To The Top: Inspirational Career Advice #120 Steve Lucas: Embracing Your Superpowers
Steve Lucas is the CEO of Boomi, a leading integration and automation platform. Before joining Boomi, Steve served as CEO of Marketo, where he led the company's transformation from a $1.6 billion valuation to its acquisition by Adobe for $4.75 billion in just 24 months—one of the largest software acquisitions in history. Prior to that, he held executive leadership roles at SAP and Salesforce, and cut his teeth in technology at Microsoft in the early 1990s. Steve is the author of "Digital Impact," exploring how AI and intelligent automation are reshaping business and society. A passionate advocate for diabetes research after being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 26, he serves on the board of the Children's Diabetes Foundation and recently established an endowed chair for diabetes research at the University of Colorado. Known for his curiosity, authenticity, and unwavering commitment to customers—he makes it a rule to speak with at least one customer every single day—Steve brings a unique blend of technical expertise and people-first leadership to one of technology's most transformative eras.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How Bill McDermott's simple advice—"just be you"—freed Steve from a decade of self-doubt and changed his career trajectory
- The power of saying "no": How Steve took Marketo from $1.6B to $4.9B by doing less, not more
- Why talking to a customer every single day is non-negotiable and how it transforms your entire organization
- Turning adversity into strength: Steve's journey with type 1 diabetes and the moment that changed his perspective forever
- The future of AI in the workplace and why we're the last generation of managers to manage only humans