Keynotes · Workshops · Fireside chats

Make partnerships work beyond the announcement.

Practical talks for leaders who want partner strategy, marketing and field execution to work together.

Discuss a speaking engagement

Ghassan Lababidi

Featured talks

Clear ideas. Decisions your audience can use.

Built around the Partner Marketing Activation Playbook and experience across both sides of the ecosystem.

The Partnership Is Not the Strategy

A signed agreement does not tell your teams which customer problem to solve or why they should sell together. This talk shows how to connect a shared opportunity, a clear customer story and field ownership before adding more activity.

Audience takeaways

Define the customer problem and the value of solving it together.
Identify where executive agreement breaks down in field execution.
Use the six-stage Partner Activation System to choose the next action.

Fund Commitment, Not Habit: Treating MDF as Capital

MDF decisions often start with last year’s spending or the next event request. This talk introduces a way to assess strategic value, partner commitment and execution readiness before approving the investment.

Audience takeaways

Apply five tests before approving MDF.
Use the investment matrix to develop, accelerate, invest selectively or decline.
Agree on field ownership, follow-up and measures before funding activity.

From Announced to Activated: A 90-Day Plan

Partnership launches lose momentum when teams leave without clear priorities or ownership. This talk turns the launch into a 90-day activation plan built around customer use cases, seller readiness and evidence of progress.

Audience takeaways

Choose the use cases and accounts that deserve initial attention.
Connect the joint story, seller play and marketing plan.
Set owners, checkpoints and measures that show whether the motion is working.

Formats

Choose the conversation your audience needs.

30 to 45 minutes

Keynote

A focused perspective on one business challenge, with practical questions leaders can take back to their teams.

90 minutes

Workshop

A working session using the Partner Activation Scorecard live to assess gaps and agree on priorities.

Conversation

Fireside chat

A moderated discussion on alliances, partner marketing and ecosystem growth, shaped around the audience.

For event organizers

Speaker bio and resources.

Short bio

Ghassan Lababidi is a global alliances, partner marketing and ecosystem executive with experience across Cisco, OpenText, Databricks and Koantek. He is the author of the Partner Marketing Activation Playbook and speaks about connecting partner strategy, marketing and enablement to business growth.

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Past stages

Speaking from operating experience.

Data + AI Summit · Partner session

Speaking inquiries

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