New Okta Channel Chief Laura Padilla On Plans To ‘Invest More Heavily’ In Partners

Padilla, who was formerly head of global channel at Zoom during its pandemic-era growth surge, tells CRN that ‘in every geography, we’re going to double down on partners and expect the [channel revenue] contribution to go up.’

Okta is seeking to drive a greater portion of its revenue through partners during its next phase of growth as the identity security powerhouse doubles down on opportunities for securing AI agents, according to newly appointed Okta Channel Chief Laura Padilla.

In an exclusive interview with CRN, Padilla—whose career has included serving as channel chief of Zoom during its pandemic-era growth surge—said the vendor is seeking to rely more heavily on partners as it looks to grow to $5 billion in annual recurring revenue (ARR) over the coming years.

“The strategy you’ll hear us roll out moving forward will be around [working with] new partner types, doubling down in specific markets—where we'll be much more partner-led versus direct-led—and building a robust services practice with partners,” said Padilla, whose title is senior vice president of global partners and alliances at San Francisco-based Okta.

In all geographic markets—including North America, Okta’s largest market—the vendor expects to increase the percentage of its revenue that is generated through the channel, she noted.

Going forward, “in every geography, we’re going to double down on partners and expect the [channel revenue] contribution to go up,” Padilla said.

As part of crafting Okta’s expanded partnership strategy, Padilla said she expects to draw from her background at companies including Zoom, where she was head of global channel, platform sales and business development from 2018 to 2022.

In the role, Padilla built out Zoom’s partner ecosystem to more than 8,000 global partners, including during the period of stunning growth at the videoconferencing and collaboration platform that began with the pandemic in 2020.

After Zoom, Padilla went on to hold top partnership roles at Airtable and Sapphire Ventures. Most recently, she was senior vice president of global channel at customer management SaaS provider Freshworks.

Padilla, who began at Okta in the channel chief role earlier this month, will report to CRO Jon Addison. Okta’s most recent senior vice president of global channel, Bill Hustad, had departed the company to join Atlassian in late 2024.

Padilla joins the company in the midst of its major push around securing agentic identities. For instance, the vendor’s Okta for AI Agents offering, which was unveiled in September, aims to provide a streamlined integration of agentic identities into an organization’s broader identity system.

Speaking with CRN, Padilla said that top goals will be to assess and strengthen the Okta partner program and “invest more heavily” in North America partners.

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

What prompted you to take this role at Okta?

I’ve always admired Okta as a brand—great products and leadership. I was even more excited when this opportunity came about, because with AI, there really isn’t going to be any AI governance or security without identity. And Okta is at the heart of that whole conversation. And so I was just super stoked that they approached me for the opportunity. And also, the partner piece is going to be even more critical. I talk to customers all the time; they’re just super confused about AI in general—like, ‘Where do I start? What do I do?’ Everyone loves the concept of efficiency and more productivity for their sales force and their people, but they don’t know where to start. And also, how do I secure that? How do I make sure that I’m not causing more harm than good? And so channel partners, and partners in general, are going to be at the heart of that—whether you’re consulting for a customer, doing design and implementation for them, helping them decide which product to buy from a reseller perspective. And then integrating and delivering all that from an ISV or technology integration and SI [systems integrator] perspective—customers are probably talking to at least four, five, six partners throughout this whole journey. And so the partner piece is going to be super critical to success here.

It’s a huge opportunity for partners to really build a practice and a long-term business on Okta, and make a good amount of money, too. And so that is what we’re trying to do—build a really rich partner ecosystem with all these different partner types. And that’s where you’re going to see us really scale and get to the $5 billion-plus in [ARR] that the company is really aspiring to do.

What are some of the major topics within AI and security that you expect to be discussing with partners?

AI security is identity security. And that’s exactly what Okta was built for. And so if we think about helping customers architect what that means within their environment—customers have a mix of maybe on-prem solutions and SaaS solutions, different hardware platforms, different technology stacks that they’re using within their environment. Customers are really looking for help on how to integrate AI security as they think about adopting AI solutions. And so at the heart of that is [Okta] and how we’re going to help customers be able to do that—and we’re going to need to train partners to do that on our behalf. We can’t scale, especially globally, if we don’t have partners who are able to be competent to do that. So our big strategy is going to be to really double down on enabling partners, training them, certifying them, offering more specializations. We’re also going to be partner-led in different markets, where it’s going to be partner-first initiatives—where instead of us having a direct sales force, we’re going to have partners deliver on our behalf. So they’ll have to be competent to be able to do it. But a big part of that is being able to help customers decipher what to do next. Governance is at the heart of it.

What are some of your other goals for Okta and partners in 2026?

We have a robust ecosystem of about 3,000 partners globally. Today, 40 percent of our deals now touch multiple partners. We are going to see the channel contribution continue to increase over the years. We will be 100 percent partner in specific markets. And for us to get to that $5 billion-plus in [ARR], we’re only going to do that with partners. And so the strategy you’ll hear us roll out moving forward will be around new partner types, doubling down in specific markets—where we’ll be much more partner-led versus direct-led—and building a robust services practice with partners. [That will include] the GSIs [global systems integrators], regional SIs, consultants, so that they can really help customers define and architect and deliver services around our solutions for that AI governance piece.

What could you say specifically about the North America market and whether you expect to be increasing business through partners there?

In every geography, we’re going to double down on partners and expect the [channel revenue] contribution to go up. Absolutely. In North America specifically, it is our biggest market. So what we’re looking to do is, we are going to invest more heavily in partners there. And also, with the GSIs and the SIs in the Auth0 ecosystem, those are all new things that we’re going to invest in even more. And then also, [Okta] will be working with all the AI companies on partnerships from a technical perspective.

Do you expect to be looking at doing more with MSPs and MSSPs going forward?

Yes, MSPs will be an area we will be evaluating as well. Obviously, the Okta platform has several different products within that platform. And we have gotten customers who have asked to work through MSPs, to host and support [the Okta] service, and who are wanting the MSP to be able to service that as well. So yes, we are getting those requests, and that is something that we’re definitely evaluating.

What are some lessons from prior roles, at Zoom or other companies, that you expect to be bringing to Okta?

I would just say that throughout my career, what I’ve seen that makes a partner ecosystem successful is, No. 1, to really focus on the highest value-add for the customer. And so when we think about what customers are looking for today, how do we support partners in delivering that highest customer value-add? You deliver that through the program, through sales incentives, through enablement, through training, through support, and then alignment with our field sales teams as well. Okta is very partner-friendly, and we know that partners are critical to our growth moving forward. And so I’m going to be focusing a lot on making sure that internally we support that message, and we have the right partner program to be able to incentivize what we’re doing moving forward. And so as we scale such a big ecosystem, the only way you do that is having the foundational program to be able to do that long term. And so that’s what I’ve learned at every company. If you don't build for scale, then it’s really hard to do that as you grow—especially at my Zoom experience, and that hyper scale that we had, it was because we had a strong program for 10,000 partners to join. And so you’lll see me, in the year to come, optimize the partner program and build it, and enrich it, for our partners to be more successful.

Overall, what is your message to partners?

I would say that Okta is a huge opportunity for partners to build a long-term business on. And with AI, we’re just the beginning of it. Identity is indispensable to the control plane for AI in the enterprise, and we are at the heart of that. And so, we are looking for partners to adopt Okta, to build rich practices on it and to really invest. And we’re here to help you build a very profitable business.