Going Global
After taking product lines international for Yahoo! and Microsoft, MU grad James Carroll brought all his experience to bear for GoDaddy in Seattle—not to mention the small businesses powering economies around the world
James Carroll
1991 BSc, Computer Science, Mathematics and Mathematical Physics President of International, GoDaddy
Think about the 1990s and the biggest tech companies emerging at the time. Now think about Maynooth alumnus James Carroll, because he was right there in the middle of it all—and in some cases, driving the companies’ products into the hands of users around the world.
Think about the 1990s and the biggest tech companies emerging at the time. Now think about Maynooth alumnus James Carroll, because he was right there in the middle of it all—and in some cases, driving the companies’ products into the hands of users around the world.
Looking back on his journey, the Lucan native says learning foreign languages and Irish as a child helped influence his career path—as did his time at Maynooth. Carroll said he went to Maynooth because it invested early in Computer Science as a discipline, developing a rigorous degree programme.
“Maynooth took on Computer Science early, before they knew what it was in a way because of what was happening in the tech scene in Ireland,” he said. Carroll also studied maths and maths physics, and took an elective in Italian, which came in handy when he married an Italian woman.
“The language combined with tech was a valuable combination,” he said, and is something he has instilled in his bilingual children.
Post graduation from Maynooth in 1991 he landed a job at Microsoft in Sandyford, though admitted: “I hardly knew who Microsoft was then.” He initially worked on a Swedish email project, despite not knowing a word of Swedish. It was then onto Claris, a software subsidiary of Apple, doing local and international work for Claris and Apple products in Blanchardstown and then in the US.
If you’re in internationalisation, it’s one of the biggest international product jobs on the planet
Carroll re-joined Microsoft in 1997 and eventually moved to Seattle to work on Messenger. He ran internationalisation and localisation for MSN International, Windows Live International, and all 200 Windows products in over 200 markets. Carroll was in his element.
“If you’re in internationalisation, it’s one of the biggest international product jobs on the planet,” he said.
In 2010 he became Senior Vice President of the Consumer and Global Platform group at Yahoo!, where he oversaw the delivery of Yahoo’s International products and services and managed platform engineering teams in the US and its global R&D centers in China, Taiwan, India and the Middle East. Then, in 2013 he was recruited to GoDaddy, which helps people and businesses develop and grow an online presence. At the time, GoDaddy was primarily a US company that had attempted, unsuccessfully, to expand internationally previously. A new CEO wanted to try again and brought in Carroll.
He went to work, setting up international tech teams, care teams, and commercial teams.
Within two years, the tech was ready; two years later the first set of English-speaking regions were launched; and six years in GoDaddy was in 60+ markets worldwide.
Feats of speed aside, Carroll, now President of International at the company, says he is driven every day by the impact of his work.
“Small businesses really are the backbone of economies around the world. We have a suite of tools for small businesses to create and grow their businesses online. We give them all of the things large businesses have at their fingertips to get their businesses online. The day and age of going out of business because you’re located on the wrong street should be gone: once you are online you can be found.”
“It’s a really good vibe, a good charter and extremely gratifying. You’re bettering how people live at the end of the day. You’re reaching everyone. You’re flattening the playing field.”