dbt Labs is shifting its focus from pure product momentum to building a stronger partner ecosystem. The company has
rolled out a redesigned global program with formal tiers, a unified engagement model, and greater investment in enablement. The intent is to give partners clearer ways to engage and differentiate, while helping customers see value faster.
A Structured Approach to Partner Engagement
The program creates three tiers - Visionary, Advanced, and Registered - designed for Consulting & Services and Technology partners. All four strategic partner types (Data & AI Platform, Consulting & Services, Technology, and Reseller) now align under a global structure. This standardization aims to remove ambiguity around partner expectations and benefits, ensuring that engagement models look the same across regions.
“The new structured tiers and unified go-to-market models give partners a clearer and more predictable way to compete,”
Shawn Toldo, Vice President, Worldwide Partner Ecosystem at dbt Labs told ChannelE2E.
“Consulting & Services Firms, Technology Partners, and Resellers can now differentiate themselves by the capabilities they’ve built, the certifications they’ve earned, and the customer outcomes they deliver with dbt. This structure rewards the partners who make real investments in enablement and customer success, allowing them to distinguish themselves in the market with proven expertise and measurable impact.”
Balancing Scale and Selectivity
dbt Labs has seen strong momentum, with Marketplace transactions up 190% year-over-year and partner portal applications increasing more than 300% over historical weekly averages. To balance this surge of interest with long-term value for partners, the new program leans heavily on structured tiers.
“The surge in interest reflects both dbt Labs’ momentum and the explosive growth in data and AI,” said Toldo. “That’s why the partner tiers are so important; they focus on the partners who invest in dbt Labs. Tiered partners will be certified, capable, and recognized for the expertise and impact they bring, ensuring they receive greater visibility and access to opportunities. At the same time, by being present across four major marketplaces, we give customers the freedom to choose the platform that best fits their needs, expanding opportunity for partners while maintaining consistency in the value we deliver.”
Strategic Alliances with AWS and Snowflake
The partner program rollout also underscores dbt Labs’ broader strategy of deepening alliances with major cloud platforms. With AWS, a new strategic collaboration agreement will expand dbt integrations across Amazon Redshift, Athena, and SageMaker Lakehouse, while broadening AWS Marketplace access for customers. On the Snowflake side, dbt Labs’ Fusion engine will be embedded directly into Snowflake dbt Projects, allowing users to run dbt-native workflows inside Snowflake’s environment.
“Our expanded collaborations with AWS and Snowflake create a strong foundation for partners to participate in joint opportunities across the leading cloud ecosystems,” said Toldo. “We’re aligning incentives in several ways: by helping customers meet their existing cloud commitments, by ensuring our sales teams are rewarded for prioritizing marketplace transactions, and by reducing friction in customer procurement through simplified marketplace purchasing. In addition, with funding, we are supporting migrations and deployments that accelerate time-to-value. This enables customers to realize faster adoption of dbt while giving partners the opportunity to drive new use cases and expand customer success.”
Building for Scale
dbt Labs has passed the $100M ARR milestone this year, with sharp increases in partner engagement and customer demand. The new ecosystem program is designed to capture that momentum by offering partners a more consistent framework, stronger joint investment, and direct ways to expand their role in enterprise data transformation.
