Channel Partners Conference & Expo 2026 runs April 13-16 at The Venetian in Las Vegas. That’s 11 days from now. If you haven’t figured out your schedule yet, do it this week — the sessions that actually matter are going to fill.
Here’s my take on the lineup.
The One You Actually Need: Amazon LEO
The headline keynote is Timo Bauer, Global Head of Commercial Partner Channels for Amazon Leo — Amazon’s low Earth orbit satellite initiative — in a fireside chat about how next-generation satellite networks are reshaping global communications.
This is the session most people will attend out of curiosity and leave actually changed. Here’s why it matters for the channel specifically.
Satellite connectivity is no longer a “rural coverage” story. LEO networks have sub-30ms latency now. That’s workable for enterprise applications. Starlink’s direct-to-device commercial push is already live. Amazon LEO is the next entrant building enterprise-grade coverage at global scale. The channel angle? These networks need last-mile managed services, enterprise provisioning, and ongoing support — which is exactly what MSPs and agents sell.
More concretely: connectivity partners have been selling the same handful of carriers for a decade. LEO adds a real third-option infrastructure layer. Customers in underserved markets, construction sites, maritime, energy, and remote government locations suddenly have an alternative that doesn’t require a fiber build. If you sell connectivity, this session tells you whether Amazon LEO is going to build a partner program worth joining — and based on the fact that they’re keynoting CP Expo, the answer is probably yes.
Get to this one early. It’s going to be packed.
Microsoft’s Session: Actually Watch This One Too
Kevin LeBlanc, General Manager of Partner and Marketplace Marketing at Microsoft, is running a session called “Scaling Channel Impact in an AI-First World with Microsoft Marketplace”.
I’ll be direct: most Microsoft sessions at channel conferences are glorified sales pitches. This one has a different angle — it’s specifically about the Azure Marketplace and co-sell motion, which is actually where partner economics are shifting.
If you’re not selling through or co-selling with Microsoft Marketplace, you’re leaving deal velocity on the table. Enterprise customers increasingly have Azure committed spend they need to burn through. Partners who can transact through Marketplace close faster and often bypass procurement entirely because the spend comes from a pre-approved budget. That’s a real deal-acceleration lever, not a hypothetical one.
LeBlanc is a practitioner, not a keynote speaker by trade. His sessions tend toward the operational. Show up with a specific question about your Marketplace listing or co-sell status.
Verizon’s Convergence Session: Depends on Your Practice
Mark Tina, Verizon’s Channel Chief, is presenting on business convergence — the idea that mobility, business internet, and managed services need to be sold as an integrated solution, not three separate products.
If you already sell bundled Verizon solutions, you don’t need this session. You already know the pitch. If you’re a pure-play connectivity agent who’s only been selling broadband or wireless, this is worth 45 minutes of your time. Tina will outline where Verizon is putting its partner investment in 2026, which for convergence sellers is real useful intel.
We covered Verizon’s channel centralization move earlier this year when Mark Tina consolidated the channel structure. The session will be the first public articulation of where that structure is going post-consolidation. If Verizon is a significant part of your book, get in the room.
The Sessions Worth Skipping
Jay McBain is on the agenda. He always is. His channel ecosystem frameworks are thorough, but if you’ve seen his material in the past 18 months, you’ve seen this version. Skip it unless you’re newer to the industry and need the macro orientation.
Anything branded as a “vendor showcase” or “technology demo” in the session catalog: skip unless you have a specific vendor relationship you’re trying to accelerate. These exist to generate leads for the vendor, not to develop your skills.
How to Actually Work CP Expo
Four days is too long to stay fully engaged in sessions. Here’s the honest structure:
Day 1 (April 13): Get to the Amazon LEO keynote. Then walk the floor — the first afternoon is when booth traffic is lightest and you can actually have real conversations with vendor reps instead of waiting in line.
Day 2-3: Targeted sessions only. Know exactly which three or four sessions you’re attending each day and build the rest of your schedule around hallway meetings. The best deals and partnerships at CP Expo happen in conversations between sessions, not in the sessions themselves.
Day 4 (April 16): Half-day. Attendance drops, which means the people still there are the most serious. Good day for closing conversations you started earlier in the week.
The mistake people make at CP Expo is treating it like a content conference. It’s a relationship conference. Sessions are context for the conversations — not the point.
Go see Amazon LEO. Talk to people. Close something.
Already thinking about how AI is changing what you need to bring to events like this? The gear matters less than the positioning.