About

About Me

A native of South Bend, Indiana, Jeffrey Thomas Ballard is currently the senior—director of the Partners & Alliances Program at Aerospike. A Global Marketing Executive to the core, he brings a plethora of knowledge, vast industry experience, and a sense of astute professionalism. Currently residing in Westfield, Indiana, along with his wife Vicki and their two pet dogs, he has left an indelible impact on the industry with his strategic approach and hands-on experience that fuels organizational growth, revenue, and market share.

Professional Background

His expertise in driving revenue and market share through new products, channels, and markets worldwide is quickly evident in his positions across various organizations. Focusing on developing channels and building alliances, he has established innovative go-to-market partner programs that foster sales development, technical enablement, and demand generation.

Before his current engagement at Aerospike, he served as IBM’s Senior Director of Partners and Alliances in their Cloud division, where he drove several successful partner development initiatives. Prior to IBM, he served as the Market and Channel Development lead for Kofax Solutions at EOH, a South African Distributor. In Ballard’s past roles, Thomas has worked with multiple high-value and emerging technology companies, such as Seagate Software, Symantec, FileNet, Kofax, and more.

Known for launching successful products, opening new markets, developing distribution channels, and enhancing customer loyalty, Jeff has leveraged his expertise and strategic marketing insight to help Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), Value-Added Resellers (VARs), and Service Providers expand their business operations.

Education and Skills

He holds a communications degree from Valparaiso University. His core competencies include strategic go-to-market elements, such as channel marketing, product marketing, sales enablement, industry marketing, international market development, demand generation programs, and customer engagement. He has also demonstrated a knack for successful team building and leadership.

Accomplishments

Throughout his career, he has been involved in various successful business ventures. He founded a full-service marketing agency supporting early-stage and high-growth technology companies and has launched dozens of products. His 10-year stint at IBM and another two decades of working with high-growth companies and startups are a testament to his industry equals, proving his capability to drive business growth. In addition, he has made his mark as an influential speaker at conferences and events globally, as well as on numerous podcasts and webinars, highlighting his role as a sought-after subject matter expert in marketing, customer engagement, marketing strategies, personal development, and tiki culture. 

His diversified career includes extensive experience and achievement across a variety of areas and industries. Over the past few decades, Jeffrey’s efforts have driven business for many emerging, mature, high-growth companies in everything from financial services, insurance, and telecom to manufacturing, retail, ad tech, and even across government organizations. His broad range of hi-tech cloud, software, and hardware products, services, and distribution – provided across the entire marketing spectrum of channels, product marketing, and marketing communications – have continually unlocked opportunities and empowered growth for businesses across numerous sectors, setting his apart as a go-to in his field. 

Thomas’s most notable accomplishments include not only building hundreds of channel partner relationships and launching numerous growth-driving products but also the following: 

• They created an innovative partner development program that IBM, Aerospike, and hundreds of IT service organizations globally currently use.

• Production and leadership of a cutting-edge marketing strategy core to Artisoft’s achieving the 39th fastest-growing company status and highly successful IPO.

• Production and hosting of a COVID-era webcast series that, for two years, helped artists, musicians, and business owners in the Polynesian Pop community reach and sell to their audience during and after lockdown.

Additionally, Thomas now manages and maintains Tikicomber, a personal app with over 1100 subscribers. It enables users to collect and share the venues, artists, people, and experiences of their journey across the Tiki community.

Personal Life

Although devoted to his professional life, he balances fulfilling hobbies and an endearing affinity for tiki culture. He enjoys various DIY home projects (particularly those linked to his home tiki bar), photography, and scuba diving. A passionate sports enthusiast, he enjoys watching Notre Dame football, Los Angeles Lakers, and Miami Dolphins games. His interests extend to pop culture, with a specific love for music, films, and more.

Beyond his pursuits, Jeffrey Thomas Ballardis is deeply invested in his local community. His charitable involvement includes providing marketing and photography services for nonprofits such as the ALS Association of Orange County, the Karaffa Business Academy for Women in Nairobi, Kenya, WETAfrica in Johannesburg, South Africa, and the Women’s Information Network in the US. Furthermore, he has served on the boards of the Irvine High School Boosters and Harvard Square Homeowners Association.