The New Security Stack: Platforms, Partners, and AI-Driven Innovation Ft. Michael Khoury, Palo Alto Networks

Most companies building a GCC in India begin with execution and earn product ownership later. At isolved, that order is reversed. On this episode of the Zinnov Podcast, host Ravi Darbha sat down with Pragya Gupta, Chief Operating Officer, isolved and Amy Mosher, Chief People Officer, isolved, the HCM company opening its first center outside the United States in Hyderabad in 2026. Their framing for that center is an office of equals. Every function is staffed to its fullest, full-stack development and product ownership included, and every team is measured on the same outcomes as its US counterpart. The conversation covers why isolved waited until 2026 rather than 2016, how a four-decade-old company is standing up an R&D-led center from day one, where AI agents already run inside R&D and support operations, and why Amy Mosher argues that retention was never really about compensation. On this Zinnov Podcast episode, isolved's Pragya Gupta and Amy Mosher describe building the company's first India GCC in Hyderabad as an office of equals: an R&D-led center with full-stack development and product ownership from day one, AI agents kept inside a human-in-the-loop workflow, and outcome metrics held consistent across the US and India. Amy Mosher makes the case that retention depends on a holistic employee experience rather than compensation.  Tune in now. 

Every box on a shelf, every label on a bottle, every pouch in your pantry passed through a world most of us never think about. It's a business of wafer-thin margins, nonstop production lines, and zero room for error, and right now, AI is turning it upside down. In this episode, Nitika Goel, CMO and Managing Partner, Zinnov, sits down with Chuck Schneider, CEO of Amtech Software, whose systems run more than 1,250 packaging plants around the world. Chuck opens up about betting big on AI (every single employee now has an AI goal), and what it really takes to lead through relentless change. Along the way, he shares how growing up on an island of 37 people shaped his leadership style, why he's the last one to speak in the room, and the one thing that still keeps him up at night. It's a candid look at technology, culture, and staying ahead — with a masala dosa detour along the way. Tune in now.

In an AI-led world where workflows are getting commoditized and customer expectations are rising, what truly separates companies that live customer centricity from those that use it as lip service?   For Sarv Saravanan, Chief Customer Officer at Commvault, the answer lies in designing customer experience as an end-to-end operating model - one that connects product, engineering, partners, AI, and leadership around customer outcomes.   In this episode of the Zinnov Podcast, Sarv joins Nitika Goel, Managing Partner & CMO, Zinnov, to discuss how customer experience is being redefined for speed, trust, and resilience.   Sarv shares why customer centricity cannot sit in isolated functions or rely on bolt-on tools, but must be built into the product, operating model, partner ecosystem, and leadership culture. He also explores how AI is simplifying customer journeys, improving self-service, and empowering teams to focus on higher-value outcomes, while underscoring the need for governance, security, and trust. The conversation also examines how mature GCCs are strengthening customer proximity through faster product feedback, cross-functional collaboration, and outcome delivery.   Tune in for a sharp conversation on what it takes to make customer centricity real in the AI era.

Enterprises have never been more committed to AI, yet many are still struggling to translate that investment into measurable business value. For Dinesh Venugopal, CEO of Tenarai, this wasn't just an industry trend. It was showing up in conversations with business and technology leaders every day. He saw a massive opportunity to help enterprises accelerate their AI journey. After three decades as Infogain, the company reinvented itself as Tenarai, shifting from a traditional engineering services model to one built around AI squads, forward-deployed engineers, and outcome-based delivery. In this episode of Zinnov Podcast, Pari Natarajan, CEO of Zinnov, sits down with Dinesh at our New York office to discuss what prompted that shift, why so many enterprise AI initiatives never move beyond pilots, and what it actually takes to transform your own company before helping customers transform theirs. Tune in now.

There may be 400 million SMBs in the world, but there is no such thing as a typical SMB. That's what makes the segment so difficult and so valuable. From AI adoption and cybersecurity to marketplaces, partner ecosystems, and hyper-local go-to-market strategies, SMBs operate by a different set of rules than enterprises. What works for one business, industry, or geography may not work for another, making SMBs one of the most complex markets to understand and serve. In this episode of Zinnov Podcast, Kristine Henley, WW Head, Public Sector Partner Core at AWS, joins Rajat Kohli, Partner, Zinnov, to explore how SMBs are evolving, why many companies still misunderstand the segment, and what leaders need to do differently to build and scale successfully in the SMB market. Tune in now.

The partner ecosystem is changing. As AI reshapes enterprise technology and customers demand faster business outcomes, traditional partnership models built around co-marketing and channel reach are being challenged. In this episode of #ZinnovPodcast, Rajat Kohli, Partner at Zinnov, speaks with Alyssa Fitzpatrick, GVP, Partner Sales at Elastic, to discuss how partner ecosystems are evolving and what it takes to stay relevant in an increasingly competitive landscape. Together, they explore: • Why the future is customer-led, not partner-led • How AI is changing the way partner ecosystems are built • Why co-innovation is becoming more important than co-marketing and co-selling • The challenge of differentiation when every partner looks like an A+ player • How leading organizations identify and invest in the right ecosystem partners • The growing role of enablement, managed services, and ecosystem collaboration Whether you're a partner leader, alliance manager, technology executive, ecosystem builder, or GTM strategist, this episode offers valuable insights into the future of partnerships and ecosystem-led growth. Tune in now.

Enterprises today are managing increasingly complex cybersecurity environments across cloud, AI systems, applications, endpoints, and enterprise networks. As AI adoption accelerates, organizations are under pressure to secure AI-driven environments while responding to faster and more sophisticated threats. In this episode of the Zinnov Podcast, Rajat Kohli, Partner, Zinnov speaks with Michael Khoury, Vice President, Global Ecosystem Partners, Palo Alto Networks, about the shift from point products to platform-led cybersecurity strategies and what it means for enterprises, partners, MSSPs, hyperscalers, and global system integrators. Michael Khoury shares perspectives on how enterprises are navigating cybersecurity complexity in an AI-first world, and how ecosystem models are evolving alongside it. The conversation explores: • Why AI is accelerating platform-led cybersecurity • The rise of MSSPs and cloud marketplaces as key routes to market • How enterprises are reducing security complexity through platformization • What differentiates advanced ecosystem partners in the AI era Tune in now.

Every day, millions of people navigate cities through a maze of apps, systems, and decisions - yet urban mobility remains one of the most fragmented and complex challenges cities face today. As cities grow denser and regulations, infrastructure, and mobility systems become increasingly disconnected, the pressure to keep cities moving efficiently continues to rise. Behind all of this lies an invisible intelligence layer that determines whether urban mobility works seamlessly or breaks down at scale. In this episode, Amita Goyal, Managing Partner at Zinnov, sits down with Arrive’s Chief Operating Officer, Jérôme Selva, and Chief Technology Officer, Sandesh Bhat, to unpack how global mobility systems are built and scaled across 90 countries and 20,000 cities. From orchestrating movement at the Paris Olympics to building frictionless, AI-driven mobility experiences, the conversation explores what it takes to connect cities, systems, and users at scale. The discussion also dives into why India is emerging as a critical innovation hub and how talent will shape the future of urban mobility. If you’re interested in systems thinking, global platforms, and building for real-world complexity, this episode offers a front-row view into the future of how cities move. Tune in now.

The tech services industry is being forced into a reset. AI is changing how work gets done, how it is priced, and how value is measured. For private equity investors and tech services leaders, the impact is already visible. Delivery is getting automated, costs are coming down, and revenue models built on billable hours are under pressure. So the real question is: how do you create and capture value when execution itself is being commoditized? In this episode of the Zinnov Podcast, Jeff Rich, Operating Partner at Sunstone Partners, joins Sidhant Rastogi, President at Zinnov, to break down how the AI transformation of tech services is reshaping growth, margins, and exit outcomes. Jeff brings a rare operator + investor perspective, having helped scale a tech services company into a multi-billion-dollar business. He now works closely with portfolio companies across cloud, data engineering, and AI services. In this conversation, we cover why outcome-based pricing is still hard to implement in tech services, how AI agents and agentic architectures are changing enterprise workflows, and why vertical and workflow-level expertise is becoming critical. We also explore the reality of AI-driven commoditization and what it means for services firms, along with the growth versus liquidity trade-off and how it impacts valuation and exit timing. A key takeaway is that AI usage does not matter unless it shows up in revenue growth, margin expansion, or EBITDA. This episode is especially relevant for private equity investors, founders, and leaders of tech services companies navigating the shift to an AI-driven market. Tune in for a grounded, no-hype perspective on what it takes to build, scale, and exit in the next phase of technology services.

Over the past decade, hyperscalers have grown at extraordinary speed. But behind that growth sits a quieter transformation: the evolution of the partner ecosystems that enable it. Building an ecosystem is not a one-time strategy. It is a continuous process of adaptation as technology shifts, customer expectations evolve, and entirely new categories of partners emerge.  In this episode of the Zinnov Podcast, Pallab Deb, Managing Director, SI & Industry GTM Partnerships, Google Cloud, joins Rajat Kohli, Partner, Zinnov, to unpack what it takes to build and scale a partner-led platform business.  Pallab brings experience from both sides of the ecosystem. After nearly two decades in the system integrator world, he joined Google Cloud and witnessed how partner models evolve as platforms reach enterprise scale. At Google Cloud, that journey has been shaped by a deliberate partner-first approach.  The conversation explores how hyperscalers think about ecosystem strategy, the friction points that emerge as partner networks scale, and the new types of partners beginning to shape the next phase of enterprise transformation. Tune in now.