Zapier Elevates Channel Strategy as Ecosystems Chief Earns CRN 2026 Channel Chief Honor

New updates have been reported about Zapier.

Zapier is sharpening its go-to-market and enterprise channel strategy as its Head of Ecosystems and Channels, Allyce Mardesich, is named to CRN’s 2026 Channel Chiefs list, a recognition that underscores the company’s push to scale revenue through partners. Since joining two years ago, Mardesich has overhauled Zapier’s partner program, securing incremental investment in 2025 to expand the team and relaunch the program with new referral incentives, structured sales and technical enablement, and a larger partner services fund. These moves have repositioned partners from a peripheral role to active co-sellers alongside Zapier in engagements with its largest enterprise customers, signaling a more partner-centric route-to-market that is likely to influence deal velocity and contract sizes. Reporting directly to Zapier’s CFO, Mardesich’s remit clearly links channel strategy to financial outcomes and capital allocation decisions.

A core pillar of Zapier’s revamped channel model is the use of AI to accelerate partner enablement and marketing execution, aligning with Zapier’s positioning as an AI-powered workflow automation platform. Her team now produces training and enablement content significantly faster and is building AI agents that help partners generate customized marketing campaigns tuned to their own customer bases, lowering partners’ go-to-market costs and potentially increasing pipeline quality. Mardesich has emphasized rebuilding partner trust and signaling long-term commitment to the channel, framing the 2026 CRN recognition as validation of the broader team’s work and a foundation for further expansion this year. For executives assessing Zapier, these developments highlight a deliberate strategy to deepen enterprise penetration via an ecosystem-led model, leveraging AI both as a product differentiator and as an operational tool for partners, with implications for future revenue mix, customer acquisition efficiency, and partner-driven growth.