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/