{"id":20667,"date":"2026-04-28T21:24:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T21:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/20667\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T21:24:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T21:24:24","slug":"why-partners-are-betting-on-google-instead-of-microsoft-google-cloud-programs-head-explains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/20667\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Partners Are Betting On Google Instead Of Microsoft Google Cloud Programs Head Explains"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018There is nobody else, literally, that can go toe to toe with Google in terms of what we can bring to partners of all dimensions,\u2019 says David Smith, Google Cloud\u2019s global head of partner programs and a former longtime Microsoft executive.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

David Smith spent nearly 27 years at Microsoft before becoming Google Cloud\u2019s<\/a> new global partner program leader this year with huge hopes to elevate agentic AI opportunities<\/a> and sales for Google\u2019s 120,000-strong channel ecosystem.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is nobody else, literally, that can go toe-to-toe with Google<\/a> in terms of what we can bring to partners of all dimensions,\u201d said Smith, Google\u2019s head of partner programs, in an interview with CRN. \u201cGoogle is one of one on the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Google Cloud not competing with partners on service delivery and its end-to-end technology stack to Google\u2019s new $750 million partner fund and new Google Cloud Partner Network<\/a> program, Smith said Google is ahead of rivals like Microsoft when it comes to elevating channel partners in the AI era<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoogle built [the Google Cloud Partner Network] literally at the infrastructure level, fueled by AI, and we have this vision to make it and enable it to be the most agentic partner program available to any partner,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

[Related: Google Cloud Next: 5 Biggest Gemini, TPU, AI And Partner Takeaways<\/a>]<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing things to enable partners to maximize their earnings potential. We\u2019re doing things to seamlessly bring forward the partner capability and their superpowers to customers and to our field teams,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

Google Cloud\u2019s New Partner Program Head Comes From Microsoft<\/p>\n

Smith started at Microsoft in 1998 until joining Google in late 2025. He was named Google Cloud\u2019s channel chief and global head of partner programs last month.<\/p>\n

His last executive role at Microsoft<\/a> was vice president of worldwide channel sales.<\/p>\n

Smith has also held top Microsoft positions over his tenure including vice president of U.S. partners; vice president of worldwide SMB sales; and general manager of Microsoft\u2019s worldwide SMB sales.<\/p>\n

Mountain View, Calif.-based Google Cloud launched a new partner program in 2026, the Google Cloud Partner Network, shifting how the $71 billion cloud company<\/a> financially rewards and works with channel partners, including new tiering and a competency framework.<\/p>\n

In an interview with CRN, Smith sheds light on Google Cloud\u2019s partner strategy, revamping its programs on a \u201cmonth-by-month\u201d basis to accommodate new capabilities, and how Google\u2019s dedication to channel partners is at the top of the pyramid.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no meeting I\u2019m in at any level of this company I\u2019m at now that does not gravitate at some point quickly towards, \u2018How can we do more with partners? How can we invest in the channel? How can we get some more direct feedback on how we can accelerate their agentic transformation?\u2019\u201d said Smith.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Why should partners bet on Google versus your competitors like Microsoft?<\/p>\n

What partners are telling me about what they\u2019re most energized about Google falls into three categories: One, it\u2019s the AI innovation across this vertically integrated full stack.<\/p>\n

The news at Google Next\u2014from silicon and this advancement with the TPU eighth generation, through security, the data later, all the way up to the models. There is nobody else, literally, that can go toe to toe with Google in terms of what we can bring to partners of all dimensions.<\/p>\n

Literally, Google is one of one on the planet.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m talking ISVs, SIs of all sizes and capabilities, as well as some of our big important scale partners.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s really hitting them [is] not only the innovation but how we\u2019re bringing much more precision to how we invest in their success.<\/p>\n

One of the things that\u2019s critical is building a durable ecosystem that can build profitable practices with Google and ultimately deliver on these customer outcomes.<\/p>\n

The example of that is the $750 million investment fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Talk about Google\u2019s new $750 million partner investment fund.<\/p>\n

If you break it apart\u2014it hits on all the really important dimensions of how a parter needs to build scale, grow and optimize their agentic practice.<\/p>\n

It covers every one of those spaces. Some examples [are] there\u2019s partners who are literally bringing their customers into some of the side meetings along with the Google sales teams to really bring it to life.<\/p>\n

We are able to optimize with our ecosystem and co-sell at scale with them.<\/p>\n

The $750 million has been invested in ensuring that we do large-scale training and enablement.<\/p>\n

Investments in presales and post-sales, and investment in engineering collaboration where our FDEs [forward deployed engineers] will work together with partners to do hands-on workshops with them so they\u2019re able to build their own FDE practices.<\/p>\n

What else makes Google Cloud\u2019s partner strategy different from its cloud rivals?<\/p>\n

I am thrilled about the progress and the announcement they did just a few months ago around the Google Cloud Partner Network.<\/p>\n

Google built [the Google Cloud Partner Network] literally at the infrastructure level, fueled by AI, and we have this vision to make it and enable it to be the most agentic partner program available to any partner.<\/p>\n

How it\u2019s coming to life has things like really being vested, for example, in proactive AI-generated statements of work.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re doing things to enable partners to maximize their earnings potential. We\u2019re doing things to seamlessly bring forward the partner capability and their superpowers to customers and to our field teams.<\/p>\n

One of the things that we\u2019re working on is this concept of 90-day agentic transformation sprints through the Google Cloud Partner Program.<\/p>\n

Rather than an annual cadence of innovation and bringing value to the ecosystem, we\u2019re going to be tireless in fueling that program.<\/p>\n

For example, in the news around competencies [we] can really help partners skill up to be just amazing drivers of transformational outcomes with customers. I\u2019ve seen the road map.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s literally going to be a month-by-month basis in terms of what we bring in terms of capabilities to the ecosystem.<\/p>\n

\"Cloud<\/p>\n

What are some key areas where Google is more channel-friendly or has a leg up on the competitors\u2019 channel ecosystem?<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a couple of things. We don\u2019t compete with our partners on service delivery.<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s here to support and leverage the partners \u2018practices that they\u2019re investing in.<\/p>\n

This is a big deal. We\u2019re not here to replace it.<\/p>\n

I do think that this open cloud is a massive differentiator. The stats about the amount of businesses that Google has that are over 1 billion users, or 2 billion users\u2014like Google is the definition of scale in open cloud.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s no other hyperscaler on the planet that really comes close at this point.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an amazing stat that 95 percent of the top 20 SaaS companies in the world are building on our infrastructure today. They\u2019re doing that for a reason.<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s not resting.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re almost taking a daily mindset to: \u2018How can we do more? How can we innovate more?\u2019 And ultimately, it\u2019s there to seize this great opportunity of driving great customer outcomes and serving customers. Channel partners in our ecosystem are going to be at the center of it.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Is there anything learnings from Microsoft\u2019s channel world that you\u2019ll be bringing to Google?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m excited to be a part of this transformation of the channel to really seize this agentic moment that\u2019s in front of us.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a unique time in history.<\/p>\n

Every meeting I\u2019m in with senior leadership at Google is one where we talk about investing in partners; how do partners seize this moment with us; helping deliver great customer outcomes; and thinking about this opportunity to be the great provider across the platform, really lighting it up with use cases and change management, and really enabling humans to really be at their best within organizations.<\/p>\n

For me, it\u2019s just to lean forward and really seize the moment.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m excited. Look, we have a foundation at our back, and we\u2019re leaning forward, building on all the strong work that the teams have done.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not slowing down. Google has a lot of momentum. We\u2019re in a position of strength, and we\u2019re determined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018There is nobody else, literally, that can go toe to toe with Google in terms of what we…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20668,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[24,405,407,25,420,7829,14492,9958,402,403,223,320,7828],"class_list":{"0":"post-20667","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-microsoft","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-ai-agents","10":"tag-ai-infrastructure","11":"tag-artificial-intelligence","12":"tag-azure","13":"tag-azure-ai","14":"tag-channel-programs","15":"tag-cloud-channel-programs","16":"tag-cloud-platforms","17":"tag-cloud-software","18":"tag-generative-ai","19":"tag-microsoft","20":"tag-microsoft-ai"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}