Partnerships Unraveled
The weekly podcast where we unravel the mysteries of partnerships and channel to help you become more successful.
Partnerships Unraveled
Mary Beth Walker - Scaling AI Adoption Through Partner Enablement
In this episode, we sit down with Mary Beth Walker, VP & Global Head of Partner Experience and Enablement at HP, to explore how one of the world’s largest tech companies is turning curiosity into capability across its channel.
Mary Beth shares how HP is approaching AI not just as a tool, but as a cultural shift, rewiring how partner teams think, work, and deliver value.
We unpack HP’s AI masterclass, the lessons transferred from its sustainability success via the Amplify Impact program, and why “winning the hearts and minds of partner reps” is now a competitive advantage.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- How HP is embedding AI into its global partner enablement strategy
- Why culture change, not compliance, is the foundation of adoption
- The three-step messaging framework HP uses to help partners believe in AI
- The traits HP now prioritises when hiring for the AI-powered future
- How reverse mentorship and generational collaboration are shaping HP’s partner model
This is a must-listen for channel leaders navigating the AI era and looking to drive enablement that sticks.
Connect with Mary Beth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-beth-walker-a276b2184/
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Welcome back to Partnerships Unraveled, the podcast where we unravel the mysteries about partnerships, and channel on a weekly basis. My name is Alex Whitford. I'm the VP of Revenue here at Chanext. This week I'm very excited to welcome our special guest, Mary Beth. How are you doing?
Speaker 1:Hi, it's great to be here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm excited. We've had a couple of your organization on the podcast already and we've been working our way around to you. Maybe if the uninitiated you could give us a little bit of an introduction about who you are and what you do.
Speaker 1:Sure. So I've been here at HP for about 14 years now and currently I'm the VP and Global Head of Partner Experience and Enablement, which basically consists of everything end-to-end related to partners, from strategy and programs through to enablement of partners and sales reps and, finally, the operations of everything related to partners.
Speaker 2:So just those few things, just strategy, ops, execution, global verticals Excellent. Well, to add a touch of complexity to that whole recipe, I know HP from a product, a go-to-market and operations perspective is heavily considering how AI is going to be embedded in all of it. Talk to me about how you are thinking about AI when it comes to partner success.
Speaker 1:So I think the first thing that's really important is that you know this is a technology that is so new and everybody's going to be impacted by it from stock traders to accountants to CEOs, to just everybody and what they're looking for right now from a customer base is experts and people who really know what they're talking about around AI. So it's our responsibility to make sure that our reps and partner reps are coming across as those experts, which means we really had to start at the beginning from a overall perspective of understanding of what is AI and the real fundamentals, which we developed our AI masterclass to do that as a beginning point, but then continue to build on from that. What are the use cases? Keeping them up to date on the tools, constantly feeding them new and different information so that they can bring the experiences and outcomes to customers and be able to really consult with them. And where is AI going to make a difference to them? In their environment, no matter what they're doing?
Speaker 2:And one of the things that I think is really interesting, when we talk about AI as a technology that is going to change the world, but it's also going to change our go-to-market is for you to create those experts, those evangelists. People have to use it all the time, right Now, whenever we try and make great change within a large organization. There's two sort of levers that you can pull. We can pull a process change a mandate that you use AI for 20 minutes every day or we create a cultural change a mandate that you use AI for 20 minutes every day, or we create a cultural change. How are you approaching it?
Speaker 1:So we need to do both. But we started with the cultural piece because it really is such a big change that we needed to kind of rewire people and the way that they think. I mean from a technology perspective. Our reps have been able to kind of wake up every day for the last few years and know what they're faced with and how to be that expert to their customers and partners, and that all changed. And so really creating an environment where they are able to just think differently about how they do their job, how they accomplish the things they're doing, was really important.
Speaker 1:So we started with just really making sure that people understand we want them to think differently about their job. So, for instance, we started using a proposal tool where it actually helps our sales reps to use generative AI to actually create their proposals and bids much quicker, and there's an executive summary generator that actually helps them do things with customers that used to take like eight to 10 hours that they can do now in 40 seconds. So we really needed to open their mind to be able to look at a different way to be able to do things versus how they were used to. And the word manual should basically kind of be banned from everyone's thinking, and so you know, being able to do that certainly was part of it, but creating that environment where people feel empowered that way is really the first step that we felt like we needed to take.
Speaker 2:I couldn't agree more. I think when AI is adopted by leadership and pushed down, I sort of sit there and go. This doesn't make any sense because we all understand from a business fundamentals perspective, they have the sort of granular understanding of day-to-day operations, right. That's why we have feedback, um, and so for us on high to sort of decide the scope of a own, when actually those nuances that a rep in france is going to understand, hang on, we could use it this way. Creating that feedback loop and that sort of cultural buy-in is so important. Maybe you could share a story of where you've seen that work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, I think that it's really important to have your teams understand it's. It's learning for you too, and it isn't just them, and you know, even like the vulnerability around that. So I remember a few months ago being in a meeting with my team where I said is agentic really a word or did you guys just make that up, you know? And they kind of laughed about it, but it just kind of showed that like I'm learning along with you guys I don't really know what that is right now and I need to go figure it out. And you know how we use it and what it means. And now we use it all the time. You know it's all about. You know everything around agents and what we can create agents for, but really just showing that you're along for the ride, that it's not something that you just expect them to do and you're going to be just kind of pushing them behind them to make sure that they're doing it.
Speaker 2:And so when we look at sort of the culture that you're building, the people that you're building, there's some level of sort of humility and intellectual curiosity there, right to approach AI Right.
Speaker 1:Absolutely there is.
Speaker 2:One of the things that I think is interesting is there's a running joke. Now, right, every brand is an AI brand and we're sort of filtering between the ones that really are AI brands and the ones that you know have put a chatbot on a piece of technology that doesn't really make sense. My fridge doesn't need to have AI. How are you making sure that partners understand that AI really is at the core of what HP thinks, believes and is moving forward with?
Speaker 1:So I think that there's a couple of things.
Speaker 1:First of all, you know we're really well positioned based on our portfolio across printers, pcs, services, peripherals, and the way that we make all of those things available to partners and customers.
Speaker 1:That gives us the ability to really reach a broad range of customers and the kinds of needs that they have.
Speaker 1:The way that we started with partners is kind of a three-step YAI, yhp and then YHP and AI together and AI together and being able to really talk about things that have relied on us forever around the performance of machines that we produce and devices they can get from us and solutions we provide, but also being able to talk about new areas such as security, where in the past we weren't always known as a security company, but the security that our devices provide to customers as they're going through their AI experience and looking at what the implications of all of that are, are something that's really a differentiator and can set us apart. So really being able to first of all again make sure that the partner reps are believers and they know it and understand it and can take those differentiators out to customers and show them why the HP that they've relied on for many things in the past is also the HP that they can rely on as we move into AI is really an important distinction that we need them to be able to make.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think what's really interesting about, whenever there's this huge technological shift, you gain such brand equity by being thought leader right. So I can imagine where traditionally it's been a conversation around why HP is such a great product, such a great brand, why the broad portfolio is going to make a real difference to customer experience. Now it's almost like educate people on what's going to happen with AI and then your brand follows in on that educational piece.
Speaker 1:You're absolutely right and that's why I think being perceived as that expert is so important and we need to make sure that that's happening. I also I have a saying a lot that I say that whoever wins the hearts and minds of the partner reps wins, because if we're the ones that are helping them learn and understand what customers can do when they go out to show those things to customers, HP is the equipment that they're going to use to do that. They're the company and the brand that they're going to talk about when they do that and I think that it just all comes together.
Speaker 2:you know very nicely, you know from end to end so I know you uh relaunched or rebuilt the hp's amplify impact program uh, really focusing on how you can take action on sustainability, but now you're bringing a similar approach to how you tackle take action on sustainability, but now you're bringing a similar approach to how you tackle AI. Talk about some of the key lessons from building Amplify Impact and how you've managed to make that transition across to AI.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So there's a couple of things. First of all, when we did Amplify Impact, the whole notion of you know what does sustainability mean to customers and how do we talk to them about it was new, just different kind of scale than AI right now, but it was still new and it was something different. And so we said look, we have the ability to take the investments that we've made at HP into training our reps and our people on sustainability and leverage that for partners who can't all afford to do that and don't all have the you know, the wherewithal to be able to create the kinds of assets that we do to help. So the first thing that we did was said let's, you know, put together a program that helps, that it creates a roadmap for partners to be able to look at what they need to do from a sustainability strategy, why it's important and then how to actually take practical steps to get there.
Speaker 1:And we realized over time that the partners that had become members of the program we were seeing better sales results from them than those that weren't. So when we got to AI, we said look, you know, the fundamentals are the same, the kinds of problems that we're trying to solve are the same. So we just kind of did the same thing. We broke it down into let's start with awareness and education. Then let's make things available to the partner reps, where they can always come and get new and updated materials, use cases, lessons, tools, those kinds of things and replicate the recipe that worked really well that we used around sustainability, and I think that we'll use it for other things in the future as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think again we sort of touched on becoming a thought leader to your customers. Yeah, I think again we sort of touched on becoming a thought leader to your customers. But becoming a thought leader to those partner reps in terms of that sustainability movement, that's almost a while. It's very different technology, very different message. It's a cookie cutter process.
Speaker 1:Right, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I'd love to spend the next five minutes talking about one topic, because I think it's a topic that's front of mind for the leaders that are listening to this program. Helping that organization attack attack, be enthusiastic, maybe be less fearful about the AI adoption process is fundamentally, I think, one of the core responsibilities of senior channel leaders today. Talk to me about a key trait that can make that much easier to sort of bring the masses with you.
Speaker 1:So the first word that comes to mind is curiosity and really helping people to just feel like they're in an environment where let's rethink about everything we do and the way that we do it, and not just in ways where we're creating incremental change you know, step function changes to things but really creating a brand new way of doing things that lead to outcomes that need to be achieved, and there's no idea that's too big or too crazy.
Speaker 1:I need to really encourage people to take risks and make it be a safe environment for them to do that.
Speaker 1:I think that a sense of community around that is important, so being able to create forums where people can come together and talk about things they've learned or that they need to learn, and have others learn from that and, as we talked about a little bit earlier, participate like really be part of all of that, don't just direct other people to do it and I think the combination of the curiosity that helps people to get outside of what they're doing and then ingenuity of really looking at how can we do something completely different and completely better and be able to really take that to the next level, and one of the things that's really important about it is the whole notion of you know the fear of a lot of people that we're going to do something, that their jobs are going to go away, and you know, having run the operations piece of our organization, that's really, you know, a real fear for a lot of people and being able to make sure that you create a vision of the future that's inclusive of them in different ways Not that we're trying to eliminate them, but eliminate the things that they do in their job that are mundane, that are not adding value to the way that we deliver outcomes to customers and partners and be able to use their skills instead in ways that actually generate demand and actually create more use for our products.
Speaker 1:I think that you know kind of making sure that you're creating the environment where people feel like it's safe to do that and they're encouraged to do it and they have ways to be able to be recognized for it. You know, having all those things come together, I think to me is the most important thing to being successful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that. I think it's rare. I often speak to leaders and they tell me no, no, we're never replacing anyone or we're not getting rid of any jobs. And I sort of sit there and I look at them and I go that can't be true. Like, the whole function of AI is that we get to replace a lot of these mundane activities. What you're saying is well, that frees up the opportunity to grow and drive more value elsewhere.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2:And so intellectual curiosity being a sort of key trait as a leader, that's important. Does that change how you hire in this new sort of AI economy?
Speaker 1:Oh, I think that it really does and I think that you need to really test for people's growth mindset, for their willingness to take risk, for their ability to really think differently. Versus, hey, I'm an expert and you're hiring me because I know what I'm doing and I'm an expert at what I do is really different. And looking at how they get to that and what's important to them and the way that, even the way they socialize with people, is really much different in the way that we look at hiring now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, one of the things that I've sort of been fascinated by. When I look at the sort of shift that's happening. I think there is a part of me that sits there and goes I'd hate to be 17 right now, right when you haven't generated any experience or any skills yet and a lot of those mundane activities are being done by AI. But the other part of me maybe the slightly more optimistic part of me says oh God, I hate to be 35. That's actually the scariest place to be, because there's going to be all these 17-year-olds who are AI natives. They've only come in with that understanding of the technology, which is shifts and shifts, and shifts.
Speaker 1:How much of an opportunity is it for those new people coming into the workforce? Absolutely, they think completely differently and we need to embrace that and take advantage of it and make sure that the people who are 35, 45, 55, regardless, are able to like, integrate with that thinking and take advantage of it and, almost you know, look at reverse mentorship in a lot of ways to be able to really learn from them and be able to adapt to some of the ways that they think.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's actually presents a real challenge and opportunity for leadership. Right, because I think pairing those different backgrounds, different demographics, different talents together actually becomes more important. Right, you can have the 21-year-old, who is AI native, doesn't have enough experience in decision-making capabilities, always make accurate decisions, so how do you pair them together? Is that something that you're proactively looking at to sort of foster that collaboration?
Speaker 1:Well, I think that you know, it's really interesting that we could probably spend a whole other hour talking about, but it really brings to light kind of the whole focus around how people work and going back to the office and whether people work remotely and kind of the mix of those two things, because I feel that there is a certain amount of that integration and learning from each other that really happens when you're together at a much greater level than when you're talking to each other on Zoom or, you know, doing it in a virtual way, which can still be effective and is in a lot of circumstances. But there's nothing that can be replaced with sitting down for a cup of coffee with somebody or in a meeting and just learning about something that they're doing or the way they're thinking about things in much different ways. And I think that it's something that a lot of corporations are struggling with, what that balance is right now. But I think it's really important balance that we try to strike.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's actually. I do a lot of mentorship for sort of new entries into sales and that's the first piece of advice I give them, which is don't take a work from home job, it doesn't matter, I don't care Like your rate of learning is so slow, because I remember the best. Some of the best advice I ever got was leaning over, hearing how people spoke. How did they handle that objection? And I used to work for Zoom. I've sold video for years and years and years. I think it's wonderful technology, but nothing beats the office.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, I agree.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Well, Mary Beth, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom today. There's one more bit of advice that I need from you, which is we always ask our current guests to recommend our next guest. Who did you have in mind?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So the person that I think would be awesome for you to spend some time with is Teresa Carragal. She's the CEO of a company called Achieve Night. She's worked with partners and partnerships for years and years. We met each other a long time ago and she's a person who does two things incredibly well. One is bringing people together to learn from each other and the importance of how partnering has a human aspect to it, and also to be able to really see what's happening across many industries, where the common threads are what the trends are, what's working and not working, and I think that she'd just be a really, really cool person for you to have on the show.
Speaker 2:I'm really excited to have her on, and thank you again, mary Beth, for sharing your wisdom. It's been awesome.
Speaker 1:Thanks for having me. It's been great, thank you.