Vectra AI Appoints Chad Reese as Channel Chief: Exclusive

Security vendor Vectra AI today announced it has appointed channel veteran Chad Reese as its global channel chief.

Reese spoke with Channel Insider before the official announcement about why he joined Vectra AI and his early priorities for the company’s vast partner ecosystem.

Reese joins Vectra AI leadership to scale global partner program

Reese joins Vectra AI after working with the partner ecosystems of several leading companies, including IBM and VMware.

The company says he’ll lead Vectra AI’s global channel strategy and partner ecosystem, with a focus on accelerating growth across resellers, strategic alliances, and MSSPs.

“Vectra AI is a very channel-first company already, and that’s an exciting thing to build on,” Reese said. “My focus now is on building a more programmatic approach to how we go to market and enable our partners to succeed on a global scale.”

“Chad is a proven channel leader with a track record of building high-impact partner ecosystems that drive measurable growth,” said Derek Phillips, CRO at Vectra AI. 

“As enterprises operate across data centers, cloud, SaaS, identity systems, IoT/OT, and AI infrastructure, security teams need partners who can help them gain real-time observability and control across the modern network. As we continue expanding globally and increasing our investment in the channel, Chad’s experience leading complex transformations and aligning sales and partner strategies will be instrumental as we scale our ecosystem, accelerate long-term growth, and support partners worldwide,” Phillips continued. 

Programmatic enablement: Certifications and partner predictability

Reese told Channel Insider he has already heard positive feedback from existing partners but wants to bring a more structured approach to its relationships across the ecosystem.

“The biggest thing for me is that partners feel a sense of trust and predictability in what we’re doing,” Reese said. 

This more programmatic approach, Reese told Channel Insider, will include a concerted effort to build enablement resources, including certifications, that strengthen partners’ understanding of how to leverage Vectra AI in their services portfolio when addressing customer pain points.

“When you look at the partner ecosystem, they want to partner with vendors who they feel like they can build services around,” said Reese. 

Reese is also targeting a program that allows to partners to engage “at the level they are comfortable with,” and rewards joint investment opportunities as customers signal more demand for security platforms like the one Vectra AI offers.

Vectra AI’s channel commitment targets global expansion

Reese’s appointment is a further commitment to the channel, but not Vectra AI’s first. The company already works extensively with resellers, MSSPs, and other partner types. 

“Putting this position in place is a big statement from Vectra AI about how important the channel is to our business,” Reese said.

“My role will be to start to provide predictability and also to take in partner feedback and then turn it into programmatic resources we can funnel back to them,” Reese continued. 

While some changes will be made “quickly” to show progress, Reese said he also has his eyes set on long-term changes that will build over time. Ultimately, his focus is on leveraging existing and new partners to scale Vectra AI globally into net-new opportunities.

“I think there’s a lot of reasons to look at Vectra AI,” Reese said. “We want to accelerate our partners’ journeys and see them grow as they bring business outcomes to our joint customers.”