Show Notes
Few companies illustrate the power of partnership better than Okta. At the heart of its cloud strategy is a deep collaboration with AWS – a partnership that’s delivered over $1 billion in marketplace transactions and continues to expand across co-sell, integrations, and AI. In this episode of Inside Partnering, I sat down at Okta’s San Francisco headquarters with Josh Greene, Area Vice President of Cloud Alliances, to explore how Okta is evolving its cloud relationships, driving measurable results, and preparing for the next wave of innovation. Josh joined Okta after five years at AWS, where he helped ISVs build and scale their marketplace businesses. “It really feels like everything I’ve done led me back to this,” he told me. “Working in channels, marketplaces, and identity – it all connects at Okta.” Building on a strong foundation Okta’s marketplace business was already mature when Josh arrived, but he quickly saw new opportunities to expand the partnership’s scope. “We had this incredible foundation,” he said. “Now it’s about unlocking other parts of value – beyond marketplace – to make the relationship even stronger.” That includes tightening co-sell alignment, deepening integrations, and using data to reveal where joint selling delivers the most impact. “When sales leaders see a higher close rate or larger deals when we co-sell with AWS, they might not need to know all the reasons why,” Josh explained. “But the evidence speaks for itself.” Co-selling with data Okta’s global cloud alliances team manages co-sell, co-invest, and co-market motions worldwide. A key focus is using marketplace and pipeline data to refine joint plays. “We have a treasure trove of information,” Josh said. “When we share opportunities with AWS, we can see which customers are marketplace-inclined and how strong the relationship already is.” That data-driven visibility allows Okta to test hypotheses – to see which use cases convert better, which campaigns perform, and where renewal rates improve. “It creates real buy-in from the sales organization,” he added. Better together stories A big emphasis for 2025 is sharpening Okta + AWS “better together” stories by industry. The team began with a small set – two each for Okta and Auth0 – covering integrations like Amazon Bedrock and Amazon Q. The next step is industry refinement: tailoring those stories for healthcare, finance, and public sector audiences where specificity matters. Customers now expect solutions aligned to their vertical needs, and AWS has re-organized its field teams accordingly. Josh noted, “If we’re not aligned internally about how we pursue opportunities, the message to AWS or customers can get watered down.” His team has focused on cross-functional alignment with field, product, and industry marketing leaders to ensure those joint use cases land. The AI wave No partnership conversation today is complete without AI. Okta and AWS are working together to integrate identity into emerging agentic AI use cases. “AI and agents are the next wave,” Josh said. “It’s like the growth of SaaS or mobile work – every company is confronting it, and it’s creating the next phase of potential for Okta and Auth0.” Integrations with Bedrock and Q are already generating pipeline and new wins. “It’s seeding use cases that are awesome, honestly,” he added. Looking ahead Okta’s cloud alliance strategy demonstrates what’s possible when data, alignment, and trust converge. The billion-dollar marketplace milestone was a headline, but Josh is now focused on what’s next: “We’ll keep growing marketplace revenue – but also unlock other parts of value from the partnership that catch up in maturity.” For anyone leading alliances or marketplace strategy, this conversation offers a blueprint – measurable value, tighter alignment, and constant innovation. 🎙️ Inside Partnering is a podcast for ecosystem builders, alliance leaders, and the people shaping the future of partnerships. Let’s build the future of partner
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