Brendan O'Connor
CEO & Founder, The Brushton Group
About Brendan
25+ Years Building Revenue Engines Across Technology, Partnerships, and Global Markets
Brendan O'Connor is the CEO and Founder of The Brushton Group, a strategy consulting firm that helps technology companies build the revenue infrastructure, partnerships, and commercial models they need to scale. His career spans engineering, venture capital, and 18 years of senior leadership at Microsoft, followed by executive roles at Cisco and Sage. He brings field-tested expertise to every client engagement.
Across his career, Brendan has designed and scaled partner ecosystems in 23 countries, built ISV partnerships that generated $500M+ in revenue, architected incentive programs supporting a $1B+ budget, drove 900% growth in a hyperscaler partnership, delivered $103M in annual commercial impact through Deal Desk restructuring at Microsoft, and led strategic alliance initiatives that changed how technology companies go to market.
He founded The Brushton Group to bring this enterprise-grade expertise to technology companies of all sizes, helping them build the partnership ecosystems, commercial models, and revenue infrastructure that drive scalable, repeatable growth.
Built for revenue leaders who need to scale.
Helping CROs, partnership leaders, and boards architect growth across three pillars: partner strategy, cloud alliances, and commercial architecture. Operator-led execution, not theory.
EXECUTIVE EXPERIENCE FROM WORKING FOR SOME OF THE MOST PROMINENT GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES
1998 – 2016
2016 – 2018
2022 – 2025Career Timeline
Professional Experience
For detailed case studies, results, and full career narrative → brendanoconnor.net
CEO & Founder
The Brushton Group
Strategic consulting for cloud and SaaS companies including Microsoft and Intuit. Focus on partnership architecture, revenue infrastructure, and commercial model design for companies at every stage of growth.
Senior Director, Global Alliances & Partners, Sage Software, Plc.
Sage
Negotiated a 5-year, multi-million dollar Strategic Collaboration Agreement with AWS. Drove 900% co-sell revenue growth in a single year.
Director, ISV Partnership Strategy, Sage Software, Plc.
Created and led the company's ISV partner market and product development strategy, generating $350M+ in incremental revenue for a 3-5 year period that is standard operating procedure for Sage today.
Executive Director, Offer Monetization Office
Cisco
Co-developed Cisco's first Enterprise Agreement model and designed the sales playbook for hardware-focused GSIs to sell enterprise software licensing, creating the GTM foundation for the company's first global GSI EA channel.
Senior Director, Enterprise Partner Incentives
Microsoft
Led Microsoft's $1B+ global partner incentive budget during the cloud-first transformation. Launched the first Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) model. Drove a 161% increase in EA and cloud adoption.
Director, Licensing Strategy & Business Desk
Microsoft (Dynamics Division)
Founded Microsoft Dynamics' first Deal Desk for a $1.4B business unit. Restructured renewal and discounting practices for a combined $103M annual commercial impact.
Senior Manager, Licensing Programs / EA Architect
Microsoft
Co-architected Licensing 6.0 and the original Enterprise Agreement, setting the global standard for enterprise software licensing. Directed market intelligence across six countries, boosting EA revenue by 13%.
Program Manager
Ben Franklin Technology Center (now Innovation Works)
Managed a $6M early-stage technology investment portfolio across western Pennsylvania. Sourced the early Challenge Grant investment in FreeMarkets Online, which later IPO'd with a 440% first-day gain and grew into a $4.3B acquisition chain.
Senior Engineer
Westinghouse Savannah River Company
Managed critical-path startup operations as one of 6 Lead Engineers for a $400M classified national security project at one of the Department of Energy's largest nuclear facilities. Engineering-trained and operations-first.
Education
M.S., Industrial Administration (MBA Equivalent)
Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business
B.S., Mechanical Engineering
Carnegie Mellon University
Recognition
U.S. Patent: "Emphasizing Search Results According to Conceptual Meaning" (No. 8,209,321), Microsoft Corporation, 2012
Microsoft Gold Star Award, 2006, 2009, 2015
Top Quota Achievement Award, 181% attainment in strategic partnerships, 2019
Global Reach
Brendan has led channel and partnership initiatives across 23 countries spanning North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.
Work With Brendan