Brian Quimby
Partner ecosystems weren't built for agents.I build the ones that are.
Over fifteen years at AWS, Google and OpenStore I've launched and scaled four partner organizations from zero — different programs at different companies, for products and partners with very different needs. That range means I know which partner motions an agent should run, and which still need a human in the loop. And now I get to test that every day, as the partners' voice to the Amazon Quick agentic workspaces team.
Background
Forward deployed, mostly. Scanning partner barcodes at Google Offers, standing up Samsung's video support line on Helpouts, negotiating carrier distribution for Google One, running referrals at OpenStore. Three years inside a system integrator at Accenture, seeing a partner program from the partner's side of it.
Today I'm building Channel and MSP programs at AWS.
What I'm working on now. Partner enablement was built for an era when information was scarce and partners had to be equipped before they could perform. It should be ambient instead — embedded in the work rather than credentialed in advance.
The more interesting question is what a partner program looks like when it's AI-native from day one. That's the problem I want to spend the next few years on.
Writing
Four Fluencies — an ongoing series on what partner enablement becomes when agents start doing the work.
Why "enablement" was always the wrong word, and the four dimensions that replace it.
Three stages that apply to each fluency independently, and how to pick which one to move first.
The infrastructure of co-selling is everywhere. The fluency is rarer than the industry admits.
Speaking
What partner programs have to become as AI changes who does the work, and the operational specifics of getting there rather than the strategy deck version. Catch me here:
Host of the MSP track globally, also New York, Bengaluru and San Francisco.
See the 2026 schedulePublic sector and channel program sessions across eight cities.
Watch a sessionOn AI-first and agentic partner operations.
Work
Relaunched the MSP program and manage a 40+ partner portfolio. Now architecting the transition to AI-first MSPs. Watch the fireside chat
Zero to 75 partners in six months, a third of all acquisition deal volume. View the playbook
First carrier partnership for Google One with Metro by T-Mobile, scaled to 40+ telcos and OEMs.
Investing team at Andreessen Horowitz, Senior Associate at Techstars Chicago. Coinvest with me
Cloud practice, life sciences client. Where I learned how global system integrators actually work, which turned out to matter later.
Otherwise
I studied computer science and political science at Penn, then went back for an MBA at Kellogg. Now living in NYC after stretches in Chicago, the Bay Area and Miami.
I angel invest through Gaingels, backing companies with LGBTQ leadership or a commitment to getting there, and have been working with Out in Tech's Digital Corps since 2017, building websites and tools for LGBT organizations.
⛷️ Overconfident skier. Reliable showtune duet partner. Both on request.
Get in touch
Founders
I advise and angel invest early stage, usually on go-to-market and whether a partner motion is the right move yet. Often it isn't.
Email mePartner leaders
Building or rebuilding a program, especially for AI-native products? Always up for comparing notes. Looking for the AWS MSP program? That lives with AWS.
AWS MSP Program