In this episode, we explore groundbreaking innovation in partner collaboration with Mickey Iqbal and Nidhi Gupta, who co-authored the first comprehensive ISV custom lens for the AWS Well-Architected Framework with Snowflake. This landmark achievement covers all seven Well-Architected pillars plus a new joint pillar for data governance and compliance, addressing the critical gap where cross-platform risks often fall through the cracks.

We dive into the challenges of bridging two distinct platforms - AWS infrastructure controls and Snowflake's data layer protections - into one coherent security and governance posture. Mickey and Nidhi share real-world examples of common misconfigurations, like wide-open Snowflake network policies sitting alongside restricted AWS security groups, and how their lens identifies these end-to-end vulnerabilities that neither team catches in isolation.

The conversation reveals how they revolutionized the development process using AI-assisted workflows, compressing what traditionally takes months into just ten weeks while improving quality. We explore the three distinct usage paths: the traditional AWS Well-Architected tool, interactive reviews through Kiro (AWS's AI-powered IDE), and native integration with Snowflake Cortex, meeting customers where they already work.

Particularly fascinating is their approach to cost optimization, showing how Snowflake's consumption model and AWS infrastructure pricing can create unexpected trade-offs, and how proper warehouse consolidation can simultaneously reduce both credit burn and data transfer costs. We also discuss the dedicated sustainability pillar - a first for joint ISV lenses - demonstrating how environmental impact and cost optimization align through smart architectural choices.

The lens has already proven its value in the field, with consulting partners adopting it as a shared framework and customers reporting it saved months of post-migration troubleshooting. This episode showcases a replicable model for deep partner collaboration that goes beyond co-marketing to codified best practices and integrated expertise.

Guests

- Mickey Iqbal - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickeyiqbal

- Nidhi Gupta - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nidhi-gupta-5b80874

Blog co-authors:

- Zahir Gadiwan - https://www.linkedin.com/in/zgadiwan/

- James Sun - https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-sun/

Resources

- Blog Post: https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/architecture/introducing-the-snowflake-and-aws-custom-lens-for-the-aws-well-architected-framework/

Contact: aws-partner-unplugged-podcast-hosts@amazon.com

In this episode, we sit down with Carmen Puccio, Senior Manager of Worldwide Tech Partner Solutions Architecture at AWS, to explore how AWS works strategically with partners to create design wins and production-ready solutions. Carmen brings a unique perspective from his 15-year journey at Associated Press building large-scale systems to his 10 years at AWS working across migration, containers, and now partner solutions architecture.

We dive deep into what makes a successful design win - moving beyond sandbox experiments to validated, production-ready solutions that drive real customer value. Carmen explains how AWS's structured partnership approach delivers faster time to market, AWS validation credibility, and established revenue models at scale, contrasting this with partners working in isolation.

The conversation covers AWS's four strategic pillars for 2026: generative AI and agentic AI (including Agent Core's 2 million SDK downloads in five months), AWS Marketplace evolution with multi-product solutions and partner revenue measurement, technical differentiation through co-engineering, and regional expansion for data sovereignty requirements.

Carmen shares concrete examples from partners like Datadog's EKS add-ons, Workday and PGA Tour's Agent Core implementations, and the transformative impact of AWS Transform reducing modernization timelines by up to 4x. We also explore the new marketplace capabilities that allow partners to bundle multiple products and services, plus the game-changing partner revenue measurement tools launched in January 2026.

For partners listening, Carmen provides clear next steps: work closely with your PSA and PDM teams, leverage your partner plan as a go-to-market foundation, and maintain that crucial two-way conversation with AWS about emerging customer needs and market opportunities.

Contact:

E-mail: aws-partner-unplugged-podcast-hosts@amazon.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmenapuccio/

In this special milestone episode, we celebrate 20 years of Amazon Web Services in our very first video podcast. From the launch of S3 on Pi Day 2006 to today's AI revolution, we explore AWS's incredible journey from a single storage service to a global cloud platform serving 500 trillion objects and 200 million requests per second.

We dive deep into the evolution of the AWS Partner Network, which has grown from 50 partners in 2012 to nearly 150,000 partners globally, generating significant service revenue multipliers for every unit of AWS technology sold. We share inspiring customer stories from Formula One's fan base growth to Pinterest's AI-powered discovery engine serving 600 million users, and highlight breakthrough innovations like in silico medicine's accelerated drug discovery process.

Looking ahead, we discuss AWS's massive AI investments, including Project Rainier's Trainium2 chips, Amazon Bedrock's multi-model approach, and the enormous AI opportunity by 2030. We emphasize that partners who embrace AI now will define the next chapter of cloud computing, echoing Dr. Werner Vogels' Renaissance analogy from his final re:Invent keynote.

This episode captures both the remarkable achievements of the past two decades and the ambitious vision for the future, making it clear that the next 20 years will make the first 20 look like just a warm-up.

In this episode, Igor sits down with Christina, a Senior Customer Solutions Manager (CSM), and Alicia, a Senior Manager, to explore the critical role of CSMs at AWS. They discuss how CSMs help accelerate customer and partner goals through a unique blend of technical expertise and business acumen. The conversation covers the diverse career paths that lead to CSM roles, from consulting and software development to education and healthcare.

Christina and Alicia explain how CSMs operate differently for each customer based on their cloud maturity level - from simple lift-and-shift migrations for nascent customers to complex co-innovation projects with digitally native organizations. They emphasize that success criteria are uniquely defined for each customer, requiring CSMs to understand not just the technical requirements but also the business outcomes and human change management aspects of cloud adoption.

The episode highlights how CSMs serve as trusted advisors who bridge the gap between technology and business, working across AWS's ecosystem to deliver end-to-end customer experiences. With over 600 CSMs worldwide and growing, the role continues to evolve as technology advances, particularly in areas like generative AI and agentic solutions. For partners, CSMs provide the same customer-obsessed approach, helping navigate AWS's complex ecosystem and achieve market success through strategic integrations and early adoption programs.

• Alicia Retzlaff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliciaretzlaff/
• Christina Bucio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christina-bucio-aa329953/
• Igor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/igor-alekseev-b6425835/

Igor sits down with Welly Siauw, Principal Partner Solutions Architect at AWS, to explore the game-changing IAM Temporary Delegations feature that's simplifying how AWS partners onboard and manage customer accounts. They dive deep into how this feature eliminates the friction of traditional onboarding processes, where customers previously had to navigate complex documentation and manually configure IAM roles and permissions. Now, partners can request temporary, limited permissions that customers can review and approve through a streamlined console experience, complete with AI-generated human-readable permission descriptions. The conversation covers advanced patterns like read-only discovery followed by deployment permissions, admin delegation workflows for enterprise environments, and day-two operations for ongoing feature updates. With robust security controls including CloudTrail logging, permission boundaries, and revocation capabilities, this feature represents a new standard for partner-customer trust and operational efficiency. Current adopters include major partners like CrowdStrike, Databricks, Sentinel One, and HashiCorp, with the feature available to ISV Accelerate partners with AWS Marketplace listings.

Guest

**Welly Siauw** - Principal Partner Solutions Architect, AWS

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wellsiau/

Links:

* https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies-temporary-delegation.html

* https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies-temporary-delegation-partner-guide.html

* https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/apn/streamline-customer-onboarding-and-accelerate-time-to-value-with-aws-iam-temporary-delegation/

Igor and Sri kick off 2026 by diving deep into the most significant AWS re:Invent 2025 announcements that are reshaping the cloud landscape. They explore the revolutionary Amazon Nova family expansion, including the multimodal Nova Omni and the game-changing Nova Forge program for custom frontier models. The discussion covers massive infrastructure advances like S3 Vectors supporting 2 billion vectors per index, the powerful Graviton 5 and Trainium 3 Ultra servers, and transformative developer tools like Lambda Durable Functions. They also examine how AWS Transform Custom is revolutionizing legacy modernization, cutting execution times by 80% and transforming mainframe applications from years-long projects into months-long initiatives. This episode provides partners with essential insights into leveraging these innovations for building, scaling, and transforming their cloud solutions.

blog link: https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/top-announcements-of-aws-reinvent-2025/

Sri: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sraghavan24/

Igor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/igor-alekseev-b6425835/