Twilio Focuses on AI Deployment With Strategic Partners

Customer engagement platform vendor Twilio recently announced a new program within its base of global systems integrator partners to further the adoption of its AI-enabled solutions. We spoke with Kevin Wagner, vice president of partnerships, about how the program began and what Twilio plans to do next as it continues to develop its channel strategy.

New program targets GSIs already excelling in AI enablement

The company describes its first cohort of “AI Certified Partners” as a group of trusted systems integrators certified to deliver ConversationRelay, Twilio’s voice AI orchestration layer. Wagner says the certification process was a joint effort between his channel team and Twilio’s product team to bring GSIs into the fold before the launch of a product.

“What we really tried to do, and this was in close collaboration with product, is work hand in glove with the partners towards a product launch,” Wagner said. “We knew we needed to do that because we saw the demand building prior to the launch for the products, and we knew that we needed to build a foundation with existing Twilio SI partners.”

Wagner explained that the certification opportunity was offered to SIs in Twilio’s top program tier, who were identified as key strategic partners in bringing the AI voice orchestration solution to market. The SIs collaborated with Twilio’s product team to review demos and provide feedback, while also preparing to offer deployment services on the day of the launch.

“We’re engaging the partners on more opportunities, and we’re bringing them more value.

And in true partnership, they turn around and provide us more value because now we’ve got other companies out there that are engaging with customers that understand our new product suite at a deeper, more intimate level of actually building things hands-on,” said Wagner.

Wagner also notes that when partners like SIs are attached to deals, the company sees more long-term success with those customers. Now, the company has also seen the value of peeling back the curtain before a product launch to set partners up for success from the beginning.

Now, Twilio is working to identify the next round of partners to join the certification program.

“We’re working with our partner managers to put together the second cohort, and we’ve got a commitment from product to, you know, do a rinse, and repeat, if you will, for a second cohort. We’ll probably kick that off in the next 45 to 60 days and expect to run new cohorts on some sort of regular basis,” said Wagner.

Wagner joined Twilio this year to reinforce channel commitment

Wagner joined Twilio at the start of the year to further develop the company’s global channel strategy.

“My mission here is really to unlock partners as a growth lever for Twilio,” Wagner said. “Fundamentally, we think partners are a force multiplier, and I mean that across all types of partners… and I’m looking to leverage all of that and bring what I refer to as a partner-centric mindset to Twilio as we are evolving as a company from separate products into a real, unified platform.”

Twilio’s CRO, Thomas Wyatt, told Channel Insider in February that partners are a core pillar of its goals this year and into the future. Now, Wagner and his team are organized around the multiple types of partnerships within the company’s ecosystem, including SIs and resellers in addition to cloud marketplaces and ISVs, among others.

“We’re starting to do that just to get more and more of that partner motion built up and build out that ecosystem in a way that is going to set us up for long-term success,” Wagner said.

Why partners are key to driving new wave of customer adoption

Part of that focus has been inspired by what Twilio sees in the market as it works to enable organizations to embrace AI-driven solutions to their customer engagement needs.

“At Twilio, we’ve always targeted the builders as the primary customers. For many years, that meant the developers, the builders at the end customers themselves,” said Wagner. “We’re focused on expanding that target audience to also include the partners like the system integrators that are building on top of Twilio on behalf of customers.”

“One of the things we learned is that about 50% of prospective customers that come to Twilio are looking to buy, not necessarily build. And that may be an existing out-of-the-box solution, and we have ISV partners that can deliver those, or it may be a custom solution specific to the complexities and nuances of their business. And that’s where integrators, in particular, play a very valuable role,” Wagner continued.

In February, we spoke with Twilio’s CRO about how he sees the channel as an opportunity for growth. Revisit that story to learn more about his goals.