OpenAI Partner Network (June 14)
$150M, three tiers - Select, Advanced, Elite - and specializations in Codex, cybersecurity, and agents. The goal: certify 300K consultants by the end of 2026.
The fund covers enablement, offsets delivery costs, and adds MDF, when it opens in July.
Tier advancement depends on technical depth, deployment experience, and co-sell engagement.
“This ecosystem-led approach is central to how we believe AI will create value. No single company can deliver every solution, in every market, for every customer” - OpenAI
Claude Partner Network (since March)
$100M for training, technical support, and shared marketing.
As of June: 40K+ firms applied, 10K+ consultants certified.
Its Services Track, launched this month, also runs three tiers - Select, Preferred, Global Premier - measured on certified people, production deployments, and public customer stories.
Toolkits match, but here is where they split.
One design choice separates them
OpenAI ties co-sell to how partners climb the ladder. Selling with OpenAI moves you up a tier - though its partner leader frames “co-sell” less as selling, more as “how are you strategizing with us and with customers.”
Anthropic is less explicit about co-sell, though it launched Claude Partner Hub with MCP.
You can ask Claude where your firm stands against the next tier, the status of a registered deal, or how many of your consultants hold an active certification.
The scarcest resource is becoming a credential
Deployment talent is the constraint for both labs.
OpenAI’s answer is a Forward Deployed Experts pilot that pairs top partner practitioners with its own engineers. The deployment work that was internal-only is now something partners can earn.
Anthropic makes the same point differently: certification belongs to individuals, and active certification requires recent Claude use.
OpenAI partner leaders behind this signal where it goes:
Colleen Kapase led channels and partner programs at Google Cloud before joining OpenAI.
Brian Landsman ran Salesforce’s partner ecosystem for 14 years.
Tiers, co-sell, specializations, and MDF feel familiar because the people who built them at hyperscalers now work here.
Lessons for alliance leaders:
Treat AI labs as emerging hyperscaler ecosystems. You already know these mechanics - certification, tiers, co-sell, deployment requirements
Build proof around production deployments, certified people and customer stories
The same SIs you rely on for cloud co-sell and enterprise implementation are now building AI-lab practices. They can bring your product into the AI transformation story - or bring the AI lab around you
Latest Insights & Analysis
We help our clients to define customer-centric strategies that stimulate innovation and create value
