François Locoh-Donou: Driving Transformation through Culture at F5

This case focuses on the leadership of François Locoh-Donou, CEO of F5, a multi-cloud application services and security company based in Seattle, Washington. Since he became CEO in 2016, Locoh-Donou had led a sweeping business transformation for F5, from a legacy hardware business to a predominantly software-led company that could deliver and secure applications and APIs in any environment. This transformation was powered by Locoh-Donou's bold vision of a "human-first" company culture--unusual for the cutthroat tech industry. He called on his employees to "boldly raise the bar" and "help each other thrive," in the belief that by living the company's values and fostering a diverse and inclusive environment, F5ers could produce extraordinary results for their customers, employees, shareholders, and communities--as well as the world. By overhauling the leadership team and developing a people-first and high-performance culture, Locoh-Donou and his team both accelerated business transformation and attracted industry recognition for social impact, diversity, and inclusion, as well as for outstanding employee experience.