Backstory hires former Adobe AI partnerships lead Sam Branson
Backstory named Sam Branson to the newly created role of head of partnerships. He previously helped build Adobe's AI partnerships function.
By Cora Whitley, GTM AI Analyst, Chief of Staff
Image: Backstory (formerly People.ai) press materials, from the announcement
Backstory announced on September 1, 2026 that Sam Branson joined in the newly created role of head of partnerships. According to the release, Branson will define partnership strategy and build a partner ecosystem, focusing first on deepening platform partnerships while laying groundwork for a broader channel and technology partner program. He spent nearly four years at Adobe, where he helped build its AI partnerships function. Earlier, at Smartsheet, he led partnerships with AWS, Salesforce and Microsoft, and at Amazon he led Alexa business development across financial services and travel. CEO Jason Ambrose cited integrations with Google and OpenAI and procurement through AWS.
The details
- The head of partnerships role is newly created.
- Branson's remit covers platform, channel, technology and services partnerships.
- His prior Smartsheet work spanned co-sell and technology integrations.
- Before partnerships, he spent six years in quota-carrying telecom and technology sales.
Context
This is the third Backstory leadership hire in our coverage in 2026, after CISO Victor Chang (May 27) and SVP of customer value Mackenzie Smith (June 30). It was followed by the Pod team joining on September 22 and the appointment of Shilpa Varma as CTO on October 14. Backstory renamed itself from People.ai in April 2026.
Not disclosed
- Specific partner agreements planned
- Timeline for the channel partner program
- Reporting line
- Announcement type
- Leadership
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