Marketo CEO departs; former SAP president appointed

Marketo’s founder and CEO is stepping down from his position just a few months after the marketing automation vendor was acquired by a private equity firm.

Phil Fernandes will finish in his role on 1 November and is being replaced by former SAP president of enterprise platforms and analytics, Steve Lucas.

Lucas has worked across a number of enterprise software vendors during his career with an emphasis on cloud, mobile, database and analytics. In his most recent role at SAP, he was responsible for accelerating the way new offerings were brought to market. Prior to this, he was the global leader for SAP’s business analytics database and technology division, Business Objects, and corporate strategy and market development.

Inbetween his stints at SAP, Lucas was vice-president of platform marketing and Force.com at Salesforce.

“I am excited to join the company as Marketo accelerates its growth through enterprise expansion, its unprecedented next-generation marketing platform and its robust partner ecosystem,” he said in a statement. “I look forward to leading this incredible organisation and enabling anyone using these market-leading solutions to innovate faster and accelerate their digital transformation through marketing, all with a firm commitment to Marketo’s unique culture that champions diversity, inclusion and social responsibility.”

Fernanez’s next move has not been disclosed, but he wished his successor well in the statement.

“I am confident that the Marketo team under Steve’s leadership will maintain and extend our commitment to innovation, integrity and customer success, as well as to the thousands of successful, passionate individuals who are the heart of the Marketing Nation.”

Marketo was acquired by Vista Equity Partners for US$1.79 billion in an all-cash deal in June. Since then, there have been a series of global and local executive departures, including that of global CMO, Sanjay Dhokalia, and local MD, Greg Taylor.

Follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO conversation on LinkedIn: CMO ANZ, join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOAustralia, or check us out on Google+:google.com/+CmoAu