The context
I joined Celonis in the Partner Acceleration ecosystem team. This was where I learned how large technology vendors and global system integrators actually work together — across major GSIs including TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL and Cognizant, and firms including Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC, Capgemini Invent, and regional and specialist SIs in Europe.
The real question
The work started after partners had already procured Celonis licenses. The actual question was: how do we help the partner understand the art of the possible, embed Celonis into their own portfolio, create a joint value proposition, and take that proposition to their customers?
That meant partner value workshops, webinars, tailored demonstrations, joint GTM, partner offerings, transformation playbooks, industry and use-case roadmaps, customer workshops, custom solution development, partner enablement, and supporting POCs and deployments. I led a custom solutions team working on niche partner use cases and tailored demos, and worked closely with product, engineering and services teams to move opportunities toward deployment.
What I learned
This role taught me that partner-led growth is not simply "get a partner to sell your product." It's understanding what the partner already sells, where your technology fits inside that, how to create a genuinely joint proposition, how to enable the partner to deliver it, how to generate demand, how to create customer value, how to drive adoption and consumption, how to reduce the risk of churn, and how to expand the relationship over time.