Google Cloud ‘Applying AI To Our Whole Partner Incentive Portfolio:’ Google Exec

‘You can search incentives by product. You can search for it by country. The partners are absolutely loving that we’re showing how we can make their businesses more transparent, more readily to understand our profitability, by letting them use AI,’ Colleen Kapase, vice president of channels and partner programs at Google Cloud, tells CRN.

Google Cloud is injecting artificial intelligence into its major partner tools—such as Partner Hub and the Delivery Navigator Portal—with the goal of driving better financial transparency and efficiency for Google partners.

“We are applying AI to our whole partner incentive portfolio,” Colleen Kapase, vice president of channels and partner programs for Google Cloud, told CRN. “All of our partners will soon be able to use an AI natural language portal to see, ‘What is my total rebate? What are my total services funds? What are my total POC [proof-of-concept] funds? What are my total discounts?’”

These new AI features inside Google’s Partner Hub include the ability for partners to search timeframes, such as how much they earned compared with the previous year or quarter.

“You can search incentives by product. You can search for it by country. The partners are absolutely loving that we’re showing how we can make their businesses more transparent, more readily to understand our profitability, by letting them use AI,” said Kapase. “We’ve AI-enabled the Partner Hub.”

This revamped AI-enabled Partner Hub will become generally available in July as part of Google’s flagship Partner Advantage Program. Google Cloud recently made CRN’s 20 Hottest AI Cloud Companies list for 2024.

Google Delivery Navigator Portal Will Be ‘Run By AI’

Another key partner tool that is being AI-enabled is Google’s Delivery Navigator portal.

The Delivery Navigator partner portal combines Google’s technology and implementation methodologies designed to streamline cloud migrations and customer wins. The tool provides partners with a tailored project plan on hand anytime with technical steps, estimates, skill requirements and template-based deliverables.

“It’s a place where our own Professional Services Organization [PSO] is putting all of their own IP—how to do projects, Statement of Work writeups, talent needed on certain projects, and all the way down to the architecture plans—now run by AI,” said Kapase. “All our tooling, best practices and methodologies are all now enriched and externalized with a natural language interface.”

Kapase said the new AI-enabled Delivery Navigator portal will let partners easily find any type of content across Google’s massive product portfolio—from Google Workspace to cybersecurity tools.

“It’s a living, breathing tool, meaning partners can add content to it and our PSO will continue adding content to it,” added Google Cloud’s channel leader.

Partners need to have at least one Google Partner Specialization to gain access to the Navigator.

“Between the AI message that we’re delivering and the services orientation we want partners to have, it is a wide-open playing ground and with us providing that kind of level of AI IP,” she added. “So it’s pretty exciting what we’re doing for partners.”

New Generative AI Specialization And Boot Camps

In addition to the new AI enabled Delivery Navigator portal and Partner Hub, Google Cloud launched a new Generative AI Services Specialization for partners that demonstrate high levels of GenAI technical proficiency.

This new specialization will unlock earlier access to Google-led GenAI projects, additional funding for generative AI assessment work, and increased access to AI resources and partner marketing funds.

Lastly, Google is also offering new generative AI Delivery Excellence and Technical Boot Camps for partners. These Google boot camps will provide partners with tools, technology and expertise to enhance their businesses with artificial intelligence.

“We’ve got AI boot camps and challenge labs that we’re bringing out to cities across the globe, as well as making them virtual,” Kapase said. “So people can choose how they want to interact with them. All those are complimentary. We’re providing a very structured, but hands-on approach for folks to work with our AI technology.”

SADA CEO Weighs In On Google’s AI Push

Tony Safoian, CEO of Insight Enterprises subsidiary SADA—which is one of Google Cloud’s top global partners—said Google Cloud is investing heavily in AI-enabling its partner ecosystem so the channel can both sell and leverage AI themselves.

“There’s a tremendous amount of work for the partner ecosystem to do in AI,” said Safoian. “The challenge is, and will continue to be, the collective partner ecosystem helping our customers derive real value out of these building blocks in a way that’s measurable, that’s credible, that’s scalable, that’s repeatable, that’s secure, that’s safe and easy to operate. … That’s why Google’s giving partners their own AI tools.”

Safoian said Google’s AI goal of being a world leader cannot be achieved without its partner ecosystem being highly trained and skilled around delivering business outcomes via AI.

“It’s about creating a large volume of credible and experienced talent in the ecosystem that can help customers accomplish the things that they’re wanting to accomplish in a way that is tested, verified by Google, backed by real customer examples, and customer testimonials with Net Promoter Scores, real technical certifications—none of this is going get done unless Google creates an ecosystem of tens of thousands of very experienced engineers, analysts, AI adoption experts and business value experts who know what they’re doing,” said Safoian.

“A lot of companies internally don’t necessarily have the talent to do it themselves,” he said. “So better AI-empowering the partners is [Google Cloud’s] strategy.”