Exclusive: Enterprise AI platform Glean launches new global partner program

VP of global partnerships Zubin Irani wants partners to build their business around this new program.

Enterprise AI platform Glean has launched its first global partner network to help partners and their customers with their AI journey.

Zubin Irani, Vice President of Global Partnerships, Glean told CRN Australia the way companies are adopting AI has changed pretty quickly.

“They’re moving beyond individual experiments and starting to think about how AI fits across their business - how it connects to their systems, how they govern it, and how they actually get people using it,” he explained.

“Partners are already playing a big role in that work. We’ve spent the past year building out those relationships and the resources to support them.

“The Glean Partner Network brings that together into one program and gives partners more ways to work with us, whether that’s selling Glean, helping customers deploy it, building integrations and agents, or supporting adoption over time.”

In this new program, partners can engage through referral, commercial, services and solutions, and technology pathways.

According to Irani there are several ways for partners to make money off the program.

“Some partners will co-sell Glean. Others will focus on implementation, integration, consulting, adoption or ongoing services. Technology partners can build connectors, agents and other solutions around Glean,” he said.

Irani explained that the company didn't deliberately build the program around one type of partner or one business model.

“A partner might start in one area and expand into others as its Glean business grows,” he said.

“We also don’t publish one standard margin because the commercial model depends on the role the partner is playing and the value that they are driving with the customer.”

The company didn’t disclose what percentage it is channel versus direct, however Irani noted that its product is rooted in partnerships.

“All of Glean starts with integrations with other core enterprise applications and SSO providers, so it is in our DNA,” he explained.

“We can build the technology, but partners power customers - by bringing relationships, industry expertise and delivery capabilities that can make a huge difference in how successfully a customer puts that technology to work.”

He said partners are also an important part of how they grow globally.

“Partners can help us reach more customers and give those customers access to expertise we wouldn’t necessarily build entirely in-house,” he said.

“We’re already seeing strong investment from the ecosystem. Partner professionals have earned more than 2,000 Glean accreditations across sales, technical and delivery disciplines.”

Irani noted that Glean we want this to be a program partners can build a business around.

“It’s not about collecting logos or creating another partner directory. We want partners to be able to develop real expertise, contribute in different ways and grow their relationship with Glean as they deliver for customers,” he said.

“Australia is an important market for us, and building a strong local ecosystem is a big part of how we support customers there as enterprise AI adoption grows.”

View of Australia

Irani called Australia an “interesting” market as there is a lot of appetite for AI.

“Companies are also asking practical questions about how to deploy it responsibly and get real value from it,” he said.

“That creates a big role for the channel. Australian partners know their customers, their industries and the local market. They can help companies work through everything from implementation and integration to adoption, skills and governance.

“That local expertise becomes even more important as companies move from trying AI in pockets of the business to rolling it out more broadly.”

Irani couldn’t disclose the specific number of Aussie partners Glean has but expects that number to grow as “more Australian organisations move toward broader enterprise AI deployments and look for partners that can help them get there”.

The biggest opportunity Irani sees in Australia is helping companies move beyond isolated AI use cases.

“That could mean helping a customer deploy Glean more broadly, connecting it to the systems they already use, building an agent or industry-specific solution, or helping employees actually adopt AI in their day-to-day work,” he said.

“There’s a lot of opportunity for partners to build businesses around that work. And for us, having strong local partners means customers can get the right expertise without everything having to come directly from Glean.”