CHANNEL CHIEF
ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY
KAHINA ANSEUR , Channel and Alliance Manager – Middle East and
Africa, ServiceNow, has extensive experience in IT after deciding to change
her career path. Intelligent Tech Channels spoke to her about her memorable
achievements, her career in technology and her managerial style.
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Describe your current job
role and the parts that are
somewhat challenging?
As Channel and Alliance Manager for the
Middle East, I am responsible for developing
and maintaining business relationships with
partners to help them thrive; identifying
opportunities for new partnerships;
strengthening existing relationships and
collaborations; developing and executing
business plans for strategic growth and
training and developing channel partner
sales teams.
A key part of my role is mapping the
channel partner strategy to our corporate
strategy, keeping in mind the uniqueness
of the market we operate in. This involves
identifying adjacencies as well as our
differences and finding the middle ground
between two corporations. As such, the
biggest challenge is playing the role of
mediator and educating and enabling
both parties to understand each other
and driving a proactive partnership with
minimal potential conflicts, all with the
goal of increasing our share of wallet and
enabling our customers to deploy digital
workflows that create great experiences
and unlock productivity.
When you look back at your
career what has been the most
memorable achievement?
I am a law graduate, so being able to build a
strong and successful career in IT, that was
not part of my education, is something I am
extremely proud of.
I have been privileged and lucky to have
worked in several global markets, from
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the Middle East and some of the emerging
markets, all the way to North America
(specifically Canada). Each stop has given me
the opportunity to learn a lot about different
cultures and build professional networks that
are helping me be successful in my role today.
Specifically, I have always built very
strong channel ecosystems and helped
several channel partners to thrive and grow
their business, which is another achievement
I am very proud of.
Kahina Anseur, Channel and Alliance Manager –
Middle East and Africa, ServiceNow
What made you think of a career
in technology?
The truth is that a career in technology was
never part of my plan. I graduated from Law
University in Algeria and my original plan
was to pursue a career in Law. However, due
to challenges in Algeria, I decided to live in
Dubai. At the time I spoke no English so I had
to work hard to improve my English just so I
could get a job.
The first ‘real’ job I got was working for
HP as a call centre agent for the services
team, despatching engineers and managing
some mission critical contracts. The rest as
they say is history.
What style of management
philosophy do you employ at
your current position?
Every management style has its pros and
cons, so I try not to adopt a specific style
and instead, I prefer to adapt my style to the
situation I am faced with.
However, I do have an underlying
approach in all my dealings and interactions
and that is being democratic and consultative.
I believe in the philosophy of two heads are
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