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When Will Black joined Skematic as VP of AWS and Partner Engineering, he brought with him more than two decades of experience in IT, cybersecurity, and AI. He also brought a belief that partnership complexity shouldn't slow down innovation.
“I’ve seen the evolution of AI from curiosity to utility to orchestration,” Will says. “Now we’re in the era of agents—purpose-built AI that helps people actually do things. That’s where Skematic lives.”
Will’s career journey started in an unexpected place: archaeology and linguistic software. A chance UNIX admin role, despite having never touched UNIX, launched him into IT. From there, he built a career in cybersecurity with companies like Preventsys and McAfee, then pivoted to AI consulting at Accenture and Insight. Along the way, he developed deep expertise in AWS infrastructure, security best practices, and the practical hurdles that keep fast-growing SaaS companies from reaching their full potential in the cloud.
At Skematic, Will’s mission is to help software companies navigate the often overwhelming AWS partner journey. That starts with the foundational technical review (FTR), a key prerequisite to unlocking AWS programs like Marketplace listings and co-sell opportunities.
“People delay the FTR because it feels like a monster,” Will explains. “But in reality, it’s just enforcing good security hygiene. IAM, logging, S3 bucket protections—these are things you should be doing anyway.”
He approached the FTR with serious dedication, even printing out the entire guidebook and highlighting it by hand. That intensity paid off. Under Will’s leadership, Skematic cleared over 100 AWS security benchmark controls in record time, laying the foundation for ISV Accelerate status before re:Invent.
Will believes the value of AI comes from what it can do, not what it promises.
“Startups don’t need a lab experiment. They need AI that helps them move faster, work smarter, and scale without adding headcount,” he says.
Skematic’s AI agents do exactly that. They assess AWS readiness, guide users through partner milestones, and automatically surface next steps. Whether a company is aiming for co-build, Marketplace listing, or co-sell acceleration, the platform adapts to meet them where they are.
“Instead of spending hours on documentation or spreadsheets, our users get real-time visibility and intelligent recommendations. That’s what AI should be doing—augmenting human effort.”
As Skematic moves closer to ISV Accelerate and expands its AI-led roadmap, Will is focused on building systems that make intelligent automation the norm for cloud partnerships.
“It's exciting to work with a team that’s fast, collaborative, and focused on real outcomes,” he says. “We’re not just checking boxes. We’re helping startups unlock growth by design.”
Want to see what Will's helping us build? Get your Partnership Skematic here.
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