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Hi there,
Before we dive in, a personal note to thank YOU and 2 new tools for you.
As we head into Thanksgiving, I’ve been thinking about how much of my work is shaped by the people around me.
I’m grateful for the partner and GTM leaders who read, share, and challenge my ideas; for the clients, peers, and mentors who trust me with their questions and work; for the friends and family who keep me grounded when things get noisy. For my dog Marlee who makes me a better human every day.
I hope this week gives you a moment to slow down, recharge, and enjoy the people who matter most.
Wishing you and your loved ones a restful and Happy Thanksgiving.
Have you sent your Thanksgiving note to your partners yet? If not, here’s a template I’ve shared with my clients. It only takes about 30 seconds to personalize. Even better, try sending it as an audio message or a short video.
I’m sharing a ready-to-use prompt designed to save you time and make your partner communications faster and more effective. My clients have already shared great feedback after they dropped it into their LLMs. This will help you write emails your partners take action on. Use it for announcements, requests, or program updates. Keep it on hand, it will save you time. Now, on to this week’s updates.
The ecosystem is rewarding clarity, repeatability, and deep commitment. This week’s news is a useful map for where your own partner strategy is strong, and where it needs to level up to stay relevant.
AWS and zeb, a Generative AI SCA and partnership built around Bedrock and agents
zeb signed a multi year Generative AI Strategic Collaboration Agreement (SCA) with AWS. zeb will build industry accelerators, AI copilots, intelligent document processing, and agentic applications for sectors like financial services, healthcare, and supply chain, and will expand its North American presence as part of the collaboration.
My take for GTM and partner leaders
SCAs like this are becoming the gold standard for serious cloud partners. They align funding, co-sell, and roadmap in a single framework. For AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud partners without an AI centric agreement, this is your signal to start that conversation.
Notice how zeb packages multiple offers. Migration off external models to Bedrock, model acceleration, Amazon Connect agents, and more. That is a portfolio, not a single project. A partner strategy with this type of mix is set up for success.
For AWS field teams, this positions zeb as a go-to AI partner in specific industries. Partners who want that status with any hyperscaler will need vertical depth, visible offers in Marketplace, and proof that they can deliver at scale.
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Veeva and Roche partner for AI agents in the CRM core
Veeva Systems shared that Roche will extend its long term partnership by adopting Veeva Vault CRM globally for field teams. Vault CRM brings Veeva AI Agents into daily workflows, including free text and voice support, pre call planning, and media recommendations that guide next best actions and personalization at scale. This sits on top of Veeva’s data and content platform, backed by a growing Veeva AI partner program that invites partners to extend and specialize these agents for different markets.
My take for GTM and partner leaders
This is a strong example of an AI first product plus partner program. Veeva is naming agent types, placing them in specific workflows, then creating room for partners to extend them.
If you run product or partner teams in vertical SaaS, this may be a pattern to borrow. How: define a small set of named agents, align them to clear use cases, then build certifications and accelerators around them.
For alliances teams, this is also a template for land and expand storytelling. Long standing platform relationship, a targeted AI upgrade, and then an ecosystem around that upgrade. A good way to structure reference wins.
SoundHound AI and Parkopedia, agents as a partner motion in the car
SoundHound AI and Parkopedia announced an expanded partnership that brings a voice AI powered parking search and payment agent into car infotainment systems. Drivers can discover, compare, and book parking through natural speech, with Parkopedia’s global parking data and payment stack underneath and SoundHound’s conversational AI on top. The agent sits inside SoundHound’s broader in car voice commerce platform, so this move extends a larger transaction layer for OEMs.
My take for GTM and partner leaders
This is a clean B2B2C ecosystem design. One partner owns the data and payments rail, the other owns the voice and AI experience, and OEMs receive a packaged capability they can roll out quickly.
If you work with devices, vehicles, or any connected edge product, think about where an embedded agent could become a joint offer. Parking, charging, insurance, maintenance, and media are all strong candidates.
The messaging centers on hands free convenience and safety, not on AI for its own sake. Your joint offers should tie agents to simple outcomes, such as fewer clicks, higher conversion, or safer use.
Vodacom and Google Cloud, AI infrastructure as a regional growth play
Vodacom announced a multi year strategic collaboration with Google Cloud focused on AI and data across its African footprint. The partnership brings Google Cloud’s data and AI stack together with Vodacom’s network and customer reach. It includes joint innovation work, co-built solutions for sectors like financial services and agriculture, and large scale skills development for local developers and partners. The ambition is to modernize data, move more workloads to cloud, embed AI in digital services, and position Vodacom as a regional AI platform.
My take for GTM and partner leaders
This is ecosystem positioning. Vodacom is telling regulators, customers, and partners that it intends to be a core AI platform in the region. If you are in a similar role, ask what regional or industry “AI platform” story you want to anchor.
Co-innovation and skills language now sit at the center of big alliances. Labs, co-funded pilots, and training targets have become standard, alongside revenue and consumption goals. If your alliances deck still only talks about “joint marketing,” it will feel out of date.
If you build on Google Cloud, think about offers that attach to telco and financial services modernisation in Africa and similar markets. Regulated, data rich, AI heavy use cases will move first.
AI21 Labs and Together AI Announce Strategic Partnership
AI21 Labs and Together AI are teaming up to speed open-source AI adoption for enterprises. Their partnership links AI21’s agent orchestration platform (Maestro) to Together AI’s model portfolio, helping organizations mix and match open-source models for workflow automation, lower costs, and transparency.
My take for GTM and partner leaders
This is a smart step that puts flexibility before vendor lock-in. Partner leaders at AI-first SaaS firms can take note: build for choice and transparency. Offer agents that work with best-of-breed models and let customers pick what fits their workflow. Think about how your partner network can offer more ways for clients to deploy and scale AI, as choice creates more value.
Other ecosystem moves to watch
Wisr AI Systems and Moneylab entered an MOU to co-develop an agentic AI cyber platform for regional banks and credit unions, Newslab reports. The platform will focus on predictive cyber and third party risk for financial institutions that often sit below the radar of large vendors.
Ready Computing achieved Google Cloud Service Partner status in healthcare and social care workloads, deepening its collaboration with Google Cloud, Newswire reports. This unlocks more structured co-innovation programs, go to market support, and AI tooling for care coordination and data platforms.
My take for GTM and partner leaders
Large platforms are rewarding partners that codify their AI motion into offers, accelerators, and agents, rather than a series of one off projects.
Vertical focus is becoming a differentiator. Life sciences, healthcare, financial services, and telco are now getting dedicated partner stories, program tracks, and joint references.
Co-investment and formal frameworks, such as SCAs and service partner status, are turning into core GTM tools.
If you lead partners or GTM, this is a good moment to:
Decide which agent platforms and hyperscalers you want to truly specialize in.
Package your work into named offers and agent blueprints, with clear success metrics.
Ask your top platform partners what it takes to move into their next tier of AI centric collaboration.
If you found this insightful, please share on LinkedIn or with your colleagues.