Google Partners ‘Saddened’ And ‘Shocked’ By Sudden Exit Of Channel Leader

‘I’m pretty saddened by it, to be honest, because she was wonderful in her role. Single-handedly, she was a huge lift there,’ says Pythian CEO Brooks Borcherding regarding the exit of Google Cloud’s Colleen Kapase.

Google Cloud partners are “saddened” and “shocked” that their channel champion Colleen Kapase has suddenly left Google after only two years, with the departure coming amid the new Google Cloud Partner Network rollout.

“I’m pretty saddened by it, to be honest, because she was wonderful in her role. Single-handedly, she was a huge lift there,” said Brooks Borcherding, CEO of Google Cloud Premier Services partner Pythian.

“She was available at the end of the phone anytime you need any help or support,” he said. “Everything she was doing for the partner community in the last two years, it had meaningful effect on our ability to build successful partner programs with Google.”

Borcherding described Kapase (pictured) as a “fierce ally” for both Pythian and fellow Google Cloud systems integrators.

“She was definitely an advocate for Pythian and a good, personal ally of mine. So I’m certainly sad to see her leave because we had built a good, trusted relationship,” said Borcherding, whose company, Pythian, won Google Cloud’s Databases Partner of the Year Award in 2025.

Kapase led Google Cloud’s partner programs as vice president of channels and partner programs over the past two years and was key to building Google’s new partner program being rolled out this year: the Google Cloud Partner Network. Partners said she has been a beneficial leader to the channel in transforming Google’s partner incentives, rebates and deal registration strategy.

Kapase Was ‘A Tremendous Supporter Of Ours And, Frankly, All Partners’

One CEO from another award-winning Google Cloud partner described Kapase as a “fierce ally” for his company and all channel partners.

“Colleen was just a tremendous supporter of ours and, frankly, all partners,” said the CEO, who declined to be identified. “So this is just a little bit of a shocker to me.

“Whenever she had a tough update for us, she gave me a call directly,” he said.

“She just had the integrity and the caliber of person that I really enjoyed working with. I wish her nothing but the best moving forward,” the CEO said. “I’m shocked, honestly. I’m wondering just what happened?”

Microsoft Veteran Is Now Google’s Partner Program Leader

Microsoft’s former worldwide channel sales head, David Smith, has replaced Kapase.

“In his new role, David will lead the agentic transformation of our channel. Colleen Kapase has decided to pursue opportunities outside of Google Cloud,” a Google spokesperson told CRN.

Google declined to give CRN an interview with Smith.

Kapase has yet to unveil where her next job will be.

Smith spent 27 years at Microsoft from 1998 until joining Google in November 2025. His last executive role at Microsoft was vice president of worldwide channel sales.

Allen Falcon, CEO of Google Cloud partner Cumulus Global, said he’s interested to see how Smith fits into his new role.

“As a partner, I am always open to fresh ideas and directions,” Falcon said in an email.

“I sincerely hope that Mr. Smith takes time to meet with a wide variety of partners across the market segments and geographies to ensure that the current program and future changes work well for as many partners as possible,” he said.

Kapase Told CRN This Year About The Importance Of New Partner Program

Kapase played a critical role in the formation and current rollout of the new Google Cloud flagship partner program: the Google Cloud Partner Network.

On Jan. 15, the former Google Cloud Partner Advantage program was terminated to pave way for the new customer-outcome-focused and AI-powered Google Cloud Partner Network.

The $71 billion cloud company is moving away from tracking the work of traditional partner requirements—such as business plans and customer stories—toward rewarding Google partners around presales influence, co-innovation, post-sales support and customer success.

“We want this new program to matter to all of these parties: our partners, our sales teams and our customers,” Kapase told CRN in early 2026.

“We’ve been working jointly with all three of those parties to make sure that everyone can know the brand of this partner program and that it matters—that Diamond level matters; that a competency matters; that an advanced competency matters; that the first call a salesperson or customer is going to make is to our partners who can deliver customer outcomes,” Kapase said.

“That’s the focus of the program,” she said. “That’s what it should do, and that has been our North Star.”

Google Cloud generated $17.7 billion in revenue during the fourth quarter of 2025, up 48 percent year over year.

Mountain View, Calif.-based Google’s run rate is now approximately $71 billion.