Pre-Sales Pathways

Chris Clark
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Pre-Sales Pathways is a podcast that showcases highly successful pre-sales professionals and the career paths they've taken. Find out how they got into pre-sales, what their roles involve and what's driven their career success so far. Pre-Sales Pathways is hosted by Chris Clark. Having had a successful career as a Solutions Engineer at companies like Slack, Salesforce and Glean, Chris now helps other pre-sales professionals do the same through coaching and mentoring. You can follow Chris here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-james-clark/

  1. 5d ago

    Richard Barrett, Senior Copilot Solutions Engineer at Microsoft

    Deciding how much to specialise, and when, is one of the biggest choices in an SE's career. I think Richard Barrett’s approach is spot on. Richard has spent almost 17 years working with Microsoft's productivity and collaboration technologies, so you might think he's the archetypal specialist. And yet, alongside that consistency, he's done a real range of roles, from implementation to sales to pre-sales, across very different companies: a boutique SI, a global SI, and now a hyperscaler. In our conversation, we get into: Why it’s important to try different things out, particularly early on in your careerWhat carrying a number taught Richard and why he’d recommend it to other SEsHow a specialist SE role is different to being the only SE on an account If you're weighing up how deep to go versus how broad to stay, this one's for you.

  2. Sep 7

    Gavin Guinane, Head of Solutions Engineering (EMEA) at Glean

    After almost 12 years at Salesforce, Gavin Guinane felt disconnected from the tech, so he left leadership to become an IC again at Glean. Since then, he’s worked on some of the company’s largest and most complex deals, and has built out a local SE team which he now leads. In our conversation, we get into: Why prospects are increasingly demanding production-grade solutions in pre-salesWhat that means demoing, and the type of SE that Glean now hires forHow the whole account team is “shifting to the right” on technical skills and AI fluency If you’re looking to make the move from an established SaaS company to an AI-native start-up or scale-up, this one’s for you.

  3. Sep 1

    Chris Mabry, Head of Community at Iris

    Few people know pre-sales better than Chris. He’s been an IC, a leader, the GM of PreSales Collective and is now Head of Community at Iris. Chris's current role combines evangelism, partnerships, voice of the customer and more. It’s not one you’ll find advertised, Chris crafted it himself. His advice to others looking to do the same? Focus on a problem to solve rather than a specific company or title. In our conversation, we get into: Why ICs can have more power to change things than managers doWhy buyers now arrive as prepared as you are (and what that means for demos)Why relationships and in-person matter more than ever If you like the sound of crafting a role based on a problem space that interests you, you'll want to hear how Chris has done it.

  4. Aug 24

    Niromal Perera, Senior Manager, Slack Product Ecosystem at Salesforce

    In a world of agents and MCP servers, interoperability matters more than ever. Business Development teams are a critical part of that. Niromal Perera, now Senior Manager, Slack Product Ecosystem at Salesforce, was the first SE I knew of to make the move from SE to Business Development (aka Partnerships), almost five years ago. His move was inspired by a deal in 2018, when Atlassian pulled out of the real-time communications market, sold HipChat and Stride to Slack, and took a stake in the company. Since then he's held several roles in Business Development. Most recently, he signed up over 20 partners for the launch of Slackbot's MCP client. In our conversation, we get into: What Business Development actually involves (product, sales, marketing and more)Why the role is a natural fit for SEsHow product knowledge and specialisation can help you land this (and other) lateral moves If you like blending commercial and technical work, but would rather do it with partners than customers, this one's for you.

  5. Aug 16

    Karishma Kothari, Account Executive at Anthropic

    Fear of failure is what stops SEs becoming AEs. Karishma overcame it 7 years ago and is now an AE at the hottest company around: Anthropic. Karishma has had such a varied career, spanning IC and leadership roles in Product, Solutions Engineering and Sales. She’s also been an early team member at iconic companies like Box, Slack and, most recently, Anthropic. In our conversation, we get into: What changes when you move from SE to AE, including the 40% of the deal you never had to think aboutHow selling consumption (rather than seats) changes the nature of the AE and SE rolesWhy chasing titles can lead to you missing out on the biggest career opportunities If you’re weighing up a move from SE to AE or a traditional SaaS vendor to an AI-native/consumption-based business, this one’s for you.

  6. Aug 9

    Molly Elfers & Hannah Hawken: Should I do a coding bootcamp?

    SEs have always come from all sorts of backgrounds, with a wide range in how technical they are. But something has shifted lately. AI-native companies in particular want SEs who don't just explain the technology but are comfortable deploying and customising it as well. If you came into pre-sales from a non-technical background, that shift raises an obvious question. Do you need to upskill technically? And if so, how do you go about it? A coding bootcamp is one answer. But it's a serious commitment of time and money, and the terrain around it has shifted a lot, especially now that AI can write most of the code for you. For this episode of Pre-Sales Pathways I brought together two people who've actually walked this path. Molly Elfers and Hannah Hawken both came from non-technical backgrounds, studied languages, went through coding bootcamps back in 2018, and now work as SEs selling into highly technical buyers. Their journeys have a lot in common, and a few telling differences. We get into: why the real value of a bootcamp is the foundations it gives you, not the code itself, and what that means for how you'd learn the same things todayhow to work out whether you'd actually enjoy the technical work, rather than just whether you're capable of itwhat AI changes about all of this, now that it can write much of the code and the real skill is understanding what it's doing If you're weighing up whether to get more technical, this is a grounded look at what it takes, and the alternatives worth considering before you commit.

  7. Aug 3

    Brian Mazzaferri, Global Head of Solutions Consulting at Rippling

    For a lot of SEs, management looks like the obvious next step. After all, it's what progression is meant to look like. But it isn't a rung on the same ladder. It's a different job, with almost the opposite rewards. As an SE, you're the one delivering the demo and getting the credit. As a leader, your job is to put your team in the spotlight instead. You stop solving problems and start balancing tensions, most of which don't have a clean answer. Plenty of people rush into it, myself included, without really knowing what they're signing up for. My latest guest on Pre-Sales Pathways knows exactly what that shift involves. Brian Mazzaferri went from senior manager to VP of Solutions Consulting at Rippling in a little over two years, and he's honest about what changes at each step. We get into: why you should interview for a leadership role before you feel readyhow a leader's real job is managing the things that don't have a clean answerwhy this career is a jungle gym, not a ladder, and moving back to IC is a great path too If you're weighing up whether management is your next move, this is your chance to hear what it's really like before you commit.

  8. Jul 22

    Max Lüpertz, Business Owner at Presales Rockstars

    If you're an SE who's dreamed of running your own business, AI's made it easier than ever, and your role's already given you a head start. SEs are generalists who sit right at the intersection of product and sales, the two things every business actually runs on. And the barriers keep falling. AI can help you build a first product, or get the kind of legal and finance advice that used to mean an expensive phone call. In theory, it has never been easier to take the plunge. Yet in practice, very few people do. My latest guest on Pre-Sales Pathways is one of those who did. Max left a successful sales career to build his own business coaching SEs on how to demo better. We get into: how he made the transition from pre-sales to sales to founderwhy he spent years building a network before he had anything to sellhow AI is levelling the playing field without replacing the human factor pre-sales is built on If you're excited by the idea of using your pre-sales skills to build a business, this is your chance to hear from someone who's done exactly that.

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About

Pre-Sales Pathways is a podcast that showcases highly successful pre-sales professionals and the career paths they've taken. Find out how they got into pre-sales, what their roles involve and what's driven their career success so far. Pre-Sales Pathways is hosted by Chris Clark. Having had a successful career as a Solutions Engineer at companies like Slack, Salesforce and Glean, Chris now helps other pre-sales professionals do the same through coaching and mentoring. You can follow Chris here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-james-clark/

Information

  • Creator
    Chris Clark
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    19
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Chris Clark
  • Show Website
    Pre-Sales Pathways

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