Google Cloud Partner Program VP: AI ‘Probably the Inflection Point for Me’

Ever since news broke that Colleen Kapase would join the Google Cloud partner program, Channel Futures has anxiously awaited the chance to interview her. We finally got to sit down with Kapase last week after she joined us on stage at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo to discuss the Silicon Valley giant's channel opportunity, its rivalry with the other hypserscalers and more.

Kapase, of course, is a familiar face to partners. She has worked in the technology indirect channel since 2001, beginning with Citrix, where she spent five years. After that, she led a number of channel initiatives at VMware for 13 years before jumping to data vendor Snowflake as senior vice president of worldwide partner and alliances.

In December, Kapase moved over to Google Cloud, against which she has both competed and teamed with in her previous roles, to succeed Bronywn Hastings. She now holds the title of vice president of channels and partner programs. (Hastings is running channel efforts at UiPath, where Rob Enslin, who served as Google Cloud president for three years, acts as co-CEO.)

Of interest is that Kapase joined the MSP Summit on March 11. Kapase says she was taken with the event and its plethora of managed service providers — so much so that she has been talking up her experience with Google Cloud corporate vice president Kevin Ichhpurani.

“I don't think there is a bigger partner event,” she said about Channel Partners. “Seeing [analyst] Jay McBain and having the Canalys connection there, coming back and explaining to Kevin the size and scope, I didn’t know if I knew [you] pivoted that much. I think it helped us set perceptions in a good way. … Sometimes you’ve got to see it and be in front of it.”

In addition, Kapase got to meet some partners that either don’t yet work with Google Cloud, and want to, or that want to ramp up their interactions with the provider.

“I’ve got to be honest, I picked up a couple of new partners on my radar screen that weren't on my radar screen before,” she said. “I came out of there with actionable things to get done and relationships to build.”

On top of that, Kapase was wowed by the venture capital activity she saw at the show.

“Getting investments in some of these higher-end partners is fantastic,” she said.

In the slideshow above, Kapase talks with Channel Futures about why she chose the Google Cloud partner program over other companies; what she thinks about the provider’s AI momentum; how she plans to move the Google Cloud partner program forward; what partners are asking for from her; and more.

Note that we have edited this conversation for clarity and length.