Description
Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.
Transcription
- Speaker #0
Happy New Year everyone and welcome Nitu. Today I'm thrilled to kick off 2026 with a very special guest Nitu Wadia. She is CMO of SBS and she has been leading the change on SBS partner strategy and shaping what collaboration really means for SBS. The start of a new year is always the perfect moment to take action on the things that truly move the business forward. And there is no better good deed for your future pipeline, your customers and your teams than committing early to working smarter with partners. So, Nitu, today we are exploring making partners work for you. So what is the one sentence that captures the core idea of this talk?
- Speaker #1
Well, I think in today's day and age, partners are an integral part. of our entire ecosystem. There is nothing that can be done individually. No one stands alone. We have to be able to grow, succeed, scale only by working with partners. So for me, in one word, I'd say partners are just an integral part.
- Speaker #0
Can you tell me what are the three most important things SBS actually did in 2025 to build its partner foundation?
- Speaker #1
Well, to begin with, given that we were on the start of a journey, what was really important was for us to first identify, understand why we even needed to work with partners. And there are many reasons we saw for that. It was important for us to see how we can actually scale leveraging a good partner ecosystem to enter new markets where it's almost impossible to go. It was important for us to look at partnerships to help us to scale and I would say to complement some of our products and our product delivery pipeline. It was important for us to look at partners to help us in terms of how we can actually just deliver to some of our clients in places again where we don't have any presence at all. So the first thing we had to do was really look at why do I need a partner? Where do I need the partner? partner and who would be the right profile of partner that I need to go with. The second thing that we had to look at in 2025 is if the decision is to go forward using partners, what is the foundation I need to put in place in terms of kinds of tools, support systems, documentation, enablement kits. So we had to do a lot of background work to make sure we were ready in 2026 to actually grow into that. And I think the third and probably The biggest need that was there was to make sure that we had the mindset and the right people to help to grow and support the strategy for 2026 and beyond.
- Speaker #0
Talking about 2026, what's the one thing that will make the biggest difference in 2026 and what does scale look like in 2027?
- Speaker #1
One of the things that will make the biggest difference in 2026, I think we've already embarked on the journey. But I think what's really going to help us is the fact that we have people understanding more and more the importance of having partnerships the fact that at every level in our organization we support the need for it and we see it in the product side we see it on a delivery side we see it in a sale side so it doesn't matter which dimension we're talking about there is an importance for it in different ways And the fact that we're all gearing towards that and understand the importance is what's going to set us up for success.
- Speaker #0
What is the one collaboration across teams that is absolutely critical to partner success?
- Speaker #1
Understanding why we need it and how we're going to work with them. So making sure we all understand doesn't matter who we are, which team we are, but making sure we understand how we're going to work together. And that could be if I look at a product team member, how is our product designed so that we can make sure it can be partner enabled from a sales perspective, understanding what is the difference in the role that a partnership manager and alliance manager plays versus sales and working collaboratively together. So I'd say the one word for me that would really apply across any person is collaboration. Because without us collaborating and making sure we're doing everything to actually achieve a successful partnership. we'll have no success.
- Speaker #0
Who does what between alliance managers and sales?
- Speaker #1
That's actually a good question because there's always that confusion about it. I think both alliance managers and sales teams have a very critical part to play in our growth journey. And for certain as a company, partnerships are needed for scale, sales are needed for scale. But I think that The biggest and most key difference that exists is sales are really the ones who are going out. They're talking to the customers. They're building relationships. They represent us completely. Partners and alliance managers are supporting them by bringing to the table the enablers, the door openers, the influencers, the accelerators to help them to succeed. So... The alliance managers play an extremely critical and important role in bringing it all together, making it happen, and they work hand in hand with sales to actually succeed.
- Speaker #0
So let's assume that I am working as a sales or product. Why should I care? I mean, how do partners make my life easier or more profitable?
- Speaker #1
Okay, so if I go by all the two that you said, from a product perspective, let's say. The product team is putting a lot in along with the support of R&D and our entire delivery mechanism that we have, including our client delivery center, to make sure that they are working together to actually get there. But you can't always do everything yourself. Sometimes you do need to accelerate. And if I could, and let me make it simpler. If with the five people I have to sell today, I sell five deals in the year, if I could just make that exponentially larger by adding 50 more indirect sales guys in the form of a partner or a distribution network in this respect, I would be able to have that many more deals. It means more sales, more profitability, better returns. On the flip side of it, You've got the challenges we'll have because we don't have enough people to deliver, which is a good problem to have. But then again, you still want to accelerate. You still want the business. So you want to have integration partners to help you with the delivery because it's a win-win whether you're doing the delivery, whether you're the product person or your sales guy because he just got more customers. So it's a win for sales. It's a win for product. It's a win for delivery because we actually are able to grow. And at the end of the day, it's a win for us as a company.
- Speaker #0
Great. What is the one action you want everyone to take after listening?
- Speaker #1
I think the one action I want everyone to take is to make and to dream and to sleep and to eat and to think partners because partners equal growth.
- Speaker #0
Good insights. Thank you, Nitu, for being with us and sharing your time.
- Speaker #1
Thanks, Caroline. Thanks for having me here today.
Description
Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.
Transcription
- Speaker #0
Happy New Year everyone and welcome Nitu. Today I'm thrilled to kick off 2026 with a very special guest Nitu Wadia. She is CMO of SBS and she has been leading the change on SBS partner strategy and shaping what collaboration really means for SBS. The start of a new year is always the perfect moment to take action on the things that truly move the business forward. And there is no better good deed for your future pipeline, your customers and your teams than committing early to working smarter with partners. So, Nitu, today we are exploring making partners work for you. So what is the one sentence that captures the core idea of this talk?
- Speaker #1
Well, I think in today's day and age, partners are an integral part. of our entire ecosystem. There is nothing that can be done individually. No one stands alone. We have to be able to grow, succeed, scale only by working with partners. So for me, in one word, I'd say partners are just an integral part.
- Speaker #0
Can you tell me what are the three most important things SBS actually did in 2025 to build its partner foundation?
- Speaker #1
Well, to begin with, given that we were on the start of a journey, what was really important was for us to first identify, understand why we even needed to work with partners. And there are many reasons we saw for that. It was important for us to see how we can actually scale leveraging a good partner ecosystem to enter new markets where it's almost impossible to go. It was important for us to look at partnerships to help us to scale and I would say to complement some of our products and our product delivery pipeline. It was important for us to look at partners to help us in terms of how we can actually just deliver to some of our clients in places again where we don't have any presence at all. So the first thing we had to do was really look at why do I need a partner? Where do I need the partner? partner and who would be the right profile of partner that I need to go with. The second thing that we had to look at in 2025 is if the decision is to go forward using partners, what is the foundation I need to put in place in terms of kinds of tools, support systems, documentation, enablement kits. So we had to do a lot of background work to make sure we were ready in 2026 to actually grow into that. And I think the third and probably The biggest need that was there was to make sure that we had the mindset and the right people to help to grow and support the strategy for 2026 and beyond.
- Speaker #0
Talking about 2026, what's the one thing that will make the biggest difference in 2026 and what does scale look like in 2027?
- Speaker #1
One of the things that will make the biggest difference in 2026, I think we've already embarked on the journey. But I think what's really going to help us is the fact that we have people understanding more and more the importance of having partnerships the fact that at every level in our organization we support the need for it and we see it in the product side we see it on a delivery side we see it in a sale side so it doesn't matter which dimension we're talking about there is an importance for it in different ways And the fact that we're all gearing towards that and understand the importance is what's going to set us up for success.
- Speaker #0
What is the one collaboration across teams that is absolutely critical to partner success?
- Speaker #1
Understanding why we need it and how we're going to work with them. So making sure we all understand doesn't matter who we are, which team we are, but making sure we understand how we're going to work together. And that could be if I look at a product team member, how is our product designed so that we can make sure it can be partner enabled from a sales perspective, understanding what is the difference in the role that a partnership manager and alliance manager plays versus sales and working collaboratively together. So I'd say the one word for me that would really apply across any person is collaboration. Because without us collaborating and making sure we're doing everything to actually achieve a successful partnership. we'll have no success.
- Speaker #0
Who does what between alliance managers and sales?
- Speaker #1
That's actually a good question because there's always that confusion about it. I think both alliance managers and sales teams have a very critical part to play in our growth journey. And for certain as a company, partnerships are needed for scale, sales are needed for scale. But I think that The biggest and most key difference that exists is sales are really the ones who are going out. They're talking to the customers. They're building relationships. They represent us completely. Partners and alliance managers are supporting them by bringing to the table the enablers, the door openers, the influencers, the accelerators to help them to succeed. So... The alliance managers play an extremely critical and important role in bringing it all together, making it happen, and they work hand in hand with sales to actually succeed.
- Speaker #0
So let's assume that I am working as a sales or product. Why should I care? I mean, how do partners make my life easier or more profitable?
- Speaker #1
Okay, so if I go by all the two that you said, from a product perspective, let's say. The product team is putting a lot in along with the support of R&D and our entire delivery mechanism that we have, including our client delivery center, to make sure that they are working together to actually get there. But you can't always do everything yourself. Sometimes you do need to accelerate. And if I could, and let me make it simpler. If with the five people I have to sell today, I sell five deals in the year, if I could just make that exponentially larger by adding 50 more indirect sales guys in the form of a partner or a distribution network in this respect, I would be able to have that many more deals. It means more sales, more profitability, better returns. On the flip side of it, You've got the challenges we'll have because we don't have enough people to deliver, which is a good problem to have. But then again, you still want to accelerate. You still want the business. So you want to have integration partners to help you with the delivery because it's a win-win whether you're doing the delivery, whether you're the product person or your sales guy because he just got more customers. So it's a win for sales. It's a win for product. It's a win for delivery because we actually are able to grow. And at the end of the day, it's a win for us as a company.
- Speaker #0
Great. What is the one action you want everyone to take after listening?
- Speaker #1
I think the one action I want everyone to take is to make and to dream and to sleep and to eat and to think partners because partners equal growth.
- Speaker #0
Good insights. Thank you, Nitu, for being with us and sharing your time.
- Speaker #1
Thanks, Caroline. Thanks for having me here today.
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