Steve Graves

Steve Graves spent his childhood summers milking cows, bailing hay and gaining an appreciation for agriculture while helping out on his relatives’ farm in rural Minnesota. After receiving his master’s degree in accounting from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, Steve took an overseas internship with OSRAM, where he unexpectedly dove head-first into the global lighting industry. After his short stint as a sales intern in Munich, Germany, Steve catapulted into OSRAM’s pricing, sales management, operations and business development practices throughout the world. Since then, he has dedicated his life, his career and his travels to pursuing innovations in LED lighting, ultimately reconnecting with farming to explore advancements in controlled environment agriculture and modern growing practices for horticulture. His travels have taken him throughout Europe, the Asia-Pacific, Australia, and North America, during which he built cross-cultural relationships with global lighting design and farming experts.

After his return to the U.S., Steve served as the strategic program manager for OSRAM’s urban and digital farming unit, where he played a prominent role in Fluence’s acquisition in mid-2018 and ultimately joined Fluence as its director of global segment management.

Now, Steve serves as the global vice president of business development for Fluence by OSRAM, where he is responsible for diversifying Fluence’s product and business capabilities on a global scale. When he’s not taking early calls from Fluence’s EMEA team or coordinating with APAC, Steve spends time with his wife and two children, exploring Austin’s naturescapes, local breweries and the city’s food scene.