Salesforce's $2B AWS Transformation: Even Pioneers Must Become Students
Hi, it's Roman from Partner Insight newsletter, where I deconstruct winning Cloud GTM strategies and the latest trends in cloud marketplaces.
This week, we're unpacking Salesforce's stunning $2B AWS transformation—how they became the fastest-growing ISV on its cloud marketplace while tripling AWS revenue year-over-year. Salesforce's partners are now also driving 7 of their top 10 deals. Industry leaders from Canalys, AWS, and Tackle weighed in with reactions that reveal an ongoing major shift in how enterprise software is sold.
Before we dive in, if you haven't subscribed yet, hit the button below to get these insights delivered weekly:
Salesforce tripled to $2B on AWS. Partners drive 70% of its top deals
Salesforce quietly became AWS Marketplace's fastest-growing ISV, transacting $2B through AWS while tripling year-on-year. Here's the scale of change alliance leaders are missing.
After pioneering the marketplace concept with AppExchange two decades ago, Salesforce is now dominating the new generation of cloud marketplaces it once inspired.
The irony? They're teaching us how cloud GTM has fundamentally changed.
The numbers paint a striking picture:
"Today, Salesforce is the fastest growing ISV on AWS Marketplace, which has driven hundreds of transactions for us since launch, including 2 of our top 5 deals this quarter," revealed Robin Washington, President and COO/CFO, in the latest earnings call two weeks ago.
Miguel Milano, CRO, stressed: "AWS Marketplace... is incredible. The partnership with AWS, we transacted $2 billion of business through them, hundreds of transactions, and it's tripling year-on-year right now."
Previously in Q3 FY25 alone, Salesforce's Amazon Web Services (AWS) transactions doubled QoQ, with 10 deals exceeding $1M.
This isn't just channel diversification—it's a major GTM transformation.
Partners now drive 7 of Salesforce's top 10 deals in the last quarter.
As Washington noted: "Our ecosystem plays a critical role in driving customer success and growth. Our partners were included in 7 of our top 10 deals of the quarter."
Three critical shifts alliance leaders should study:
Marketplace as embedded motion
Being "fastest growing ISV on AWS Marketplace" means Salesforce embedding marketplace thinking across its 13,000 AEs.
Now multiply this by 80,000+ system integrators (experts) constantly being trained on the latest updates (in Q3 alone, all were trained on AI).
Partner enablement at scale
With partners driving 7/10 top deals, the marketplace-first mindset is spreading like wildfire—we just don't see it yet.
Deep platform integration
AWS marketplace isn't just a channel; it's woven into Salesforce's GTM strategy and technology.
"By integrating data and AI capabilities across our platforms, Salesforce and AWS are building a strong foundation for the future of agentic systems," explained Brian Landsman, EVP earlier this year.
The strategic implications run deeper
When the company that invented the enterprise app store becomes the fastest growing ISV on someone else's marketplace, it signals cloud GTM is now primary revenue driver.
For alliance leaders, the lesson: marketplace excellence isn't about listing products—it's about reimagining your entire partner motion around consumption, co-innovation, and customer success.
Forget cybersecurity vendors—Salesforce is the elephant in the room.
We'll soon see more headlines about them driving billions via AWS.
Industry Leaders React: Why This Matters Beyond the Numbers
My insights above sparked immediate reactions from key players across the cloud ecosystem—and their responses reveal why Salesforce's transformation demonstrates an ongoing major shift in how enterprise software is sold.
Jay McBain, Chief Analyst at Canalys, connected the dots to a larger industry pattern:
“We have talked about CrowdStrike, Splunk, Palo Alto Networks, Snowflake, Okta, Trend Micro, and Presidio hitting the billion-dollar club on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) marketplace.
Now Salesforce joins the fray as a $2 billion member of the club - and they only signed up 18 months ago!
Now that the hyperscaler marketplaces have opened the door to all of SaaS (250,000 companies generating $420 billion this year), regardless of what cloud they were built on, it opens up the door to the industry to indirect sales.
Today, Canalys (part of Omdia) recognizes only 24% of SaaS is purchased indirectly - and this is much lower if you extract "packaged" SaaS such as Microsoft 365.
For example, Salesforce grew to $40 billion almost exclusively direct. Now, the 300%+ y/y growth on marketplaces is changing the game.
As Salesforce shifts to Agentforce (for agentic AI), the pricing model of $2 per conversation will be primarily (if not exclusively) billed out of digital marketplaces - driving this indirect split much higher in the next 3-5 years.”
McBain's analysis reveals the acceleration happening beneath the surface and that the timing isn't coincidental.
From the AWS side, Devin Herd, Senior GTM Partner Development Lead, Salesforce at AWS, who directly supports the AWS-Salesforce partnership, offered an insider's perspective:
“Salesforce isn’t just transacting on AWS Marketplace. It’s embedded in how they sell, scale, and build. $2B+ through Marketplace, fastest-growing ISV, and 7 of 10 top deals are partner-led.
In my role supporting the AWS Salesforce partnership, I see it up close. Marketplace isn’t a side channel. It is GTM infrastructure, and it is changing how we drive outcomes together.”
John Jahnke, CEO of Tackle, whose company was involved in Salesforce marketplace transformation, emphasized the executive commitment required:
“Building their [Salesforce] strategy with AWS Marketplace was not a tactical decision - it was a business strategy decision with top level executive alignment and investment across people and technology to meaningfully evolve one of the best direct sales organization into a next gen Cloud GTM machine.”
Allison Bishop, Global Lead - Partner PR, AWS highlighted the procurement transformation driving this growth:
“AWS Marketplace is reimagining how organizations buy, sell, and procure IT. As Matt Yanchyshyn says, it's helping to move procurement from the office of "no" to the department of yes. This isn't just great for customers, it's also a powerful vehicle to simplify and accelerate growth for our partners.”
The Uncomfortable Truth for Alliance Leaders
These reactions from industry leaders reveal an uncomfortable truth: while some alliance teams debate marketplace strategies, companies like Salesforce are systematically rebuilding their entire GTM motion around marketplace infrastructure.
The contrast is stark. Some organizations are still struggling to make the decision to go all-in on marketplaces. Meanwhile, Salesforce—with one of the most successful direct sales machines in enterprise software history—committed to marketplace 18 months ago and is now tripling AWS revenue annually.
When even the pioneers need to become students again, what does that say about the rest of us?
Marketplace Monitor
AWS Marketplace launches localized experience in French, Spanish, Korean, and Japanese
AWS expanded marketplace accessibility by adding four new languages across the entire customer journey—from discovery to deployment. The platform automatically translates product listings for sellers while allowing opt-out control, significantly reducing barriers for global expansion. This move underscores the strategic value of localized buying experiences for enterprise customers and signals intensifying focus among hyperscalers on winning international market share.
Cohort 11 Insights: When Customers Force You Into Marketplaces
Cloud GTM Leader Cohort 11 just kicked off with leaders from public companies to startups, and one stat immediately caught my attention: multiple participants reported customers forcing them into marketplaces before they had any strategy. This isn't theory anymore - it's customer-driven reality.
When you bring together 20 leaders in Cloud GTM Leader course, this creates an incredibly dynamic learning environment.
The diversity of experience in this cohort reveals where marketplaces are heading:
A finance leader who made major purchases via marketplace themselves, now realizing the potential for their own company to leverage this channel to sell - leading the Cloud GTM push internally
A marketing leader whose company organically generates revenue on one of marketplaces with minimal investment - realizing this product-marketplace fit can drive outsized returns
An alliance veteran who scaled marketplace revenue from $0 to $MM in a few years with AWS at their previous role, now looking to replicate that success while adding Microsoft and Google to the mix
A former hyperscaler team member now helping a major company scale their marketplace presence from zero
One of the largest distributors looking to better understand how to work with ISVs as they transition to cloud marketplaces - bringing invaluable insider perspective
The most fascinating insight? This customer-driven demand is creating interesting challenges across the cohort:
The 1-to-100 challenge
How do you move from ad-hoc marketplace success to systematic cloud GTM that generates predictable revenue?
The internal adoption challenge
Converting traditional sales teams who still view marketplaces as "just another procurement method" rather than a strategic growth engine.
The global scaling challenge
Taking marketplace wins from one region or cloud and replicating them systematically across the entire go-to-market organization.
What's compelling is the knowledge exchange
When someone who scaled cloud partnerships to $MM+ shares tactical insights with a consultant helping Fortune 500 companies navigate marketplace strategies, everyone walks away with actionable frameworks.
Our executive mentor lineup includes veterans like Brian Laing, who generated 650+ opportunities in 4.5 months using unconventional approaches that flipped traditional cloud strategies on their head.
The common thread across all participants?
Recognition that cloud marketplaces aren't just a distribution channel - they're becoming the key way enterprise software gets purchased, evaluated, and soon discovered.
But, as one participant perfectly captured: "When you talk about cloud GTM, you can't talk about it without really having a strong partner ecosystem."
Special thanks to all Cohort 11 members for joining us on this journey. The next 5 weeks promise to be transformative.
PS. If you’d like to join next cohort in September—reply to this email and I’ll add you to the waiting list.
P.S. If you find these insights valuable, please share this newsletter with your network - it’s free.
And if there are topics you'd like us to explore in future editions, please reply to this email with your thoughts.