Case Studies

Programs that
moved the needle.

Four bodies of work spanning channel digitization, team building, partner enablement, and AI — told in challenge, action, result.

01 · Channel Digitization

Global Partner Digital Transformation.

Built Autodesk's partner API capability from scratch and scaled it across 300 resellers and 35 distributors — turning manual, multi-day order processing into seconds.

API platforms Channel ops Automation Global rollout

01 Challenge

Partner orders were manual, multi-day processes prone to data errors. Channel growth was outpacing operations, and there was no API-first path for resellers or distributors to transact at scale.

02 Action

Stood up Autodesk's partner API capability from zero. Designed transaction workflows, governance, and onboarding playbooks. Led the 300+ partner migration in waves with product, engineering, and channel ops.

03 Result

Automated ~95% of partner orders, cut processing from days to seconds, drove ~40% YoY API usage growth, and helped support Autodesk's growth from $2B to $6B.

Outcomes

✓
Eliminated manual order workflows for the majority of partner transactions.
✓
40% YoY growth in API usage across 300 resellers and 35 distributors.
✓
Established repeatable onboarding playbooks now used across the channel org.

Partner perspective

“Together, we helped transform our channel partner experience from manual, high-friction processes into a more automated, data-access-driven model.”

KK

Kevin Krumwiede

Director of Product Management

02 · Team Leadership

Global Integration
Consulting Team.

Built and scaled a 13-person solution consulting team across AMER, EMEA, APAC, LATAM, and Japan — with zero voluntary attrition over seven years.

Global team building IC → manager pathway Pursuit support Operating rhythm

01 Challenge

Strategic partner pursuits needed embedded technical depth, but there was no dedicated consulting function. Solution work was ad-hoc, regional, and hard to repeat across geographies.

02 Action

Built the team from the ground up. Clarified roles, developed 4 ICs into managers, established discovery / demo / architecture rituals, and embedded the team in Sales and Alliances pursuits.

03 Result

Improved win rates on complex deals, contributed ~$2M ARR, and maintained zero voluntary attrition with engagement scores 10 points above company average.

Outcomes

✓
Engagement scores 10 points above the company average across seven years.
✓
Four ICs promoted into management roles, building a durable bench.
✓
Consulting team became the default partner for complex pursuits across regions.

Leadership perspective

“Shantnu evolved his team's structure, clarified roles and ownership, and developed ICs into managers. His leadership brought greater focus, accountability, and consistency.”

JP

Joe Pacula

Sr. Director, Global Sales & Channel Strategy

03 · Partner Enablement

Partner Developer Portal &
Self-Service Adoption.

Turned a manual onboarding model into a self-service enablement experience, becoming the core asset for 300+ partner engineering teams.

Developer portal Self-service Documentation Enablement ops

01 Challenge

Partner developers were ramping through email threads, scattered docs, and one-off office hours. Onboarding velocity was bottlenecked by a few internal experts.

02 Action

Consolidated API docs, playbooks, analytics, office hours, and webinars into a single partner developer portal. Built a content cadence aligned with partner lifecycle and rollouts.

03 Result

Portal became the core enablement asset for 300+ partner engineering teams, reduced inbound how-to support, and freed senior consultants for architecture work.

Outcomes

✓
Adopted as the canonical reference by 300+ partner engineering teams.
✓
Shifted senior consultant time toward architecture and strategic deals.
✓
Established a sustainable content cadence aligned with rollouts.

Engineering perspective

“He played a key role in establishing and nurturing our partner community, building the kind of trust that translates directly into business outcomes.”

KM

Kesava Merugumala

Sr. Director, Platform Engineering

04 · AI / LLM

AI-powered
Partner Assistant.

Co-developed an enterprise LLM and RAG-based assistant with governance guardrails — reducing Tier 1 support queries by ~50% and accelerating partner self-service.

LLM RAG Governance Support automation

01 Challenge

Tier 1 partner support was overloaded with repetitive integration and how-to questions. Knowledge was scattered across docs, tickets, and tribal memory.

02 Action

Co-developed an enterprise LLM and RAG-based Partner Assistant. Designed retrieval scope, content governance, and guardrails. Iterated with support and partner reps until answers were trustworthy and traceable.

03 Result

Reduced Tier 1 queries by ~50%, cut resolution times, and shifted the team's mix toward higher-value architecture work.

Outcomes

✓
Partners self-serving answers that previously required a human ticket.
✓
Governance model that kept responses traceable to source documents.
✓
Reusable pattern adopted by adjacent customer-support workflows.

Cross-functional perspective

“He worked effectively across sales, partner-facing teams, and engineering to help drive rollout and adoption.”

AS

Afshar Sanam

Sr. Manager, Global Platform & API Engineering

Programs thatmoved the needle.

Global Partner Digital Transformation.

Global IntegrationConsulting Team.

Partner Developer Portal &Self-Service Adoption.

AI-poweredPartner Assistant.

Want to talk througha similar program?

Programs that
moved the needle.

Global Integration
Consulting Team.

Partner Developer Portal &
Self-Service Adoption.

AI-powered
Partner Assistant.

Want to talk through
a similar program?