Artificial intelligence is more than a technological revolution—it’s a structural reset for how vendors and partners collaborate. The traditional model of resellers pushing products through the channel is rapidly giving way to ecosystems of developers, integrators, and advisors working in concert to deliver AI-enabled business outcomes. That shift was front and center in my recent Changing Channels conversation with Olivier Zieleniecki, Global Vice President of Worldwide Partners at MongoDB.
For MongoDB, the transformation begins with rethinking what partnership means. The company’s roots are in developer enablement—providing a flexible, document-based database that allows applications to evolve quickly and scale efficiently. As AI becomes embedded in nearly every enterprise solution, MongoDB’s partner strategy now focuses on collaboration and co-creation rather than transactions. Zieleniecki describes the partner ecosystem as a “team sport,” where success depends on shared architectures, open integrations, and joint investments in customer success.
The shift also redefines how value is measured. Instead of counting licenses or certifications, MongoDB and its partners gauge performance by the speed and impact of innovation—how quickly they can turn data into action. That requires trust, technical alignment, and a commitment to solving real-world problems, not just selling tools to solve hypothetical ones.
What’s emerging is a more agile, feedback-driven model that looks less like a supply chain and more like a living network. Partners don’t just deliver MongoDB’s technology; they help shape it. In the process, they’re assisting customers to modernize systems, experiment with generative AI, and build the data foundations for continuous evolution.
It’s a compelling look at how collaboration, not competition, will define the next era of channel growth—and why Olivier Zieleniecki joins me on Changing Channels to discuss what comes next.