Cloud ISV Partnership Lead

1. About Airtel Cloud

India has a large Cloud market estimated at $22Bn for year 2024 and growing at 17% CAGR with Cloud spends becoming an increasingly larger % of our customers IT spends. Customers have seen huge gains both on Performance and well as Cost-optimization by actively managing their Cloud strategy and adopting a Multi and Hybrid cloud approach. Airtel Cloud was launched to address the gap in the current market. Airtels core strengths on Network & Security are tightly integrated a part of our cloud offering. We have also leveraged Airtels brand trust, enterprise relationships, and partner ecosystem to strengthen the positioning and adoption of Airtel Cloud. Airtel cloud is a Telco-grade Cloud -Built in India, for India. It is a fully sovereign & regulated offering, built with best technology integrations promising maximized performance. It is built to address Indias regulatory, performance, and cost-efficiency needs. Tailored to handle 140 crore transactions per minute for Airtels own use in India, this cloud platform is now being extended to meet the ever-evolving needs of businesses in India. Hosted on next-gen sustainable data centers, with Gen-AI based provisioning, and managed by 300 certified cloud experts, the highly secure and reliable. Airtel cloud will offer the complete stack to our customers- IaaS, PaaS offerings, Observability, a Cloud management platform for customers to manage their Hybrid & multi-cloud environments; and Cloud security posture management across their clouds. This will be complemented with Advisory, Cloud analyzer, Data migration & Professional services from Airtel. With this product launch, we intend to become a part of our customers cloud journey and become a one stop shop for our customers across Connectivity, Network, Security, CPaaS, IOT & Cloud. We are looking for a high performing team of motivated individuals who will help us forge our growth story.

Role Overview

As Lead ISV Partnerships, you will be responsible for building, scaling, and managing Airtel Clouds Independent Software Vendor (ISV) ecosystem to create differentiated, industry-relevant cloud services and solutions. This role is critical to expanding Airtel Clouds value proposition beyond core infrastructure by integrating best-in-class software products across domains such as security, data, analytics, AI/ML, observability, DevOps, industry platforms, and SaaS solutions.

You will define the ISV partnership strategy, onboard and govern partners, drive joint solution development, and enable go-to-market execution in close collaboration with Product, Engineering, Sales, and Solution Architecture teams. The role combines strategic thinking, ecosystem building, and strong execution capabilities in a high-growth cloud business.

Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities

Define and execute the ISV partnership strategy aligned to Airtel Clouds product roadmap, target industries (BFSI, Government, Enterprise, SMB), and growth priorities

Identify, evaluate, and onboard strategic ISVs across key solution areas such as security, databases, analytics, AI/ML, DevOps, observability, industry platforms, and sovereign-compliant SaaS offerings

Own the end-to-end ISV lifecycle including partner sourcing, due diligence, commercial structuring, onboarding, certification, and ongoing relationship management

Drive co-creation of cloud services and bundled solutions by working closely with Cloud Product, Engineering, and Solution Architecture teams

Establish technical and commercial integration models including marketplace listings, reference architectures, joint SLAs, and support frameworks

Enable go-to-market success through joint value propositions, sales playbooks, pricing constructs, and sales enablement for Airtel Cloud sales and PSS teams

Partner with Sales and PSS teams to support large deals, solutioning, and customer pitches involving ISV-led solutions

Track and govern partner performance through defined KPIs including pipeline contribution, revenue, solution adoption, customer success, and partner satisfaction

Lead commercial negotiations covering revenue share models, licensing constructs, bundling, and long-term strategic agreements

Ensure ISV offerings meet Airtel Cloud standards for security, compliance, data sovereignty, performance, and regulatory requirements

Represent Airtel Cloud externally in ecosystem forums, partner events, and industry engagements to build Airtels credibility as a strong cloud ecosystem orchestrator

Skills and Competencies

Technical Competencies

Strong understanding of cloud platforms (IaaS, PaaS) and ISV solution landscapes

Experience with SaaS, cloud marketplaces, and partner-led solution models

Knowledge of cloud security, compliance, and data sovereignty considerations (especially for India)

Ability to structure complex commercial and partnership models

Experience working with hyperscalers, cloud OEMs, or large ecosystem-driven platforms preferred

Behavioural Competencies

Strategic Thinking, Influence and Collaboration, Navigating Change, Customer Obsession, Commercial Acumen and Negotiation Skills

Qualifications

1015 years of overall experience with at least 57 years in technology partnerships, alliances, or ecosystem roles within Cloud, SaaS, or Enterprise Technology companies

Proven track record of building and scaling ISV or technology partner ecosystems

Experience working with enterprise and government customers preferred

Bachelors degree in Computer Science; MBA preferred