Chief Strategy Officer, AscendAI
Craig Heile
Turning complex businesses into systems that work.
Craig Heile helps companies connect strategy, people, data, and execution. After more than two decades building partner programs and go-to-market operations across enterprise technology, he brings that operating discipline to AI.
Experience across enterprise technology
Global partner programs
Client via Greenfield b2b
ISV marketing via McCann
Cisco ecosystem
Portfolio company programs
About Craig
Find the signal.
Make it useful.
“I find the hidden signal, turn it into action, and make the business more valuable.”
That is the thread through Craig’s work: understanding how a business actually operates, finding the points where work stalls or value gets lost, and building a better way to execute.
He has led global partner programs, built operating models for growing technology companies, and connected sales, marketing, finance, and customer teams around shared decisions. Today, as Chief Strategy Officer at AscendAI, he applies that experience to AI adoption and go-to-market transformation.
45,000
Partners in the global Poly program
135
Countries covered by that program
35
Intel Capital portfolio companies served
Selected experience
Built for scale.
Grounded in operations.
Poly · 2019 to 2020
Two partner programs. One global operation.
As Senior Director of Global Partner Programs, Craig led the integration of the Polycom and Plantronics partner programs in 14 months. The combined program covered 45,000 partners, 135 distributors, and 135 countries, with a $120M annual budget.
His remit included partner economics, financial governance, reporting, the partner portal, and coordination across sales, finance, IT, and regional teams. The program was generating $1.2B in revenue when he departed.
Greenfield b2b · 2009 to 2022
Making the work behind growth visible.
As President of Greenfield b2b, Craig built operating models and go-to-market systems for technology companies navigating growth and change. At Comstor, his Partner Interaction Mapping process connected work across sales, marketing, product, vendor, finance, and partner teams.
That work supported Comstor’s growth from roughly $500M to $1B. He developed workflow maps, playbooks, and training for about 190 sales, marketing, and product professionals. For CloudCherry, he built the go-to-market motion and Cisco alliance strategy before Cisco acquired the company.
LaunchGTM · 2022 to 2025
Helping emerging companies build partner businesses.
As Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of LaunchGTM, Craig built partner programs for 35 Intel Capital portfolio companies. He worked with CEOs, CROs, and CMOs on indirect sales strategy, program economics, ownership, onboarding, and execution.
He also developed a partner relationship management system around Partner Interaction Mapping, giving leaders a clearer view of partner performance, investment decisions, and governance.
Craig’s work at AscendAI
AI that earns its place in the business
Craig focuses on mid-market companies, including businesses with $10M to $200M in annual recurring revenue. His work brings AI into the commercial workflows that drive growth, retention, and productivity.
Choose the right work
Map how work moves through the business. Find the friction in pipeline development, customer operations, and decisions before choosing an AI tool.
Connect the commercial teams
Bring sales, marketing, partners, and revenue operations into a shared operating model, with clear ownership and consistent data.
Build for everyday use
Turn promising ideas into workflows, playbooks, and automation that teams can use, with training and guardrails built in.
Measure what changes
Track time freed, cycle time, throughput, error rates, and adoption alongside revenue outcomes. Use those signals to improve the work.
Earlier chapters
People, economics,
and execution
McCann Worldgroup
As Vice President and Engagement Director, Craig led a 75-person team focused on marketing for Microsoft’s independent software vendor partners across North America, the Caribbean, and Latin America.
Harte Hanks
As VP of Strategy for Tech Markets and VP of Business Development, he developed business process outsourcing solutions and acquisition strategies for the technology business.
Welch Global Consulting
As a Senior Consultant, he advised Cisco and its partner ecosystem on contact center and customer experience solutions, building financial analyses for Fortune 100 leadership teams.
Based in Park City, Utah, Craig holds a BS in Psychology from the University of Cincinnati, with a focus on research psychology and statistics. That grounding in human behavior and quantitative analysis shapes how he approaches organizational change.
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