As the calendar year draws to a close, I can’t help but be excited for 2024 and all that it holds in store for 8x8, its customers, its employees, and especially its channel partners.

Recently, we introduced 8x8 Elevate Cloud Compass, a white-glove service for all 8x8 Elevate partners, but there’s much more to come when it comes to our commitment to partners. This is why I’m thrilled to welcome an incredible addition to our leadership team—Michelle Paitich, as Global Vice President of Channel Sales.

Michelle Is a recognized go-to-market (GTM) operator and talented partner executive with a track record of repeated success across multiple partner types including ISVs, integration partners, SIs, and resellers. She absolutely excels as an organization builder and problem solver, and is known for building high-performance teams and partner programs while simultaneously managing operations to exceed sales goals/targets. Beyond that, she is an exceptional speaker and storyteller, and aligns perfectly to 8x8’s culture and focus on customer experience.

Michelle most recently led the global partner team for Twilio Flex and prior to that, she was instrumental in building and growing the Twilo partner team, ecosystem, and program. Before joining Twilio, she led the Salesforce ISV Partner Program and Partner Success team.

With her wealth of experience and passion for partner growth success, I’m so excited to partner with Michelle as we continue to execute 8x8’s vision and strategy and expand our innovation and presence in the contact center space. I asked Michelle eight questions so that our partners, customers, employees, and supporters can get to know her better.

1. You have built incredible partner experiences at other SaaS companies including Twilio and Salesforce. What was it that attracted you to 8x8?

Michelle Paitich (MP): First of all, I couldn’t be more thrilled to be a part of the 8x8 team! There were several reasons why I wanted to join 8x8. Number one is that 8x8 is leading the way for customer-obsessed communications and innovation, and the channel plays such a big part of driving that forward. In addition, I believe in 8x8’s leadership. When you get to work with great people, anything is possible. I’m excited to contribute.

2. How do you think your previous experience will benefit you and 8x8?

MP: I’ve built channel programs and teams from the ground up, have rebuilt them, and have accelerated growth across many different types of partners and go-to-market motions, most recently in the CCaaS/CPaaS space where 8x8 is strongly focused. I’ve seen how different partner businesses can be and how much companies vary in their approach to partnerships. I find it all fascinating and believe that those experiences will support 8x8’s continued growth in the channel and the success of our channel partners.

3. What excites you most about the UCaaS, CCaaS, CPaaS space?

MP: For all the communicating organizations do both internally and customer-facing, there’s still a gulf between the delightful experiences customers want and expect and the experiences companies are actually delivering. The basics exist, and there are pockets of impressive innovation and collaboration, but so much of delivering a consistent customer experience is still really hard and requires a long, expensive, custom build. There’s an elegance to doing this really well, and I think 8x8’s platform approach is primed to enable our current and future customers and partners. As a partner person, I see the rich and varied ways that we can accelerate our GTM motion through SIs, resellers, and integration partners.

4. What is one of the biggest challenges facing partners today?

MP: Different types of partners face different kinds of challenges, but at the end of the day, they all want to build successful businesses for their customers. They want to work with companies that solve business problems for their customers in innovative and differentiated ways. We, as technology vendors, need to make it really easy for them to do that with us. There are lots of programs for every kind of partnership, which makes a clear strategy and focused investment more important than ever. Mindshare comes when partners clearly understand the investment and timeline for ROI.

5. What are some of the biggest areas of opportunity?

MP: Partners are already part of 8x8’s DNA. That’s a huge advantage as we look to the future and one that I look forward to capitalizing on with the team. And since partners are already looking to 8x8 for its innovation, we are primed to build on that momentum.

6. What do you think makes a great channel/partner program?

MP: Partner programs look like a lot of different things, but there are a lot of commonalities among them. The best partner programs drive the corporate strategy forward through the channel in clear and focused ways. These programs make it easy to partner, easy to understand, and easy to unlock the opportunity. The best partner programs clearly communicate the opportunity for partners and how they unlock that opportunity.

7. What are you looking forward to most in this new role? What are your first 30-day plans?

MP: The most important thing for me in the first 30 days is to get to know my new teammates, our partners, and our customers. I want to immerse myself in the 8x8 culture and learn all I can about where we’ve been so that I can create the strategy for where we’re going. I can’t wait to get to know all of you!

8. What are you passionate about professionally and personally?

MP: Professionally, I am passionate about the channel. I still remember the first time someone whiteboarded the channel opportunity for me, and it just clicked. Partners, channel, building an ecosystem—it was all a no-brainer. I enjoy getting to know partners, how they think about their businesses and then working across internal teams to deliver delightful experiences, customer success, and revenue growth.

I also love coaching and mentoring people. I’m honored to have been on both sides of those relationships and value every opportunity to connect with anyone when they reach out. People who know me are never surprised to hear me talk about using data to make decisions. I love to think creatively and collaboratively with people who know things that I don’t. That’s where the magic happens—that’s what energizes me the most. Nothing gets my brain going more than a whiteboard, some sticky notes, and a room full of people all driving toward the same goal.

Personally, I spend a lot of time trail running. I live in Marin County in Northern California, and hitting the trails is great medicine for clear thinking. In fact some of my best ideas emerge between the sword ferns at my feet and the golden oaks overhead. I also love cooking, baking, and generally all things food. Much of my time with my husband and two kids is spent thinking about our next culinary adventure, and the delicious journeys we’re about to take.