CrowdStrike Promotes Amanda Adams To Global Alliances Leader Amid AI Push

The longtime CrowdStrike channel executive, who succeeds the retiring Michael Rogers, tells CRN that massive AI and services opportunities are ahead for CrowdStrike’s community of partners.

Amanda Adams, a longtime channel executive at CrowdStrike, has been promoted to serve as the new global alliances leader at the cybersecurity giant as it sees massive opportunities ahead in AI and services for solution and service provider partners, CrowdStrike executives told CRN.

Adams, whose new title is senior vice president of global alliances, succeeds longtime global channel chief Michael Rogers, who is retiring.

In an interview with CRN, Adams said her biggest priorities leading CrowdStrike’s partner push will include enabling the next phase of growth from unprecedented AI-driven transformation with the help of solution and service providers, including in key areas such as advisory and implementation services.

“Our partners are the ones that are having those [AI] conversations—who are leading that today with customers,” she said. “It’s an opportunity for them to build AI practices with CrowdStrike. It’s just tying in the security to what they’re already delivering.”

Adams had initially joined CrowdStrike in 2016 as a national channel manager, as the fourth channel hire for the company, which was founded in 2011. She was promoted a number of times over the following years, leading to her appointment as vice president of Americas alliances in 2022.

In recent years, Adams has played an central role in accelerating the adoption of offerings such as Falcon Next-Gen SIEM with partners, as well as the vendor’s Falcon Flex subscription model that has resonated strongly in the channel, according to the company.

Adams has also been instrumental in driving CrowdStrike’s marketplace strategy, finding a way to bring together online marketplaces from hyperscalers such as AWS with the company’s partners, CrowdStrike Chief Business Officer Daniel Bernard said.

While some partners and distributors had initially had concerns about the marketplaces, Adams spearheaded a major effort around “aligning the ecosystem to work together” that put to rest the concerns of partners, Bernard said.

“That's one of the big reasons that we've been able to have the marketplace success that we’ve had,” he said.

On the whole, “so many of the touch points of our success have her fingerprints on them and [result from] her leadership,” Bernard said. “And so that's why bringing that expertise, experience and drive to the global stage is great for CrowdStrike.”

Going forward, Adams told CRN that top goals will include working to continue advancing on services with the channel, as a way to “strategically align with partners to build practices on the Falcon platform.”

Recent disclosures from Anthropic and OpenAI about the effectiveness of AI-powered vulnerability discovery, meanwhile, is increasingly creating an opening for partners to work with CrowdStrike on preparing customers for the major shifts ahead, she said.

While the major AI platforms have emphasized the potential of LLMs to uncover software flaws, protecting against the exploitation of those vulnerabilities is where CrowdStrike and its partners will find a key role to play, according to Adams. CrowdStrike’s recently launched Project QuiltWorks, for instance, is an initiative that involves working with partners to help organizations prepare for the coming wave of AI-discovered software vulnerabilities.

CrowdStrike “has really taken a step forward to say, ‘This is how we’re doing it. This is how we’re working with those providers to make [software] secure for you,’” Adams said.

Ultimately, “there’s so much opportunity that I’m super excited about” for partners, she said, as part of the next phase of working with CrowdStrike.

Adams takes the helm as global alliances leader at CrowdStrike as the company kicks off its Americas Partner Symposium 2026, which is being held in Miami through Tuesday.

Rogers has retired after a three-decade career in cybersecurity, including the past eight years in channel executive roles at CrowdStrike.

What follows is more of CRN’s interview with Adams.

As you’ve been preparing to transition to global alliances leader, what have you been thinking back on from your career at CrowdStrike?

Starting 10 years ago, I think I was the fourth channel person that they had hired. [The company] brought me on board to lead our partnership with Optiv as well as our partnership with GuidePoint and Kudelski. [The role] was very much, you are building the partner program, you are doing the marketing, you are running operations. You are then building and launching partnerships. You do everything. And while we have more team members now, the wearing multiple hats within CrowdStrike—and the startup feeling—has never gone away. [It has spanned] from literally creating our very first training program, then to where we are today, with the trainings and certifications and accreditations and the incredible work that we have from our training and development team. I’ve been very blessed and fortunate to work with really incredible people along the way. The most successful people within CrowdStrike—but I think this is true for every company—are ones that understand their role, and are very determined when it comes to what success looks like. Leading effectively through change—being comfortable with it, and also adapting—is really a core tenet of how we’ve led our organization and how I like to lead as well. [It’s about] pushing our people to be comfortable with change, be flexible and adapt. Because the industry is moving fast.

What are some of the major goals and priorities looking ahead in this role?

I’m very much looking forward to this next phase of growth. We’re going to evolve and redefine all things AI, with our AI go-to-market—building out a new path there [and new] services for the partners. There’s so much opportunity that I’m super excited about. QuiltWorks [is one example] where we’re working with our partners—the large GSIs to start, but we’re also expanding that ecosystem. We [recently] announced another release of partners where we’re working with them on tools and ways that our customers can partner with our ecosystem. Leveraging AI as part of advising customers and using different tools for [discovering] vulnerabilities—I think that’s phase one of that go-to-market. When you think about where we’re going—embedding and working with the chips and with the infrastructure and the hardware, with the actual LLM providers—there are going to be different ways that we make it easier for our partners to take that to their customers. That vertical is maturing so quickly and changing so fast. It’s a focus for us as an organization because when you think about the opportunity for our customers, they’re turning to our partners. And the security story isn’t really being defined by those LLMs or even by [chipmakers]. [Nvidia CEO] Jensen [Huang] is saying, essentially, CrowdStrike is the security for what they’re doing—which is exciting, but also validates our strategy as we go forward. If you think about AI [platforms], there isn’t a strong story of how they’re driving security. CrowdStrike—[especially] in the last two, three, four weeks—has really taken a step forward to say, “This is how we’re doing it. This is how we’re working with those providers to make it secure for you.” Because the market is so uncertain—so that’s one area I think you’ll continue to see us invest in and expand our ecosystem.

Our partners are the ones that are having those [AI] conversations—who are leading that today with customers. It’s an opportunity for them to build AI practices with CrowdStrike. It’s just tying in the security to what they’re already delivering.

[In terms of the] hyperscalers, of course, there’s what we’re doing with AWS—but also with GCP and Azure. And we had the announcement earlier this year with Microsoft, from a marketplace standpoint—but even now from an integration standpoint, with Falcon for Defender, and how we integrate Next-Gen SIEM and Defender—those are really big steps. You’ll continue to see us lean in there because our customers are asking for it.

What are some of the expanded services opportunities you’re seeing for partners?

When I first started in 2016, CrowdStrike had one module. We have over 30 now. There are different ways that our partners are delivering services, not only managed services. That is a good chunk of it—40-something percent of our partners are making money on managed services, and there’s an opportunity there. More importantly, I think about integration, implementation. But now on the AI side, there’s an expanded opportunity for advisory, for build, for consulting. I was talking to a GSI the other day that was making $14 for every dollar of product that was sold of CrowdStrike. And that has been the biggest change that I personally have seen since I joined 10 years ago—just the opportunities for our partners to build a very profitable business upon the platform that’s not just products. It’s a way for us to strategically align with partners to build practices on the Falcon platform, which is the biggest driver. You’ll see us continue to expand how we support, how we drive accreditations and certifications, for services delivery for our partners as well.

What is your message to partners about how you plan to lead in this new role?

The way that we have evolved—and the way that our partner program and the ecosystem has become so strong—is because of the feedback, the candor and the relationship that we have with our partners. I am open for feedback, always. The partners that work with me understand [they can] text, call. I am a leader who is action-oriented. When it comes to solving problems, [it’s about] doing what is right for our customers, what is right for our partners and what’s right for CrowdStrike. And if you focus on those three things, good things happen. From a strategy standpoint—how we build out new practices around AI, Next-Gen SIEM, cloud, etc.—that’s going to continue to be a focus. But if we lead with integrity—if we are putting our partners, our customers and then the CrowdStrike team first—good things will happen. For the partners that know me, obviously nothing’s going to change from that standpoint. Because we’ve always solved problems, and driven profitability and growth, together. That’s not going anywhere. And now I just get to work with more [of the partners].