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04 Build: AI and Data Platform Alliance Sprint
An announced partnership is not an alliance. A joint motion the platform’s field runs is.
A 90-day sprint that builds the joint go-to-market behind one data platform or AI model platform alliance: a consumption story, a validated integration and listing, joint accounts, and plays the platform’s field can run.
- Length
- 90 days, one platform
- Format
- With your team and the platform’s partner team
- You get
- Consumption model, listing live, joint accounts, first co-sell opportunities
- Best for
- A platform partnership with no joint go-to-market
The situation
In 2026 Databricks, Snowflake, and the AI model platforms rebuilt their partner programs around consumption. Partners earn tier placement, field attention, and marketplace commitment drawdown by growing the platform’s compute, credits, or tokens.
Many AI and data companies announced a platform partnership and then saw little happen: no plays, no joint accounts, no field awareness, and no consumption story. A partnership that cannot show its consumption impact gets a logo on a partner page and little else.
By day 90
- A signed platform priority decision with a consumption model: how each joint customer grows the platform’s compute, credits, or tokens.
- A joint value proposition and reference architecture, published for the platform’s field.
- Validation submitted and one listing live in the platform’s marketplace or directory.
- 25 to 50 joint accounts agreed with the platform, field enablement held, and the first co-sell opportunities tracked.
Never promised
Platform decisions are tracked and pushed, never promised.
- Platform-sourced revenue.
- A tier upgrade, an award, or a keynote or summit slot.
- Platform investment, funding, or development funds.
- Completed validation where the platform reports one to two quarters and the build has not started.
- A hire date for the permanent partner leader.
Signature outputs
- Platform Priority Decision
- Which platform first, scored on seven criteria, with the consumption model that makes the case to its field.
- Joint Value Proposition
- The customer problem, the joint solution, the consumption impact, the proof, and the reference architecture.
- Integration and Validation Plan
- The path to the platform’s validation and listing, with owners and dates.
- Joint Account Map
- 25 to 50 named accounts with owners on both sides.
- Co-Sell Play Kit
- Plays, talk tracks, commitment drawdown guidance, and a field one-pager.
- Alliance Scorecard
- Monthly measures shared with the platform’s partner team.
How it runs
| Phase | Deliverable | Owner | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thesis | Platform choice and consumption modelAccount overlap, program terms re-verified, consumption model, platform scoring, Platform Priority Decision. | Henry Advisory with the CEO | Weeks 1 to 2 |
| Build | Value proposition, validation, listingJoint value proposition and reference architecture, validation submitted, listing submitted, account mapping with the platform. | Henry Advisory with product | Weeks 3 to 6 |
| Activate | Field enablement and joint accountsEnablement with platform field leaders, joint account planning, Co-Sell Play Kit in use, opportunities registered. | Henry Advisory with sales | Weeks 7 to 10 |
| Prove | Joint pipeline reviewJoint pipeline review with the platform, joint content or event, Alliance Scorecard baseline. | Henry Advisory with the partner owner | Weeks 11 to 12 |
| Hand off | 12-month alliance planThe 12-month plan, the open opportunity list, the platform contact map, and the partner leader search status. | Henry Advisory with the sponsor | Week 13 |
With the platform
An alliance that runs through a single partner manager stops when that person moves, so the sprint builds at least three relationships on the platform side: the partner manager, a partner solutions architect, and regional field leaders. One platform’s account data is never shared with another, and introductions run through the client’s own partner relationships. One platform per sprint; a second platform is a second sprint.
What it takes
- Sponsor
- The CEO or CRO, 1 to 2 hours a week, with the CTO or head of product committed.
- Product and engineering
- 4 to 8 hours a week in Weeks 3 to 8 for validation, the listing, and the reference architecture.
- Sales
- A sales leader and 2 to 4 account executives for planning and enablement.
- Marketing and RevOps
- Product marketing for joint content; RevOps for partner fields in the CRM.
- Starting point
- From the Partner Revenue Diagnostic, or directly with a Fit Check inside Weeks 1 and 2. Entry conditions: an announced or signed partnership, a working or near-working integration, at least 10 shared customers or 50 overlapping target accounts, an engineer with dedicated time, and willingness to list.
Proof
Built a managed AWS business from one customer to $1B ARR, as AWS’s #1 global MSP partner.
Grew partner-influenced revenue from 3% to over 40% of regional revenue.
Built partner organizations from zero more than once; most recently after an acquisition, 5 to 23 people in two quarters, 166% of Q1 forecast.
Ends with
Every engagement includes the role specification for the permanent partner leader. The build engagements add hiring support inside the engagement window; the Fractional Head of Partnerships runs the full hiring process.
Materials
The two-page executive summary is free to download. The full offering guide covers the method, the weekly plan, sample outputs, and terms, and is sent on request.
Next step
Start with a working session.
A working session on your platform partnership: the consumption story, and what a 90-day sprint would need to deliver.