Between Product and Partnerships

In this discussion, Cristina sits down with Faria Anzum, Developer Experience Product Design Lead at Canva, to explore her approach to SaaS integrations, developer experience, as well as the impact of AI on building scalable partner ecosystems.Faria's Role and Canva's Ecosystem ApproachFaria leads developer experience within Canva's ecosystem team, focusing on optimizing the end-to-end journey for developers—from discovery and documentation to app submission and launch. Her work spans both external developers and internal teams, ensuring feedback loops that drive continuous improvement in tooling and processes.Building for Developers: Key UX ConsiderationsFaria highlights the importance of systems thinking in developer experience, noting that every design decision impacts multiple stages of the developer journey.Unique challenges include blending Canva's established design system with the distinct UIs of external apps, ensuring a seamless and intuitive experience for users.Developer tools must minimize cognitive load and context switching, so Canva strives for consistency across documentation, tooling, and theming to reduce friction for developers moving between environments.Best Practices for Scalable IntegrationsCanva empowers partners to build at scale by providing robust building blocks: app templates, design patterns, and a comprehensive Figma UI kit. This approach streamlines development and ensures consistency in user experience.The team collaborates closely with partners through workshops and design reviews, fostering high-quality integrations and reducing surprises during app submission.Smaller partners particularly benefit from these resources, as they can rely on Canva's design guidance without needing in-house expertise.AI's Transformative Role in Developer WorkflowsAI is lowering barriers to entry, democratizing software development much like Canva did for design. Tools like ChatGPT and Cursor enable even non-coders to build functional integrations using natural language prompts.Canva recently launched Dev MCP server, for Canva apps and integrations, leveraging documentation and starter templates to accelerate development.While Canva can't always distinguish how much of an app is AI-generated, the focus remains on functionality and quality, not the origin of the code.Looking Ahead: Trust, Transparency, and the Future of AI in IntegrationsFaria emphasizes the need for transparency in AI-driven apps—clearly communicating what AI does, how data is used, and allowing users to override AI suggestions to build trust.She predicts a future where AI agents handle more of the integration lifecycle, spinning up apps from natural language descriptions, while human developers refine and innovate at the edges.The conversation closes with a call to embrace these changes, as AI and automation free up developers to focus on more creative and high-impact work.Key TakeawaysCanva's approach to developer experience centers on holistic design, strong building blocks, and close collaboration with partners.AI is fundamentally changing how integrations are built, making development more accessible and efficient.Trust, transparency, and adaptability will be crucial as AI-driven workflows become the norm in SaaS ecosystems.For more insights on tech partnerships, integrations, and APIs, listeners are encouraged to visit Pandium's blog and resources.https://www.pandium.com/blog 

In this episode of Between Product and Partnerships, Cristina Flaschen sat down with Shrijit Patel, Technical Product Manager at Chronograph, to talk about building integration infrastructure, developing anti-fragile systems, and bridging the technical gap as a backend-focused PM. Drawing from his experience at Accenture, FIS, Amazon, and now Chronograph, Shrijit broke down what most PMs miss when thinking about integrations and backend product strategy.--To access more resources and content on technology partnerships, integrations, and APIs, check out our blog and resources page belowBlog: https://www.pandium.com/blogTech Partnerships & Product Management Resources: https://www.pandium.com/resource-center

In this episode of Between Product and Partnerships, we sit down with Indy Sen, Product Marketing Manager for Ecosystem at Canva, to explore what it really takes to build a thriving SaaS platform and developer ecosystem.Indy shares hard-earned lessons from his career shaping ecosystems at Salesforce, Box, MuleSoft, Google, and now Canva. From launching on the early Salesforce AppExchange to scaling developer engagement at global companies, Indy dives into what's changed (and what hasn't) when it comes to partnerships, platform strategy, and developer marketing.By the way, Indy is running the London Marathon and raising funds for cancer research. Support the cause here:https://secure.acsevents.org/site/STR?fr_id=109250&pg=personal&px=59788306--To access more resources and content on technology partnerships, integrations, and APIs, check out our blog and resources page belowBlog: https://www.pandium.com/blogTech Partnerships & Product Management Resources: https://www.pandium.com/resource-center

As SaaS companies navigate 2025, building integration strategies that drive growth, retain customers, and adapt to evolving partner ecosystems is essential.In this conversation, we spoke with Product Managers and Technology Partnerships Leaders at Justuno, Triple Whale, and Gorgias who've successfully tackled integration challenges.Our panelists share:- Why a robust integration strategy important in 2025 including trends to look out for- Frameworks for prioritizing integrations that deliver the greatest impact.- Aligning GTM goals with integration planning --This podcast is hosted by Pandium, the only embedded integration platform that facilitates faster code-first development of integrations, allowing B2B SaaS companies to launch integrations at scale without sacrificing customization and control. Learn more about Pandium here: https://www.pandium.com/To access more resources and content on technology partnerships, integrations, and APIs, check out our blog and resources page belowBlog: https://www.pandium.com/blogResources on Technology Partnerships, Integrations, and APIs: https://www.pandium.com/ebooks

In this episode, we're joined by integration experts Venkat Iyer (Talkdesk), Shon Urbas (Pandium), and Trevor Schueren (Workable) for a deep dive into the strategies behind successfully scaling SaaS integration efforts. Moderated by Pandium CEO Cristina Flaschen, this conversation highlights real-world experiences and offers insights on building scalable, reliable integration infrastructures that run smoothly while offering customers valuable solutions. You'll hear about the most common mistakes companies make, strategic decisions that impact long-term scalability, and ways to effectively manage API changes and dependencies. Tune in for expert advice on how to avoid integration pains as your product scales.---Pandium is the only embedded integration platform that facilitates faster code-first development of integrations, allowing B2B SaaS development teams to launch integrations at scale without sacrificing customization and control. Learn more about Pandium here: https://www.pandium.com/To access more resources and content on technology partnerships, integrations, and APIs, check out our blog and resources page below: Blog: https://www.pandium.com/blogResources on Technology Partnerships, Integrations, and APIs: https://www.pandium.com/ebooks

Justuno is a website marketing automation platform that's tried a lot of different strategies for speeding up the development of integrations their customers need.From building integrations in-house to outsourcing to different varieties of embedded integration platforms, Justuno has tried a variety of integration strategies. Their CTO and Director of Partnerships share the pros and cons of each strategy, and what B2B SaaS companies should consider when choosing the best way to scale your integration efforts.-- Launch integrations for customers in days instead of months with Pandium's integration deployment platform.  Learn more about Pandium here: https://www.pandium.com/Pandium is the only embedded integration platform that facilitates faster code-first development of integrations, allowing B2B SaaS companies to launch integrations at scale without sacrificing customization and control.

In this podcast interview we sat down with Marco De Paulis, Director, Ecommerce Partnerships at Ryder. Marco stresses the importance of being prescriptive and detailed in integration proposals. By engaging with customers early on, gathering feedback, and incorporating their ideas, the partnership team ensures a more successful integration development. He also shared the long-term impact on customer retention, emphasizing that its not just about a great launch - it's about making your product stickier, keeping those users around for the long haul.Keep up with Marco here!--To access more resources and insightful content on technology partnerships, integrations, and APIs, explore our blog and resource center:

We interviewed Lindsey Traub, the Sr. Director and Head of Partner Programs and Operations @ Simpro Software.  Hear her take on: Making the pitch for resources: How to effectively advocate for the resources your team needs, using data-driven insights and strategic communication.Advocating for partner operations: Why the role of Partner Operations is pivotal from the start to build scalable, robust programs. The state of partner operations tools:  The shift from DIY solutions to sophisticated, ready-to-deploy technologies. ROI in partner operations: How to capture and demonstrate the real value of partnerships and partner operations. --To access more resources and content on technology partnerships, integrations, and APIs, check out our blog and resources page belowBlog: https://www.pandium.com/blogTech Partnerships & Product Management Resources: https://www.pandium.com/resource-center

On this episode of our podcast Between Product and Partnerships we interviewed Swetha Kolli, Head of Integrations Engineering and Technical Services at Bolt. In this interview she shared: Frequently neglected parts of the integration and technology partnerships building process.Her perspective on the partner technology landscape and pain points that remain unaddressed.What to include in an integration proposal for technical teams.Connect with Swetha here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/swethakolli/ --To access more content on integrations, APIs, and technology partnerships, check out our blog and resources page belowBlog: https://www.pandium.com/blogTech Partnerships & Product Management Resources: https://www.pandium.com/resource-center

We interviewed Gary Ballabio, the VP of Technology Partnerships at Cloudinary. In this interview he shared:  *A framework for choosing strategic partnerships optimized for joint value.*Where he believes tech partnerships bring the most business value.*Advice for managing expectations around ROI.--To access more content on integrations, APIs, and technology partnerships, check out our blog and resources page belowBlog: https://www.pandium.com/blogTech Partnerships & Product Management Resources: https://www.pandium.com/resource-center

Richard O'Connell is the Head of Partner Growth at Atlassian, and has been working on product partnerships at Atlassian for a little over a decade.In this interview Richard shares: How he suggests partner managers and leaders objectively assess new partnerships to get ahead of potential problems. What to keep in mind when partnering with competitors and how to structure those partnerships. Why lack of executive alignment shouldn't be a deal breaker for new partnerships. Where partner relationships tend to struggle the most. How to communicate with executives when a partnership needs help. What partner managers should think about as they're working with partners. Read the transcript here:  https://www.pandium.com/blogs/learnings-from-a-decade-in-partnershipsand read more content from Richard at APIPartnerships.com--To access more content on integrations, APIs, and technology partnerships, check out our blog and resources page below:Download the 2022 Guide to Launching an In-App Marketplace: https://www.pandium.com/resources/download-the-2022-guide-to-launching-an-integration-marketplaceDownload the Report on the State of Integrations and APIs at 400 SaaS Companies:  https://www.pandium.com/resources/download-the-report-on-the-state-of-integrations-and-apis-at-400-saas-companiesTech Partnerships & Product Management Resources: https://www.pandium.com/resource-center--To network with others working on building integrated SaaS tech partnerships apply to join our 1300+ member group here: https://www.saasecosystemalliance.com/

In this episode of Between Product and Partnerships, we spoke with Katherine Tooley, a Technology Partnerships Manager at LogicGate, a modern risk management platform. An an engineer turned technology partner manager, she now serves as a liaison between sales, CX, and product teams to collaboratively identify integration solutions that provide value to their market base. In his interview Katherine shares: * What drove her transition from engineering to tech partnerships* The technical understanding she recommends for tech partner managers* Best practices and processes for collaborating with and enabling sales & CX regarding integrations and partners  * Partner API documentation red and green flags * The benefits and drawbacks of reporting under product vs sales Learn more about LogicGate here: https://www.logicgate.com/ Read the transcript here:  https://www.pandium.com/blogs/the-benefits-of-reporting-to-sales-best-practices-for-cross-functional-collaboration --To access more content on integrations, APIs, and technology partnerships, check out our blog and resources page below:Download the 2022 Guide to Launching an In-App Marketplace: https://www.pandium.com/resources/download-the-2022-guide-to-launching-an-integration-marketplace Download the Report on the State of Integrations and APIs at 400 SaaS Companies:  https://www.pandium.com/resources/download-the-report-on-the-state-of-integrations-and-apis-at-400-saas-companies Tech Partnerships & Product Management Resources: https://www.pandium.com/resource-center--To network with others working on building integrated SaaS tech partnerships apply to join our 1100+ member group here: https://www.saasecosystemalliance.com/-- 

In this episode we spoke with Caitlin Teed, an integration partner manager at Ryder Ecommerce by Whiplash, a 3rd party logistics provider for enterprise and fast growing Ecommerce brands. In this episodes Caitlin shares: Skills from her time in customer success that helped set her up for success in as a tech partner manager Skills that new partnership managers should focus on developing early onHow she aligns on, decides, and creates metrics and goals with partnersTools that have been helpful in managing relationships with her partner - including a partner health audit & mutual success plan framework Read the transcript and access the partner health and mutual success templates here: https://www.pandium.com/blogs/auditing-the-health-and-mutual-success-of-tech-partnerships --To access more content on integrations, APIs, and technology partnerships, check out our blog and resources page below: Download the Guide to Launching an In-App Marketplace: https://www.pandium.com/resources/download-the-2022-guide-to-launching-an-integration-marketplaceDownload the Report on the State of Integrations and APIs at 400 SaaS Companies: https://www.pandium.com/resources/download-the-report-on-the-state-of-integrations-and-apis-at-400-saas-companiesTech Partnerships & Product Management Resources: https://www.pandium.com/resource-center--To network with others working on building integrated SaaS tech partnerships apply to join our 1100+ member group here: https://www.saasecosystemalliance.com/

Sonal Uban is the Director of Marketing for Technology Alliances at Fortinet, a global leader for cybersecurity services. In this interview she shares:How smaller companies can get the attention of larger partnersUnderutilized methods for co-marketing How she's scaled co-marketing & attribution tracking What to do before taking joint-solutions to marketA framework for assessing the compatibility of a tech partnership Read the transcript here:  --To access more content on integrations, APIs, and technology partnerships, check out our blog and resources page belowDownload the 2022 Guide to Launching an In-App Marketplace: https://www.pandium.com/resources/download-the-2022-guide-to-launching-an-integration-marketplaceDownload the Report on the State of Integrations and APIs at 400 SaaS Companies: https://www.pandium.com/resources/download-the-report-on-the-state-of-integrations-and-apis-at-400-saas-companiesPartnerships & Product Management Resources: https://www.pandium.com/resource-center--To network with others working on building integrated SaaS tech partnerships apply to join our 1100+ member group here: https://www.saasecosystemalliance.com/

Rachel Collie is the Director of Technology Partnerships and App Marketplace at Unanet. When Rachel initially joined Unanet, she realized that there were a lot of barriers to entry for tech partners, specifically when it came to building, accessing, and deploying integrations. In this interview Rachel shares: Barriers to entry that negatively impact technology partners engagement. Advice for working with the product org and technology partners to identify and build high value integrations.Tools and processes for scaling collaboration with internal product teams & technology partners. Read the transcript here: https://www.pandium.com/blogs/processes-for-improving-tech-partner-engagement-and-enablement --To access more content on integrations, APIs, and technology partnerships, check out our blog and resources page belowDownload the 2022 Guide to Launching an In-App Marketplace: https://www.pandium.com/resources/download-the-2022-guide-to-launching-an-integration-marketplace Download the Report on the State of Integrations and APIs at 400 SaaS Companies: https://www.pandium.com/resources/download-the-report-on-the-state-of-integrations-and-apis-at-400-saas-companiesPartnerships & Product Management Resources: https://www.pandium.com/resource-center--To network with others working on building integrated SaaS tech partnerships apply to join our 1100+ member group here: https://www.saasecosystemalliance.com/

Kalen Kimm is currently launching the partnerships program as the Strategic Partnerships Director at Jebbit,  the leading software to capture zero-party data. Kalen has worked in SaaS partnerships and sales for the past 10 years, and shares his thoughts on: Why sales teams should be leveraging second-party/partner data Best practices and pitfalls for enabling sales teams to leverage partner dataProcesses, systems, and technologies he has used in the past to help with tracking partner influence and attribution within the sales pipelineAdvice for quantifying the value of partner influence within a burgeoning partner programRead the transcript here: --To access more content on integrations, APIs, and technology partnerships, check out our blog and resources page belowDownload the Report on the State of Integrations and APIs at 400 SaaS Companies: https://www.pandium.com/resources/download-the-report-on-the-state-of-integrations-and-apis-at-400-saas-companiesPartnerships & Product Management Resources: https://www.pandium.com/resource-center--To network with others working on building integrated SaaS tech partnerships apply to join our 1100+ member group here: https://www.saasecosystemalliance.com/

Rish (Rishabh) Bhandari is the Founder and CEO of  Content Beta,  a content studio for B2B SaaS companies.  In this episode Rish shares: Why B2B SaaS companies should be investing in video marketing in particular. How SaaS companies can ensure that their content and video marketing not only educates potential customers, but translates into more conversions, sales, and higher product adoption.Types of content and video marketing for technology partnerships, whether you're marketing your ecosystem platform or your relationship with other platforms. Where B2B SaaS companies can start with their content and video marketing strategy. Read the transcript here: https://www.pandium.com/blogs/content-marketing-for-b2b-saas-technology-partnerships-gaps-and-best-practices-- To access more content on integrations, APIs, and technology partnerships, check out our blog and resources page belowDownload the Report on the State of Integrations and APIs at 400 SaaS Companies: https://www.pandium.com/resources/download-the-report-on-the-state-of-integrations-and-apis-at-400-saas-companiesPartnerships & Product Management Resources: https://www.pandium.com/resource-center--To network with others working on building integrated SaaS tech partnerships apply to join our 1100+ member group here: https://www.saasecosystemalliance.com/ 

Ian Cugniere is the Program Manager for the App Marketplace at Aircall, a cloud-based call center and phone system that integrates seamlessly with popular productivity and helpdesk tools.In this interview, Ian talks about his transition into technology partnerships and shares:   Features of app marketplaces that are attractive to customers and partners. How app marketplaces and other processes can aid in identifying deals that are sourced or influenced through partnerships. Ways to provide a good partner experience at scale for longtail partners and partner developers who are building integrations.The importance of having flexibility with partner program tiers.Read the transcript here: https://www.pandium.com/blogs/app-marketplace-benefits-and-managing-the-long-tail-partner-experience -- To access more content on integrations, APIs, and technology partnerships, check out our blog and resources page belowDownload the Report on the State of Integrations and APIs at 400 SaaS Companies: https://www.pandium.com/resources/download-the-report-on-the-state-of-integrations-and-apis-at-400-saas-companiesPartnerships & Product Management Resources: https://www.pandium.com/resource-center-- To network with others working on building integrated SaaS tech partnerships apply to join our 1100+ member group here: https://www.saasecosystemalliance.com/

Steve Rodda is the CEO of Stoplight, a global API design and documentation platform that helps SaaS companies design, test, mock, & document APIs. For several years he has held various leadership roles in engineering and product management, leading large organizations like SolarWinds and Cherwell. Along with discussing trends in how companies are designing and documenting their APIs, in this interview Steve shares:   What it means to be an API-first company, and what API first means today.What “Design-First" means when it comes to APIs, and processes and tooling to use in the design phase of building an API.Best practices for security, building a developer experience, and maintaining and supporting API design and documentation over time.Advice for getting buy-in internally to invest in developer experience.Recommendations for collecting qualitative and quantitative feedback on the developer experience.You can also read the transcript here: https://www.pandium.com/blogs/recent-trends-in-api-design-documentation-management --To access more content on integrations, APIs, and technology partnerships, check out our blog and resources page here: Download the Report on the State of Integrations and APIs at 400 SaaS Companies: https://www.pandium.com/resources/download-the-report-on-the-state-of-integrations-and-apis-at-400-saas-companiesPartnerships & Product Management Resources: https://www.pandium.com/resource-center-- To network with others working on building integrated SaaS tech partnerships apply to join our 1100+ member group here: https://www.saasecosystemalliance.com/

Krishanth Thangarajah is the Senior Director &  Head of EMEA and LATAM Partnerships at Yellow.ai working with Channel and Tech Partners. Before Yellow.ai, he spent 3 years at Freshworks where his team vetted use cases and added 600 integrations in his first year there. Eventually becoming the Head of Partnerships, he worked with this team to decide what partners to prioritize and how they could add value to their long-tail of partners. In this interview, Krishanth shares advice on:  How product and partnership teams can invest in scoping use cases. Measuring tech partnership's impact on retention and upsells.Setting up the partner experience for strategic and long-tail partners.How smaller companies can get larger companies to invest in partnerships. You can also read the transcript here:  https://www.pandium.com/blogs/strategies-for-prioritizing-technology-partners-and-refining-the-partner-experience--Want to access more content on technology partnerships, integrations, and APIs? Check out our blog and resources page here: Download the Report on the State of Integrations and APIs at 400 SaaS Companies: https://www.pandium.com/resources/download-the-report-on-the-state-of-integrations-and-apis-at-400-saas-companiesPartnerships & Product Management Resources: https://www.pandium.com/resource-center-- To network with others working on building integrated SaaS tech partnerships apply to join our 1100+ member group here: https://www.saasecosystemalliance.com/

Chris Lavoie leads Gorgias' technology partner program as their Technology Partnerships Lead. About 2 years ago he was their only Technology Partnerships Manager. Since then, Gorgias' technology partner program has grown to a team of 6, become a million-dollar ARR channel, and launched an app marketplace with 75+ integrations. In this interview, he shares advice for growing a partnerships team, what he looks for when hiring tech partner managers, advice for the interview process, metrics and tools for measuring the success of tech partnerships, and how he decides and audits his investment in new and existing partners. Gorgias is an end-customer engagement help desk SaaS platform for direct-to-consumer brands to power their customer communications both pre- and post-purchase.  Learn more at: https://www.gorgias.com/--Want to access more content on technology partnerships, integrations, and APIs? Check out our blog and resources page here: Download the Report on the State of Integrations and APIs at 400 SaaS Companies: https://www.pandium.com/resources/download-the-report-on-the-state-of-integrations-and-apis-at-400-saas-companiesPartnerships & Product Management Resources: https://www.pandium.com/resource-center-- To network with others working on building integrated SaaS tech partnerships apply to join our 1100+ member group here: https://www.saasecosystemalliance.com/

Priya Sukumar, the Director of Product Management at RingCentral, defines a user-centric approach to building integrations, and shares processes she has used to implement this approach in her day-to-day.  She also provides tactical advice for collecting user data and keeping up to date with integration changes.Want to access more content on integrations, APIs, and technology partnerships? Check out our blog and resources page here: Download the Report on the State of Integrations and APIs at 400 SaaS Companies: https://www.pandium.com/resources/download-the-report-on-the-state-of-integrations-and-apis-at-400-saas-companiesPartnerships & Product Management Resources: https://www.pandium.com/resource-centerTo network with others working on building integrated SaaS tech partnerships apply to join our 1100+ member group here: https://www.saasecosystemalliance.com/

Arpit Choudhury, the Founder of astorik, first started working in the data space at Integromat where he grew their community of automation enthusiasts and contributed to building their data infrastructure and partner ecosystem. The experienced data leader and educator talks about the biggest challenges to offering and managing product integrations, how to assess the internal data landscape of b2b customers when building integrations, how customers are currently evaluating integrations, and more.  Want to access more content on integrations, APIs, and technology partnerships? Check out our blog and resources page here: Blog: https://www.pandium.com/blogResources: https://www.pandium.com/resource-centerTo network with others working on building integrated SaaS tech partnerships apply to join our 1100+ member group here: https://www.saasecosystemalliance.com/

Sid Maestre, The Director of Developer Relations and Advocacy at Lob, talks about customer vs partner DX, trends in developer relations and API standards, and creating a developer community. If you're interested in networking with others working on building integrated product partnerships, we invite you to apply to be a member of the SaaS Ecosystem Alliance at SaaSEcosystemAlliance.comInterested in reading more content like this? Check out our blog for more actionable content and interviews with product, partnerships, engineering, and business professionals working on this problem: https://www.pandium.com/blog 

We Interviewed Francois Grenier, the Head of Technology Partnerships at Sendoso and former Head of Platform Partnerships at Typeform about the importance of product thinking for technology partnerships, building Integrations for customer retention vs acquisition, advice for gathering information on ICP tech stack and customer feedback, and more. If you're interested in networking with others working on building integrated product partnerships, we invite you to apply to be a member of the SaaS Ecosystem Alliance at SaaSEcosystemAlliance.com