Global AI sales play

AI & Analytics Sales Play – NetApp

Global Go-to-Market | 400+ customers | 2 MVP launches | 30% pipeline growth

When AI Became a Race—and Alignment Became Survival

In early 2023, the tech world went from AI curiosity to AI panic. Microsoft’s $10 billion OpenAI bet added $150 billion in market value in a month. Alphabet lost $100 billion trying to catch up. The message was clear, AI was hear to stay and hesitation can cost vendors costs billions.

Inside NetApp, we felt this pressure. Our teams were running smart but separate AI initiatives and frankly, AI was an afterthought. Marketing, product, and field sellers each had part of the story, but not the same one. We risked sounding like twelve companies instead of one.

It reminded me of walking into a concert hall before the downbeat, every section warming up at once. Each team had talent, energy, and volume, but no shared rhythm. Go-To-Market efforts work the same way: until someone sets the pitch, the market just hears noise.

Turning Disconnected Effort into a Unified AI Story

I was asked to lead the global AI & Analytics go-to-market efforts and turn it into a single motion to connect every region, function, and product line behind one solution narrative. Adding to the challenge, I was tasked with scaling NetApp’s data-management strengths - mostly centered on Business Intelligence -  into business visible customer value for a new generation of AI buyers who didn’t sit in IT.

That meant changing the conversation. From “storage speeds” to “time-to-insight.” From “where data lives” to “how fast it creates answers.” I brought marketing, engineering, and regional sales leads into one operating rhythm. Bi-weekly syncs replaced silos, simplifying the message made the value obvious, and targeting verticals made our capabilities sticky and business-relevant.  

Building a Global Play in 90 Days

We launched the play in 90 days. Two MVP iterations, a full field-ready playbook, and enablement sessions that reached 68 AI-community leaders and client executives. I coordinated cross-functional teams across content, partner marketing, and enablement to make it happen.

We doubled the number of AI specialists—from 283 to 600—and equipped them with new assets: NVIDIA BasePOD with ONTAP AI, hybrid MLOps architecture, and computer-vision use cases for manufacturing and healthcare.

Page traffic to NetApp’s AI & Analytics pages surged 197% year-over-year, 90% from organic sources. The field adopted consistent messaging that positioned NetApp as #1 in AI Storage, backed by industry-leading benchmarks and 400+ customers worldwide.

Proving that Clarity Scales Faster than Hype

Within two quarters, deal volume climbed 30%, from 75 to 97 per quarter. The average deal held steady at $1 million. The play built measurable momentum, visibility, and a repeatable framework for future launches.

What We Learned

We learned that AI transformation doesn’t hinge on algorithms or infrastructure—it hinges on alignment. When every team plays from the same score, execution accelerates. Clarity scales faster than hype. And when the story holds together, AI stops being a buzzword and starts driving business.