Lucas Carlson

Product, AI & Engineering Leader

I'm a product-driven, AI-focused technology leader and repeat founder who turns emerging tech into category-defining platforms.

Product Leadership Highlights

Zapier

Staff Applied AI Engineer

Driving MCP to connect AI with 8,000+ apps. Building LLM, RAG, and eval frameworks for enterprise AI connectivity.

LEADx

Co-Founder & CTO

B2B SaaS training 100,000+ managers at Fortune 500 companies. Built AI-driven "Coach Amanda" app. SOC II Type 2 certified.

CenturyLink

Chief Innovation Officer

Launched Panamax, adopted by 200+ companies. Built a new cloud developer strategy for the second largest US telco.

AppFog

Founder & CEO

PaaS running 100,000+ apps across 6 clouds. Raised $9.8M, acquired by CenturyLink in 2013.

MOG

Co-Founder & CTO

Early music streaming service acquired by Apple in 2014. Invented US Patent 15,809,888, held by Apple today.

Open Source

20+ Projects

Over 9 million downloads and 1,593 stars across GitHub projects.

Published Books

Ruby Cookbook

Non-Fiction, Programming

Ruby Cookbook

Why spend time on coding problems that others have already solved when you could be making real progress on your Ruby project? This book provides more than 900 pages of Ruby code solutions to common problems.

Update: Sold over 100,000+ copies, translated into Japanese, German, and Chinese.
Programming for PaaS

Non-Fiction, Programming

Programming for PaaS

This thorough introduction takes you through the PaaS model from a developer's point of view, and breaks down the types of services that Google App Engine, Windows Azure, Heroku, Cloud Foundry, and others deliver.
Big Data

Fiction, Thriller

Big Data

If you think artificial intelligence is dangerous, then you don't know the real threat to humanity's future. Big Data is a fresh approach to the artificial intelligence sci-fi thriller.
The Term Sheet

Fiction, Thriller

The Term Sheet

What if the government claimed that terrorists were using your startup? Would you happily hand over the keys to your kingdom without a second thought? Or would you defend your customer's privacy no matter the cost?
Finding Success in Failure

Non-Fiction, Entrepreneurship

Finding Success in Failure

What if you could learn more from my failures than from all of Elon Musk's successes combined? Imagine if you could spare yourself years of heartache and self-loathing pounding your head against mistakes I've already made for you.
The Craftsman Founder Manifesto

Non-Fiction, Entrepreneurship

The Craftsman Founder Manifesto

There are no big secrets to getting rich being an entrepreneur. There are no shortcuts. The trick is to fall in love with being a founder and dedicate yourself to the craft for 20-30 years. If I haven't scared you off yet, keep reading.

SaaS Projects

Here are some SaaS projects I am currently building and actively working on.

Cloving

SaaS

Cloving

The real promise of AI coding finally made real in a free and open-source command line tool. The ultimate command line tool for enhanced productivity and superior code quality.
Track a Haul

SaaS

Track a Haul

Track and manage your inventory. Selling online is hard. We make tracking your profits and expenses easy. We help you keep your inventory organized.
CloudEnv

SaaS

CloudEnv

Keep your environmental variables secure and in sync with End-to-End AES-256-CBC encryption, we never see your secrets... ever.

Update: CloudEnv was acquired by Hyphen in 2024.

From the Blog

I have written for Inc, Business Insider, Business Journal, KISSMetrics, VentureBeat, InformationWeek and other popular blogs.

Startup Envy

Article

How To Cope With Startup Envy

I got an email recently... "My startup recently failed. I was the CEO, and it was in a super-hot space with three other competitors. Two of the competitors were acquired and the founders in both companies became super-wealthy."
Startup Mistakes

Article

30 Things to Stop Doing As A Startup Founder

Being a startup founder is hard enough, but making common mistakes can often lead to total disaster. Here are some common things to look out for...
Incubators

Article

Incubators are Bullshit

I am often asked what I think about incubators. Here I tell you what I really think.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's your background?
Product-focused CTO who built and scaled multiple SaaS products. Founded AppFog (acquired by CenturyLink 2013), co-founded MOG (acquired by Apple). Previously at MeasureMap (acquired by Google 2006).
Do you do public speaking?
Spoken at 30+ conferences worldwide on technology and entrepreneurship for organizations including NASA, IBM, and Booz Allen Hamilton. Reach out to book.
Podcasts or radio?
Featured on Unmistakable Creative, Breaking Biz, IBM DeveloperWorks, Tech AM PowerDrive Radio, Empire Flippers, and others.

Book a Meeting

Interested in discussing product leadership, AI, or SaaS strategy? Schedule time below.

Lucas Carlson is someone I go to, to bounce ideas and concepts off of, because he has that rare trifactor of - Technical Relevance, Entrepreneurial Focus and Authentic Character; He remains technically broad enough to understand the landscape while deep enough to be able to build a prototype himself, he is grounded to the purpose of technology always maintaining a pragmatic approach and he is unfailingly authentic in his opinion and will not tell you what you want to hear unless he understands and believes it himself.

Andrew Higginbotham
Andrew Higginbotham
SVP Cloud & Technology, CenturyLink

Lucas is one of the most gifted entrepreneurs and founders I've met in my career. He's driven, focused, insightful -- everything you want in a founder and an entrepreneur. He's also one of the smarter people I know - and is also a genuinely good person. I learn from Lucas all the time - and that is priceless.