SaaS partners, AI pilots and the Tier-II play

Freshworks and Sonata IT are reshaping India and APAC's SaaS market through an AI-first, partner-led strategy. From Tier II outreach to vertical innovation, this story traces how partnerships are becoming the real engine of digital transformation

- By BHARTI TREHAN | [e-mail]

In the bustling world of tech, scale isn't just about size; it's about synergy. Especially in a region as complex and diverse as APAC, including India. So when Freshworks leaders Laura Padilla and Shelton Rego sat down with Sonata Information Technology's Mohan Muthuraj, one thing was clear. The future of SaaS is being built not just by platforms, but by the people and partnerships driving them. From scaling ambitions to AI co-innovation, their story cuts through buzzwords and puts spotlight on what's actually working on the ground, and in the Cloud.

Partners as the growth engine

Freshworks has a singular belief: partners are not a supporting cast, they are the main stage. The company's global strategy hinges on how well these alliances evolve across the customer journey. Instead of handling just the sales or support layer, partners are now expected to own the entire customer experience: prospecting, contracting, implementation and post-sale services. This level of trust isn't a handover. It is a hand-in-hand approach. This shift is already delivering results. Whether it is cracking large enterprise accounts or enabling faster deployment cycles, partnerships are no longer a choice; they are the playbook.

And in India, this is business-as-usual. The market here is, and always has been, partner-led. The partner ecosystem is vibrant, rooted in legacy and layered with ambition. What Freshworks is doing differently is aligning tightly with partner goals and opening up avenues for co-creation. The results speak for themselves: strategic business wins and access to key logos across sectors.

Deepening the roots with Sonata