what would it do?

Hunter: While LLMs and self-driving vehicles promise to make life easier, I would build an AI agent that plans the perfect trip, choosing the ideal train time based on how I actually like to travel, finding the right dinner reservation from the bloggers I trust or the friend who gave me a five-star recommendation seven years ago, and curating experiences based on a blend of family recommendations, close friends, and my own interests. This is the type of technology that does not replace the joy of traveling but quietly elevates it and allows me to spend more time immersed in real-life experiences.

Building AI with trust

For Hunter, shaping the future of AI at F5 comes down to doing work that is grounded in trust. As the technology evolves, what matters most has stayed consistent: solving real problems, working with people who care about doing the right thing, and building technology that helps others move forward with confidence. That combination is what continues to make F5 a place where meaningful work happens.

Want to build meaningful technology with people who lead with integrity? Explore open roles at F5.

Also, stay tuned for the next blog post highlighting F5ers who are shaping AI.

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F5 Newsroom Staff

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