Asher Mathew

CEO at Partnership Leaders | Helping partnership and business leaders build modern businesses through partnerships

Join Partnership Leaders at www.partnershipleaders.com

Co-Founder & CEO

Joined full time in Feb 2023

Partnership Leaders is a private network built to elevate the role of partner teams in their companies. Partnership Leaders is the only organization designed exclusively to enable the success of 1,500+ of the world’s top partner professionals.

Apply at www.partnershipleaders.com

Another new high for Chief Partner Officer roles.

1187 on Feb 1.
1220 today.

The title is rising fast.

But a title does not create a Chief Partner Officer. Mandate does.

Two things determine whether the role is real or symbolic:

Budget.

You need direct ownership of capital.
Not borrowed dollars.
Not discretionary scraps.
Not marketing leftovers.

If you do not control budget, you do not control outcomes.

Authority.

Authority means the power to prioritize.
The power to decline.
The power to protect focus.

If you cannot say no, you are not leading. You are reacting.

Without budget and authority, the CPO is a coordinator with executive branding.

With them, the CPO becomes a growth operator.

The role rests on four pillars.

Build.
Market.
Sell.
Serve.

If partnerships do not drive all four, they are not embedded in the business model.

Titles are expanding.
Mandate must follow.

Something interesting is happening in deals right now.

In the past week I spoke with four services companies.

Each told me the same thing.

Customers are asking for the partner manager to join deal calls.

Why?

Because the deal no longer involves just one vendor.

There are multiple companies delivering the outcome:
• The platform
• The services partner
• The software (think app) partner
• Sometimes even the data or AI provider

Customers want someone coordinating the ecosystem.

Not just selling the product.

That role is increasingly falling to the partnerships team.

If this trend continues, it changes how we think about partnerships.

Partner managers are no longer behind the scenes.

They are becoming the orchestrators of multi-party deals. (I know James Hodgkinson will love this one). 

I am curious if others are seeing this too.

Are customers asking for partnerships teams to be present in complex deals? Pre-Close? Post-Sale?

Am I the only one thinking when will Anthropic launch Claude for #Partnerships?

anyone else?

Hire a Chief Partner Officer...Demo to Satya!

Way to go Marcel!

A new marketplace player enters the market!

Something interesting is happening.

Events are back.

Our London Summit is already at capacity, and NYC and SF are close behind.

What is different this year is who is showing up.

Catalyst is expanding beyond software to include leaders from services and hardware companies.

The conversations around ecosystems and partnerships are getting bigger.

If you plan to attend one of our Summits or the Catalyst Conference, register soon.

More info: join catalyst dot com

One way I think about Catalyst is this:

It’s the premier conference to recruit, re-engage, and retain partners.

Not just network.
Not just content.
Actual ecosystem building.

This year, we’re leaning into Services companies that unlock the enterprise.

Think SIs, agencies, and management consulting firms.
The partners you need in your mix if you want to tap into the $6.15T global IT spend.

We’ll still have strong content for early and mid career partnership leaders. That foundation matters.

But the next unlock is CPO readiness.

What does it take to move from running motions to owning ecosystem strategy?
From supporting revenue to shaping company direction?

That’s the conversation.

Catalyst is for the companies and leaders preparing to shape the next wave of tech through partnerships.

If you’re serious about building a modern partner ecosystem, this is where you should be.

Grab your ticket, early bird ends tomorrow!

Build. Market. Sell. Serve.

Partnerships summed up in 4 words.

Enterprise growth does not break because you lack features.

It breaks because you are not invited into the room where decisions get made.

And those rooms are crowded.

CIOs do not wake up looking for new vendors.
They listen to the firms already embedded in their transformation.

The SI running the cloud migration.
The consultancy redesigning the operating model.
The agency modernizing digital experience.

If you are not inside that orbit, you are fighting uphill.

That is the real partnership conversation.

Not badges.
Not tiers.
Not “ecosystem” as a buzzword.

Access.

Catalyst this year is centered on the companies that control that access.

Services firms that influence how the $6.15T in global IT spend actually gets deployed.

Because here is the uncomfortable truth:

You can build a great product and still lose
if the people shaping the enterprise narrative are not aligned with you.

We will still invest in rising partner leaders. Craft matters.

But the next unlock is bigger.

How do you move from running partner plays
to understanding enterprise power structures?

How do you stop thinking about partner sourced revenue
and start thinking about who shapes demand before the RFP exists?

That is the conversation.

Catalyst is not about partnerships as a department.

It is about partnerships as leverage.

If you want to play inside the enterprise,
you need to understand who already owns the room.

See you in NYC!

Channing Ferrer

Hi, I’m Channing. My world revolves around building Go-To-Market (GTM) strategies that create success stories. 

With a knack for nurturing global teams and a flair for finessing GTM strategies, I’ve helped businesses, from active startups to seasoned giants, scale to new heights.

At the heart of my approach is a simple philosophy: 

- understand deeply,
- act strategically,
- and lead passionately.

This philosophy powered my tenure at Brandwach, where I oversaw the return to growth, after several  years of declining revenues. 

At Semrush, where I championed the sales force to unprecedented growth and expansion into the enterprise space.

My journey has been marked by remarkable achievements, like fueling HubSpot’s meteoric rise from $200m to $1.5bn in revenue, and building the GTM frameworks that continue to drive success today. 

Whether it was steering Acquia’s sales, leading BuiltIn down a new strategic course, accelerating C2FO’s market presence, or contributing to S&P Capital IQ’s billion-dollar story, my focus has always been on crafting strategies that deliver.

Beyond the boardroom, you’ll find me in Boston’s serene suburbs, where family life with my wife, kids, and our dog provides the perfect counterbalance to my professional pursuits.

Specializing in GTM leadership, I’m an entrepreneurial thinker and a global revenue architect. 

My expertise spans advisory services, sales strategy, partner strategy, and customer success. I’m all about empowering teams, driving product-led growth, and ensuring every customer journey echoes our shared success.

Adjunct Professor of Revenue Operations

I was in NYC🗽 w my family a few weeks ago sharing some memories from my childhood (born and raised till 13 in Manhattan!). We walked through Time Square... but I missed the best part. Thanks to Nasdaq  for recognizing the Brevo unicorn 🦄 status on your billboard!

I know it’s been a minute⌛, but I’m still incredibly proud of everyone at Brevo for this accomplishment. Reaching unicorn 🦄 status was a major milestone. 🚀🚀🚀

Lets go Brevonauts! Much more to come.

Strategic Revenue Leader | Driving Growth with Data & Innovation | Advisor & Investor | Previous leader at HubSpot, Semrush, and others

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Brevo is hiring our first Partner Account Manager in the US. Not just another number...This role is number one. 🚀

This is a chance to build something from scratch, not just keep the lights on. You'll set the roadmap. You'll shape how our partners work with us. If you've got a bias for action, if you see ambiguity as an open door, keep reading. 🛠️

Here's what will make you stand out:
- You chase outcomes, not just activity
- You know how to win trust with C-level partners (not just get a meeting)
- You see problems as fuel, not friction

You'll report directly to our head of Americas sales, David Torres. So there's nowhere to hide. But there's also nowhere better to grow. 📈

Feel like you're being boxed in at your current role? Come build, not just manage.

Drop a comment, tag a friend, or apply directly if you're ready to own something real. 🔗

See posting here: https://lnkd.in/eC5iame8

Expanding into new markets isn’t just about copy-pasting what worked somewhere else. Every market is different, different customers, buying patterns, and competition. The teams that succeed? They adapt.

While at HubSpot we expanded into many new markets, each time we needed an architect, someone who could design a strategy tailored to the unique market dynamics. Some markets like Japan require unique strategies. Other markets, like our expansion into Canada, allow for a more gradual start with an executor to implement an existing strategy before evolving to a more localized approach.

At Brevo, we’re growing fast in the Americas, and one thing we’ve learned is that local talent is key. You need people who understand the market, culture, and relationships that matter. 

It’s not always quick or easy, but patience pays off. Building brand awareness, trust, and relationships takes time, but it’s the only way to scale sustainably.

I talked about this with Carlos Ponce on Advancio Talks, how to avoid the biggest mistakes when expanding globally. Full video’s in the comments if you want to hear more.

The recent public markets 𝗦𝗮𝗮𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹𝘆𝗽𝘀𝗲 was misunderstood by most people. The risk that AI labs will erase all software is not accurate. A certain type of software will survive, and in fact thrive. 

Software products that focus on how humans engage with the tool are in trouble. Apps that package a model with a pretty UI can be replicated by plugins in weeks. In the agentic enterprise, intent starts in a conversation (“Update Q2 forecast”) and the agent/AI executes it. Software that is not imbedded deeply with business-critical operations will struggle. 

The public markets assume AI labs (Anthropic, Open AI, Gemini, DeepSeek etc) win by superior intelligence. In fact, the real power lies in who controls orchestration: the workflows, data, context and decision logic of enterprise operations. If these AI labs become systems of action (owning orchestration logic and user intent), their value could multiply.

AI labs know that LLMs are a commodity, every month the "best LLM" changes. The model layer is highly substitutable, enterprises can switch LLMs easily. They are moving fast, but they need to differentiate, they need software built around their models to help consumers/businesses use their tools most effectively. 

AI labs are moving up the stack to build orchestration layers (plugins, agent ecosystems). SaaS incumbents are moving down the stack by embedding AI agents within their platforms. This creates a symmetrical race, both sides converging on the orchestration layer ownership.

Today, software orchestration is often mediated by API connections. Next, UI native agents and large action models will handle these tasks. When that happens, the only durable moat is context and decision logic, not access.

Systems of record, like Brevo, have an opportunity to thrive. They house critical enterprise data and operational context. This deep data, context, and process logic becomes the orchestration hub. The challenge: evolve quickly from being a system of record to a system of action. 

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿, 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀. 


- Is the orchestration layer the key to supporting businesses through the AI revolution? 
- How do companies transition from a "system of record to a system of action"?
- What do you think?....Curious to hear your thoughts.

For Brevo being a B Corp is not a badge. It is how we make decisions. In part, it is how we look at our AI impact. 

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁. AI runs on real infrastructure. Data centers draw a lot of electricity. Water comes into play through cooling and power generation. Data centers consume large amounts of energy. The selection of LLMs and resulting data centers being used really matter. we monitor these operational metrics, and critical decisions. ⚡️💧

𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻. Our goals are efficiency and transparency. Do less computing per outcome, run it cleaner, and prove it. Three buckets help. Model efficiency, smaller or distilled models and stronger retrieval so the model does not redo work. Infrastructure choices, time and region shifting to cleaner grids, and more efficient hardware and cooling designs. Accountability, as a B Corp we set usage and reduction targets, and we choose suppliers who align with them. 📉↘️

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗺. The answer is not to stop building data centers. It is to build with rules that protect local water and stabilize the grid. Responsible AI is a leadership choice. If you are serious about sustainability, make efficient models the default, power them as cleanly as possible, and report with transparency. At Brevo we hold ourselves to that, and we scrutinize decisions through our B Corp lens. 🌍

What else can we do? What else should other responsible companies commit to in 2026?

#BCorp #Sustainability #AI

I remember when the CRO job was pretty straightforward. And this was just a couple years ago... 

Build pipeline —> refine value messaging —> Hire great reps —> Repeat.

Lately though, it has changed a lot. Buyers show up informed. Outbounding is very difficult. Customer expectations are high, patience for mistakes is low. AI is speeding everything up. And the real pressure isn’t “do more”, it’s whether your product, sales, and customer teams actually operate as one customer-centric system. 

I’m looking forward to digging into that with Jeff Margolese  from ServiceNow at the SolutionExec Virtual Kickoff on March 4th (12:30 PM CT). If you’re anywhere near a revenue org, this shift probably feels familiar.

I’ll drop the link in the comments.

Sam Altman said AI could replace 95% of marketing work. That number hit hard for anyone in the trenches. Is it hype or reality?

AI is crushing the production stack. Ad variants. Subject lines. Product descriptions. A/B tests. Personalization at scale. All repeatable, all measurable, all fair game for automation. 

But the human layer is where AI stops. Setting goals. Balancing brand vs. conversion. Making judgment calls. Orchestrating across channels. Humans still choose the problems, design the experiments, design orchestration strategy and own the decision making. 

Is 95% accurate? Only if you ignore strategy, brand, compliance, and orchestration. AI covers production. The rest is still ours.

Jobs are shifting, not vanishing. Fewer people doing repetitive work. More need for AI-savvy strategists and operators. Entry level execution shrinks. Orchestration and oversight grow.

The skills that matter now: Orchestrating systems and strategy. Prompting, tuning, and governing models. Translating data into action. Storytelling and brand. Leading across teams and workflows. 

How do real companies get unstuck from pilot mode? They define clear outcomes. They embed AI into core workflows, not side projects. They adapt their org models, give clear ownership, and set tough guardrails.

Checklist for leaders:

- Audit what can be automated vs. steered by humans.
- Shift hiring toward orchestration and ops, not just execution.
- Track the right metrics. 
- Govern early, not late.
- Make every AI pilot count, or eliminate it.

𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: AI is the 𝘃𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲 we use to move forward. Humans own the 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. The teams that blend both will move the fastest. 🚀

I thought my network would be interested in the new Brevo newsletter....don't forget to subscribe for future updates!

Open article: Why Most Modern Loyalty Programs Actually Train the Wrong Behavior.  by Brevo • 3 min read

Why Most Modern Loyalty Programs Actually Train the Wrong Behavior.

Most leaders are translucent, not transparenct.

Translucent leadership is everywhere. You get a headline, but never the details. People squint through frosted glass trying to make sense of what's going on. They guess. They fill in the blanks. And almost always, they get it wrong.

Here's my breakdown:
Ｏｐａｑｕｅ: Decisions made behind closed doors. No context. Maximum control, minimum trust.
Ｔｒａｎｓｌｕｃｅｎｔ: Some info, but always with gaps. Team sees pieces, not the whole. They invent stories to fill the space.
Ｔｒａｎｓｐａｒｅｎｔ: Full context. The why, the tradeoffs, the risks, the timing. People don't just see the what, they understand how it all connects.

True transparency is messy. You almost never have every answer. That's the point. You're honest about what's solid, what's in progress, and what's uncertain. You let people see the real process, not just the polished version in a slide deck.

I've seen the difference. When leadership shows their work, maps out the decisions, the risks, the options, alignment is real. People get the strategy because the logic is clear. Rumors die. Speed goes up. Trust compounds.

But here's the catch: If you chase perfect clarity before you share, you share too late. That delay adds extra steps. It reduces trust. 

A good rule of thumb is to "𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘆". Don't have all of the answers. Bring people along for the ride. Be transparent, not just translucent. Clarity beats control every time.

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The Battle

Asher Mathew

Channing Ferrer

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Likes

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