From mechanical engineering to global channel leadership. A career built at the intersection of technology, partnerships, and measurable business impact.
Brendan's career began in mechanical engineering in the defense industry, where precision, systems thinking, and working with advanced technology became second nature. That engineering mindset, the habit of breaking complex problems into solvable components, has shaped every role since.
After earning an MS in Industrial Administration from Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business, Brendan moved into venture capital as a technologist, evaluating emerging technology companies and learning how capital, product, and market fit intersect. That experience provided a rare vantage point: understanding technology from the builder's perspective and the investor's perspective simultaneously.
When the opportunity arose to join Microsoft, the decision was clear. It was a chance to work at the intersection of technology, partnerships, and global scale.
At Microsoft, Brendan held progressively senior roles across the Enterprise & Partner Group and the Dynamics Division. As Senior Director of Enterprise Partner Incentives, he directed a global budget exceeding $1 billion annually, designing incentive architectures that shifted partner behavior toward cloud adoption.
The results were measurable: a 161% increase in Enterprise Agreement and cloud service adoption across 421+ global partners. But the real achievement was building a framework that connected incentive spend to behavioral change rather than simply rewarding activity that was already happening.
In the Dynamics Division, Brendan built the negotiation team from the ground up following an acquisition, turning around the sales organization in a single quarter and adding millions to the bottom line through disciplined deal execution and licensing strategy.
Cisco brought Brendan in as Executive Director of the Offer Monetization Office to help modernize the company's software sales strategy and accelerate SaaS adoption through partner-led initiatives.
The role required designing entirely new enterprise sales models for a company transitioning from hardware-centric revenue to subscription and SaaS models. Brendan strengthened GSI partnerships, introduced operational efficiencies across the Americas partner organization, and built the commercial frameworks that enabled partners to sell Cisco's evolving portfolio.
The Cisco experience deepened Brendan's expertise in the specific challenge many technology companies face today: how to take a product originally designed for direct sales and make it work through a partner channel.
As Senior Director of Global Alliances & Partners at Sage, Brendan led a channel-first organizational transformation across 23 countries. The scope included developing multimillion-dollar partnerships with AWS, Microsoft, PwC, and Deloitte.
The landmark achievement was negotiating a five-year Strategic Collaboration Agreement with AWS that drove a 900% increase in partnership revenue and secured multimillion-dollar co-investments in cloud and AI solutions. Equally significant was the ISV partner ecosystem strategy that generated over $350 million in incremental revenue.
At Sage, Brendan demonstrated that the principles of partner-led growth apply at every scale: from Fortune 100 to mid-market, from single-country to global operations spanning two dozen markets.
Through The Brushton Group, Brendan has provided strategic consulting to major cloud and SaaS companies, including Microsoft and Intuit, with a focus on partner ecosystem development, sales enablement, and market expansion strategies.
The consulting work has reinforced a consistent insight: technology companies at every stage, from growth-stage startups to established enterprises, face the same fundamental challenge in building partner-led growth. The playbooks that worked for traditional SaaS do not translate directly. What works is operational experience adapted to each company's specific scale, market, and stage.
I am focused on VP, Senior Director, and Director-level roles in partner and channel leadership at SaaS, cloud, and technology companies. The specific titles vary, but the work is consistent: building and scaling the partner ecosystems, alliances, and channel infrastructure that drive enterprise revenue growth.
I am most effective in organizations that treat partnerships as a core growth lever rather than a support function, and where the channel leader has a seat at the table alongside sales, product, and marketing leadership.