Proofpoint SVP global channels on helping partners with the security opportunity and AI
Stan de Boisset at Proofpoint explains to CRN Australia the opportunities he sees in the Aussie market.
One of the biggest opportunities for partners right now is around data security, this is according to Stan de Boisset, SVP global channels at Proofpoint.
In his role, De Boisset said he spends a chunk of his time speaking to partners and listening to what is going on in their role.
Speaking to CRN Australia exclusively, he said data security is a “massive opportunity” that he wants to take advantage of with Proofpoint’s partners.
“Since we do 95 percent of our business with partners, there is a massive opportunity for partners to grab it, and we're going to invest massively in helping partners grab the data security opportunity that's going on right now,” he explained.
Another opportunity he recognises is growth for Proofpoint, which partners will be pivotal in unlocking.
“My biggest action opportunity right now is how do we make Proofpoint the number one security vendor in the portfolio? That's about growth, about margin and the reality is, it's hard,” he said.
“There are many reasons why because we have to change many things in our program, create many new initiatives and create new incentive for partners.”
Looking at the Australian market, and de Boisset said he sees a “bigger” opportunity for them to go towards the lower-end of the market to grow their customer base.
"We are more known for having the top tier customers,” he said.
“We have a lot of partners around the country, around Australia, who can be able to help us develop presence with smaller customers.”
By smaller customers, he means SMBs.
He added, “With acquisitions, that might change. we're going to engage, perhaps even smaller customers in the market over time.
Using AI to protect partners
De Boisset said Proofpoint uses AI to protect their partners and end users from cyber attacks.
"AI is central to everything we do. We have a high amount of data in the industry around our customers, and we use that data to build up our biggest data model,” he explained.
De Boisset noted how they use AI to protect partners.
“It's very likely if there is a threat going on and customers have been attacked, we have a model to protect against it,” he said.
“We use AI from data protection, create a model to prepare customers every day.”
De Boisset highlighted the importance of having conversations around AI. He said if you don’t speak about AI, you are an “outsider”.
“Today, AI is everywhere in everything you do,” he noted.
“I use AI myself every day, [I’m even] thinking about how we use AI for partner programming.”
De Boisset noted that partners will be implementing AI in every facet of their organisations, from data sets to software.
“It is going to be messy for a bit of time, but I think services and product-based AI will happen more and more,” he explained.
He added that as vendors keep on releasing AI-based products, partners will have the upper hand choosing the technology they want to integrate.
“There'll be a big opportunity for partners,” he concluded.