Head of Strategic Partnerships & AI Ecosystem (San Mateo)

The AI ecosystem is being redrawn in real time. The person who wins this role won't just watch it happen. They'll be the one shaping where Delight.ai sits inside it.The CompanySendbird is on a mission to build the AI workforce of tomorrow. For over a decade, we built the infrastructure behind conversations—chat, voice, video, messaging APIs—and became the #1 CPaaS platform for in-app communications. 4,000+ brands trust us. 7 billion messages flow through our platform every month. 300 million monthly active users.We powered conversations for DoorDash, Match Group, Noom, Yahoo Sports, Rakuten, and thousands of others. We were good at what we did. Really good.We also saw it early: AI would fundamentally reshape how businesses talk to customers. The infrastructure we'd spent a decade building would become commoditized. The value would move up the stack—into intelligence, into experience, into outcomes.We had a choice: protect what we built, or reinvent ourselves.We chose reinvention.In December 2024, we made the full strategic pivot to AI-first customer experience. By February 2025, we'd launched our AI agent for enterprise CX—built on a decade of conversation data, now with intelligence on top. And in November 2025, we rebranded to Delight.ai.The name says it all. AI's real promise isn't efficiency or cost savings. It's giving customers back something they lost—the feeling of being truly understood and cared for. Not satisfied. Delighted.The ProductDelight.ai is the AI concierge for customer experience. Most AI agents forget you the moment the conversation ends. Ours doesn't. Delight.ai builds memory over time, learns preferences, and connects context across every channel—chat, SMS, email, voice, WhatsApp—without losing the thread. We're building AI that makes customers feel understood, seen, and remembered.Why Head of Strategic Partnerships & AI EcosystemThe AI platform wars are being fought at the ecosystem layer. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and AWS are competing to become the default infrastructure for enterprise AI, and the companies that secure the right positions inside those ecosystems now will compound that advantage for years. Delight.ai is already in the race. We need someone to make sure we're winning it.This isn't merely a role for someone who manages relationships. It's for someone who builds leverage, moves fast with AI tools to operationalize partnership motions, and treats ecosystem positioning the way a product leader treats roadmap.The RoleOwn Delight.ai's full ISV and hyperscaler ecosystem strategy, from AWS co-sell execution to GenAI platform alliances with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. Build the commercial engine that makes partnerships a measurable, compounding revenue driver. This role is built for someone who moves fast, uses AI to do the work of a full team, and treats every partnership as a distribution play.You might be this person if:You reach for AI tools to automate the operational overhead of partnership work: pipeline tracking, enablement, reporting, outreach.You think about ecosystem strategy the way an engineer thinks about architecture: modular, scalable, with clear interfaces between components.You know the difference between a partner that looks good on a slide and one that actually moves pipeline.You can walk into a room with a CTO, a hyperscaler field rep, and a CFO and speak credibly to all three.You get restless when processes are manual. If something is done by hand more than twice, you're already automating it.You track the AI ecosystem obsessively, not just the headline players but emerging ones, integration models, and commercial structures that are starting to win.You can point to partner-sourced or partner-influenced ARR with your fingerprints on it.You need to have:10+ years in Strategic Partnerships, Technology Alliances, or Ecosystem Leadership inside SaaS or enterprise technology.Deep hands-on experience with hyperscalers, especially AWS co-sell programs, and direct relationships with GenAI platform vendors.Technical fluency to engage product and engineering leaders, plus commercial acumen to structure and close complex partnership agreements.Proven, quantifiable revenue impact through partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline.Experience designing and scaling a global partnerships operating model, including segmentation, tiering, and performance frameworks.What you'll actually do:Define and lead ISV ecosystem strategy across AI, CX, commerce, and SaaS. Use AI tools to track ecosystem shifts and translate them into actionable partnership and product strategy for internal leadership.Expand our AWS commercial relationship and launch new ones with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and other leading GenAI platforms. Identify and secure high-impact ISV partners that extend product value and unlock new customer segments.Build partner segmentation, tiering, and prioritization frameworks. Automate pipeline tracking and reporting so your time goes to strategy, not spreadsheets.Build and operationalize repeatable co-sell motions. Align with Sales on account planning, enterprise pursuits, and vertical strategies. Own partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline and ARR with clear dashboards to back it up.Develop joint value propositions and enablement materials that drive real field adoption with SI, GSI, and VARS organizations.Partner with Marketing on joint campaigns, events, content, and marketplace promotions. Drive ecosystem storytelling and strategic announcements that elevate brand visibility and marketplace performance.What we offerWe take care of the people who build the future. Here's some of what you can expect when you join Sendbird.Medical, dental, and vision coverage, on us. Sendbird covers 100% of the premium for our employees and roughly 80% for their dependents.Generous time off. 20 days PTO, 13 company holidays, 7 sick days, 2 rest & rejuvenation days, 1 volunteer day, and your birthday off.$3,500 annual Be Your Best Self boost. Spend it on anything that helps you grow. Gym memberships, therapy, books, courses, massages, and more.Parental leave for all new parents. Time to be present for the moments that matter most.401(k) from day one. Auto-enrollment, flexible contributions, and access to Vanguard's investment platform.HSA & FSA options. Pre-tax accounts to cover healthcare, dependent care, and commuter expenses.Life & disability coverage, fully paid. Life insurance and AD&D at 2x your salary, plus short- and long-term disability at no cost to you.Pay TransparencyFor cash compensation, we set standard ranges for all roles based on function, level, and geographic location. To determine our ranges, we utilize a variety of compensation data benchmarked against similar-stage growth companies. A reasonable estimate of the current salary range for this role is $300,000 - $340,000 OTE . This range is specific to the San Francisco Bay market. We consider several factors when making final compensation decisions, including, but not limited to, location, skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs, which may cause your specific offer to vary from the amount listed above.Flexible Work PolicyWe offer a flexible work schedule at Sendbird. We also value collaboration and relationship building. With those values in mind, we require all employees to gather with their team in the office three days per week as a minimum. Some of our roles require a more frequent in-office schedule. Please work with your manager to understand the office time requirements for your position.What diversity and inclusion mean to usThere is no such thing as a perfect candidate, and the best employees come from a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and skill sets. Sendbird is a place where everyone can learn and grow. We respect, promote, and encourage diversity for equal employment opportunities, and encourage you to apply if this role excites you.Why SendbirdWe spent ten years building the infrastructure the world's best apps run their conversations on. Now we're moving up the stack into AI, memory, and outcomes that actually matter to customers. Real scale, real data, and a strategic bet that hasn't been fully priced in yet. If you want to own something that matters, this is the place.Sendbird is building the AI workforce of tomorrow, and we hire that way too. Learn more about our interview process, how we evaluate candidates, and the role AI plays along the way.