According to CRN, AWS has launched a new AI Competency focused specifically on agentic AI, which are systems that can perceive, reason, and act with minimal human intervention. The program offers three categories for partners: Agentic AI Applications, Tools, and Consulting Services. AWS has already validated 35 partners for the competency, including major names like Accenture, Capgemini, Databricks, and Snowflake. Partners who achieve it gain access to marketing funds, inclusion in AWS campaigns, and priority access to internal AWS sales teams. Critically, AWS data shows projects with a competency partner launch 30 days faster, and these partners increase the likelihood a customer moves an AI project from proof-of-concept to production by 25 percent.
AWS Doubles Down on Partner Ecosystem
Here’s the thing: AWS isn’t just building AI tools; it’s building an entire marketplace and services layer around them. This competency is a classic AWS playbook move. They create a massive, complex cloud platform, then rely on a vast army of partners to actually implement it for customers. By creating this “stamp of approval,” they’re essentially curating their own elite tier of implementers. It’s a way to manage quality and scale their sales force without actually hiring more people. The sales team gets a vetted shortlist of experts to pull into deals, and customers get a (theoretically) lower-risk path to implementation. It’s a win-win for AWS, really.
The Real Goal: Beyond the POC
Julia Chen from AWS pointed out the core issue: too many companies are just “dabbling” in AI with proof-of-concepts that never go live. That 25% higher likelihood of moving to production is the whole ballgame. AWS doesn’t make its real money on experiments; it makes it on long-term, scaled, production workloads that consume steady compute and storage. This program is a direct attempt to grease the wheels from experimentation to revenue-generating deployment. They’re basically funding and promoting the partners who are best at closing that gap. Think about it—if you’re a CIO and you see a partner with this badge, the message is clear: “We won’t leave you with a cool demo that goes nowhere.” That’s powerful.
What’s in it for the Partners?
For the partners, this isn’t just a plaque on the wall. The benefits are tangible: “marketing development funds,” first dibs on new AWS pilots and programs, and being highlighted to the internal AWS sales force. That last one is huge. Being the go-to partner that an AWS rep recommends during a sales call is a massive lead generation engine. Caylent’s CTO also mentioned priority access to the GenAI Innovation Center and ISV Pods, which lets them work directly with AWS specialists. That kind of insider access can accelerate development cycles dramatically. But it’s not easy to get—AWS subjects applicants to a rigorous third-party review. So it’s meant to be a real filter, not a participation trophy.
The Broader AI Landscape and Why Now
This is also a clear signal about where AWS sees the market going. They had a Generative AI Competency before, but this refocuses it specifically on “agentic” AI. That’s the buzziest of buzzwords right now, pointing to autonomous systems that do more than just generate text or images. AWS is betting that the next wave of enterprise spending will be on these more complex, action-oriented AI agents. By launching this now, they’re positioning their partner network—and by extension, their entire platform—as the foundation for that future. With partners reporting 70%+ win rates on GenAI opportunities, the financial incentive is already there. This competency is AWS’s way of organizing, accelerating, and ultimately capitalizing on that gold rush.
