Manufacturing the Future Theresa Caragol & Brenda Nobleza on How Partners Accelerate Digital Transformation
Meet Theresa Caragol & Brenda Nobleza
In a special episode of Manufacturing the Future, Theresa Caragol, Founder & CEO of AchieveUnite, shared a powerful insight about the changing landscape of business relationships: "I do fundamentally believe we are entering the era of partners and the organizations that partner the best will be the most successful long term." Brenda Nobleza, VP of Channel Sales at Epicor, reinforced this vision, explaining that "our manufacturing customers, they're not just looking for software, they're looking for solutions, they're looking for partnership, they're looking for a joint investment in their company and their growth." Together, they unpack what it takes to build channel partnerships that truly drive growth in manufacturing.
Manufacturing companies are looking for partners who will align with their strategy and become part of the team taking them to the next level. The old transactional model of channel relationships is giving way to strategic partnerships where vendors, partners, and customers collaborate to solve complex business problems, accelerate digital transformation, and leverage emerging technologies like AI.
AchieveUnite emerged from Theresa's desire to balance global business leadership with family life, evolving from consulting work into a company that now employs a team of experts focused on partner performance and channel consulting. Meanwhile, Epicor is undergoing its own transformation, embracing partners more than ever and creating a culture of team selling across the organization.
In This Episode
Throughout the episode, both leaders emphasize that successful partnerships require cultural alignment, transparency, and mutual investment. They discussed the importance of focusing on business outcomes rather than transactions, the role of AI in partner enablement, and why trust has become an essential currency in modern business. For manufacturing leaders, the message is clear: the ecosystem you build through partnerships can become as strategic an asset as your products themselves.
Topics- Understanding why investing in long-term partnerships achieves higher revenues and profitability than focusing on transactions.
- The Partnership Intelligence framework and how identifying trust-building styles accelerates and partner success.
- Why cultural alignment is the number one criterion when selecting new channel partners for manufacturing technology companies.
- How transparent communication and mutual goal-setting create the foundation for trusted relationships between vendors and partners.
- The evolution from direct vs indirect sales models to collaborative ecosystems where multiple partners co-create customer solutions.
- Why manufacturers benefit when vendors have strong partner networks that deliver faster, more agile, and flexible solutions.
- How AI is transforming partner enablement through personalized content delivery, training certifications, and improved processes.
- The importance of mentoring emerging talent and creating career paths that develop future leaders in manufacturing technology.
- Shifting organizational culture from product-focused to partnership-focused mentality through top-down leadership.
- Why business outcomes rather than technology features should drive partnerships between vendors, partners, and customers.
- Partnering Success: The Force Multiplier to Achieve Exponential Growth by Theresa Caragol
- Good to Great by Jim Collins
- Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore
- Mindshift by Barbara Oakley
- National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD