At our recent event, ‘How AI is Defining the Future of Partnering’, our VP of Product, Sean O’Connell hosted a panel discussion on how AI is changing partner engagement and revenue acceleration. The conversation brought together three senior channel leaders who are not just experimenting with AI, but actively reshaping how it’s applied across partner programs:
- Erik Gomer, VP Global Partner Experience, CrowdStrike
- Kaushik Ram, Sr. Director, Global Partner Programs, VMware
- Hunter Haverty, Sr. Director, Partner Programs & Operations, Optiv
Together, they explored how AI is being applied today to streamline workflows, unlock data-driven insights, and empower teams to deliver greater impact with fewer resources. The discussion covered five key themes shaping the future of partnering in the age of AI: partner productivity, the evolving role of partner managers, engagement, revenue, and marketing.
1. Partner Productivity: Automating the Mundane to Accelerate Revenue
Firstly, Kaushik Ram kicked off the discussion by emphasizing that AI’s immediate value lies in reducing manual tasks and driving operational efficiency. At VMWare, his team is using Channelscaler’s partner journey automation to personalize onboarding, certifications, and program navigation based on partner personas.
“Our partners told us: ‘I don’t know where to start.’ So we’re using role-based workflows to prescribe the right information, automate steps, and make it easy to get engaged,” Kaushik explained.
He highlighted initiatives to automate deal registration workflows, accelerate lead distribution, and intelligently surface customer and account insights, creating faster time-to-market and more efficient sales cycles.
Erik Gomer echoed similar themes from CrowdStrike, noting that even a seemingly small change, such as achieving 30-minute turnaround times on deal registration, can have a significant impact on partner experience and responsiveness.
From the partner side, Hunter Haverty painted a vivid picture of the day-to-day reality:
“Our deal reg reps still log into every portal manually. There’s huge appetite for anything that speeds this up and makes it easier to do business.”
2. The Partner Manager’s Role Is Changing – For the Better
As AI automates more operational work, the panel agreed that the role of partner managers will evolve. Erik described how AI copilots can consolidate multiple dashboards and surface actionable insights, enabling partner managers to spend less time buried in spreadsheets and more time in meaningful conversations with partners.
“You must be present to win,” he said. “AI can take care of the admin. Partner managers can focus on strategy and engagement.”
Kaushik added that AI will help identify value partners vs. volume partners, allowing teams to prioritize resources where they’ll have the most impact. Hunter noted that while these changes will increase efficiency, partners must also keep pace with the tools, “A good partner has to keep up.”
3. Partner Engagement: Simplifying Complexity
Hunter shared how Optiv manages relationships with over 500 vendors. For their top 100 partners, they manually track certifications, tier levels, and benefits to maintain status and margins: a process managed by one dedicated individual.
“We’ve got a guy who reads every partner program guide. But beyond that, it just falls off,” Hunter admitted. “There’s a huge opportunity for AI to make program guides consumable and alert us when we’re about to lose a certification or benefit.”
This underscores the importance of simplifying programs and making information truly accessible. Vendors need to make it easy for partners to understand and engage. And AI can help bridge that gap.
4. Partner Revenue: Smarter Lead Distribution
Leads are expensive and strategic, and all three panelists agreed AI has a “no-brainer” role to play in optimizing lead distribution. Erik described how CrowdStrike uses partner data to match leads to the right partners quickly, improving acceptance and conversion rates.
Kaushik encouraged vendors to think differently about leads:
“It’s not just about new campaigns. AI can mine data to surface new opportunities in the install base and drive those back to partners efficiently.”
From the reseller perspective, Hunter emphasized timeliness: “Getting the lead to the partner while it’s still warm is critical. AI can route and distribute leads much faster.”
5. Partner Marketing: From Manual to Predictive
Finally, Kaushik outlined how AI can auto-generate campaign assets, storyboard videos, and handle translation across languages, eliminating costs and delays associated with traditional localization processes. He also highlighted the potential of predictive analytics for smarter budget allocation and MDF optimization.
Erik built on this by describing how CrowdStrike is exploring ways to use AI to analyze partner telemetry and dynamically generate targeted campaigns, rather than relying on static dashboards.
Hunter offered a partner perspective: using AI to predict renewals and upsell opportunities based on customer success data remains a significant untapped area.
In closing, Sean asked the panelists for practical advice for channel leaders embarking on their AI journeys.
Kaushik stressed starting slow and focusing on data quality:
“Don’t try to solve everything at once. Start with your existing tools, ensure good data hygiene, and tackle real business priorities step by step.”
Hunter reminded vendors that trust and simplicity remain the foundation of partner mindshare. AI should enhance, not obscure, those fundamentals.
Erik encouraged channel leaders to experiment hands-on, not delegate entirely to IT:
“Give your team space to play. When they start experimenting, they’ll come back with ideas you didn’t expect.”
Conclusion
In conclusion, AI is no longer a future concept for partner programs – it’s here, and it’s transforming how vendors and partners collaborate. From automating onboarding and deal reg to optimizing lead distribution and enabling partner managers with copilots, AI is touching every layer of the channel ecosystem.
