A note from RingCentral’s Channel Chief

It’s a tremendous honor today to be included on CRN’s list of 2026 Channel Chiefs, just shy of a year after taking over the role as RingCentral’s Head of Channel.

While I am obviously grateful for both the opportunity and recognition, after more than 10 years of experience within the RingCentral channel organization, I also see this as an opportunity to evolve our support and help partners drive meaningful business outcomes for customers.

To that end, here are just a few of the high-level priorities I have in mind as we enter a year of stunning opportunity and possibility.

CX and AI innovations: a focus on outcomes

Last year, the most successful RingCentral partners (and Partner Managers!) were those who focused on new products like RingCX, AI Receptionist (AIR), AI Virtual Assistant (AVA), and AI Conversation Expert (ACE).

Across the board, these organizations outperformed their peers. But how?

It was due to a focus on outcomes, the tangible benefits both customers and partners see when they adopt RingCentral’s CX and AI solutions.

That’s why my top priority for this year is ensuring partners fully understand the types of use cases RingCentral can now meet, both within their own business and when addressing customer pain points.

By using these new technologies to solve complex problems and drive meaningful outcomes, partners can fulfill their role as AI transformation experts, earning more clientele and transforming their own businesses as well.

Internal AI usage, by people for people

All of this talk about artificial intelligence is moot if our people aren’t experts themselves. Which leads me to priority number two: giving our team the AI tools to provide more meaningful partner interactions.

We all have manual tasks and busy work in our jobs. But by leveraging our internal AI tools, we can cut down on many of these processes, freeing up our talented people to do their most meaningful work.

Particularly when it comes to Partner Managers, we’re establishing processes that maximize their face-to-face time in the field. With a dedicated partner support team, many of these people have spent decades establishing relationships within the channel, and that personal touch is still the hallmark of our partner program.

Resources for post-sales support

Another commonality between our top partners is that many of them focus on owning every part of the customer relationship. These service-based partners play a key role in evaluating customer needs, deploying new technology, and ensuring their customers are supported after the sale as well.

Hence, priority number three: post-sales motions. We are pouring resources into both people and processes around initiatives like our Certified Delivery Partner program, the Expert Services Desk, and channel customer support and renewals.

When a partner demonstrates the expertise to own the full customer lifecycle, they deserve more in return.

Looking forward with gratitude

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t take some time to thank the countless people who have made this journey possible. As everyone in the channel knows, our success is built on the strength of our relationships, and that remains true now more than ever.

To our 16,000+ global partners and TSDs, the many people I’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with this past decade, and my mentors both personal and professional, you are deeply appreciated.

I look forward to what this next chapter holds for all of us.

For more information on the RingCentral Reach partner program, or to become a partner today, visit https://www.ringcentral.com/partner/agent.html.

Originally published Feb 02, 2026