I think everyone agrees that 2023 has been both an exciting and tumultuous year spearheaded by the explosion of Generative AI and AI automation into every facet of business and personal life. The world is changing faster than ever before and so are we. To succeed, we all need to embrace change and learn as much as we can.
We gathered our resident AchieveUnite experts and advisory board members and focused on three key topics for 2024 predictions: Partnering, Leadership, and AI. My key prediction for 2024: Partnering needs to be in the DNA and fabric of every company in this next decade.
PARTNERING TRENDS
2024 as the year of “hyper focus” from both Vendors and Partners:
Vendors are feeling the squeeze of limited resources, time, and energy. Vendors will have to define their ideal partner profile and focus on the right partners, the ones that will impact mutually beneficial outcomes the most. Likewise, partners will have to define the ideal vendor profiles and focus on those relationships that are most important to their outcomes. So what does this mean? Vendors and Partners will have to get smarter about the partners they directly manage. This “squeezing” of resources is making everyone become hyper-focused on where they spend their time, resources, and energy, and work with those they trust. In a world where things are only going to get further resource-contained, and even more complex, trusted relationships will become the new currency that allows us to succeed. – Jessica Baker, Chief Program Officer, AchieveUnite
Partnering with Inspiration
The vendor/partner relationship is no longer one based on transactions. In 2024 and beyond, your partners will want and expect you to inspire them. They’ll want you to work at building strong trust and deep connections. They’ll be impressed if you can share a clearly articulated vision for your company and for the goals you’ll meet together. Fostering a purpose-driven and solutions-oriented approach will be key and will be particularly important to partners who are from the Millennial and Gen Z generations. – Gail Murray Doerr , Leadership & PQi Practice Lead, AchieveUnite
2024: The Year of the “Partner First” Strategy
More emerging tech and existing technology companies will optimize, create, and/or lean into a Partner First Strategy. Specifically, more tech companies, large and small will be embracing today’s diverse and highly capable partner ecosystem. There is a talent shortage in the industry and partners can help. –Nancy Reynolds , Senior Advisor, AchieveUnite
Partnering for Efficiency:
Vendors will be looking to achieve higher operational efficiencies with their partner programs and their partner people. On the program front, they will be looking to impact the well-known 80/20 rule, where typically, 80% of partner revenue is generated by the top 20% of “highly productive” partners. Vendors will be looking for help to increase the percentage of their partner base who move into this “highly productive” category. For these same reasons, vendors will also be looking for an enhanced ROI on their new partner recruitment and enablement efforts. On the people side, companies will prioritize ensuring they have the right individuals equipped with the necessary skills to thrive in the current partnering ecosystem. As the SaaS and Cloud buyers’ journey continues to evolve to be more self-serve and specialized, there will be a higher number of “partners” and procurement options in front of these buyers. Partner managers need to step up their hard and soft skills to accelerate relationship building and operational alignment with partners and their own internal sales and support resources. – Carmen Sorice III, Senior Consultant & Advisor, AchieveUnite
LEADERSHIP TRENDS
Change Leadership Will Be a Competitive Advantage
The pace and extent of change in our business ecosystems will likely accelerate in 2024. Leaders who have learned to navigate change, have led teams through change, and have spearheaded change initiatives will be in strong demand. Change leadership is now seen as a specific and valuable competency for managers. If you apply for a new role in 2024, expect to be asked about your experience with change during your interview. Source: Indeed Careers
Leaders as Lifelong Learners
The complex business environments we will navigate in 2024 will demand a culture of continuous learning and professional development. Many successful leaders will tell you that having a growth mindset, where you are able to challenge your assumptions and believe you have the capacity to learn from mistakes, is one of their superpowers. Leadership development programs must give leaders tools and opportunities to embrace lifelong learning, seek new knowledge and skills, and adapt to evolving trends and challenges. If your company isn’t aligned with this approach, expect your top talent to start looking for it elsewhere. Source: Rhabit Analytics
The Great Negotiation of 2024
Futurists are predicting that the tension between young workers and their managers will come to a head in 2024. Organizations need to recognize and respect their employees’ need for flexibility in the workplace in terms of work hours and days, remote work policies, and assignments. With rising costs of living, companies will see many of your younger workers holding a second job. The freelance industry is projected to swell to more than $14 billion by the year 2030, making up the largest contributor to the overall workforce. It’s time for leaders and managers to adapt to this trend and create policies that support younger employees to work flexibly and support themselves comfortably to maintain a decent standard of living in these turbulent economic times. Source: Forbes
Well-Being as a Retention Strategy
Staying competitive and leveraging the potential in your employees relies on them being happy, healthy, feeling safe, and heard. Businesses face tougher times in 2024 with reorganizations, mergers, and possible layoffs. Everyone has to do more with less, making it essential for companies to work intentionally to retain their top talent. Prioritizing well-being leads to higher employee engagement and satisfaction. To do this, create a positive and flexible work environment, lead with empathy and compassion, and create policies that align with employees’ needs and preferences. Source: Forbes
TRENDS IN AI
GenAI will continue to be a hot topic and investment area in 2024
This is true, especially for enterprise companies worldwide. While broad GenAI hype may start to plateau as the reality and feasibility of GenAI in its infancy set in, the exciting promise of GenAI will also be showcased by GenAI trailblazers and early adopters. For IT-related companies with large global partner ecosystems and with GTM plays around GenAI, they will be challenged internally and externally on how to enable their own employees as well as partners at scale on foundational GenAI understanding and on effectively positioning their GenAI solutions to customers, especially when the GenAI landscape continues to evolve rapidly. – Jim Chow , Partnership and Business Development Leader, AI21 Labs
The AI-Driven Channel
2024 will produce more AI models that are company-approved and meaningful for driving our partner relationships. AI has the potential to help us glean insights from data that has been historically locked away and the analytics that will be at our fingertips will transform how we manage partner relationships. We will finally have the opportunity to make our interactions super relevant by partner, by role and that will flow into everything we do with partners – from enablement to sales to marketing to business planning. – Jessica Baker, Chief Program Officer, AchieveUnite
Partner & Channel and AI Opportunity
There has been a rush in the wake of ChatGPT to find ways to use genAI in business – and this has placed an optimism on how AI can manage efficiency in human capital and systems. Business leaders will continue to look for ways to leverage AI for speed, efficiency, productivity, and greater accuracy. The partner vocabulary and terminology is unique and at the moment search engines like Google don’t speak our language. If you search for MSP terms to build your program the results are going to be all over the place, and there is a huge opportunity to use generative AI and bot technology to improve the partnering skillset. The one thing we do need to keep in mind though is that while AI has the potential to help people, industry, and society, leaders and partners need to carefully consider any shortcomings that these AI technologies could introduce – such as unintended bias, erroneous baseline data, or ethical considerations. – Michelle Woodward Hodges , Global Channel and Alliances Chief, Ivanti
AI Opens the Door to Micro-Learning
AI-powered tools like AchieveUnite’s Partnering Success Hub enable program participants to revisit concepts and ideas they originally covered later. Research shows that participants only retain 20% of the information they cover during a training program. Simply by asking the AchieveUnite AI Knowledge Assistant a question, this on-demand AI solution offers an iterative learning approach that goes beyond knowledge transfer because it helps participants quickly revisit, reclarify, and review new concepts, leading to long-lasting changes in retention and behavior. – Fiona Coughlan, Senior People Development Leader, AchieveUnite
Lead against your competitors with AchieveUnite Strategic Insights. Learn more today. Wishing you, your coworkers, and your families a wonderful holiday season and a very Happy New Year!
