Bela Stepanova in

Bela Stepanova

Wildcard · DISC type sic
Chief Product Officer at Apollo.io
📍 San Francisco, California, United States

Bela Stepanova is the Chief Product Officer at Apollo.io, specializing in AI-powered product development. She has a strong track record of scaling product teams at high-growth companies like Iterable and Box. A UC Berkeley computer science graduate, people who have worked with her describe her as reliable, diligent, and an inspiring mentor.

Passionate about supporting women in technology, Bela has been recognized as a "Woman of the Year" by the Stevie Awards and is known for building diverse, high-performing teams. She is a proponent of mentorship and creating professional environments where transparency, integrity, and collaboration are deeply valued.

Interesting fact: Bela began coding at age 12 in her small hometown in Russia by reverse-engineering code from programming books before she had access to the internet.

Read the full overview →
Experience
19 Years
Current Role
Chief Product Officer
Location
San Francisco, California, United States
Personality Overview

How Bela shows up

ROI Driven
Requires Proof
Curious But Skeptical

They are unlikely to ever become strong champions even when the conversations are going well; you should focus on cultivating other champions They are often friendly and nice, but can sometimes suprise you with their piercing questions They typically tend to be late adopters even when they seem friendly and excited about what you have to sell

Priorities

Topics Bela cares about

AI-Powered Products
As CPO at Apollo.io, she is a pioneer in AI-powered development and believes hands-on AI exploration is a mandatory survival skill for product builders.
Scaling Product Teams
She has extensive experience leading and scaling product organizations through rapid growth phases at companies like Box, Iterable, and now Apollo.io.
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Career

Work history

2-2025 - 5-2026
Chief Product Officer
Apollo.io
5-2022 - 1-2025
SVP, Product
Iterable
1-2020 - 4-2022
VP, Product
Iterable
10-2018 - 12-2019
Senior Director, Product Management
Box
4-2016 - 9-2018
Director, Product Management
Box
In the press

Media appearances

Organizational Design & Alignment with Iterable VP of Product – Product Podcast. Featured in Product School
See now
Bela Stepanova Named 2021 Woman of the Year by the Stevie Awards. Featured in Iterable Blog
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Education
2017 - 2017
Education details unavailable
Reforge Growth Series 2017
BA
University of California, Berkeley
Social presence
in
Behavioral profile

DISC profile (public)

s

Steadiness (S)

Steadiness (S) reflects the degree to which a person is likely to focus on cooperation, support and taking everyone along. Those scoring high tend to be consistent and calm.

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