// about
Matt Roberts
20+ years in the IT Channel. Microsoft 365 from the beginning. Now an independent consultant and the founder of PartnerFlo, writing about what AI and modern workplace technology actually looks like from the inside.
The story so far
I started in IT doing what most of us did: helpdesk, break/fix, servers in cupboards under the stairs. Over time that turned into a career in the IT Channel through VARs, Microsoft partner programmes, pre-sales and delivery, and eventually running workspace solutions at CDW UK.
Microsoft 365 has been my world for the better part of a decade. I've shipped Intune deployments, argued about Autopilot policy sets, explained Conditional Access to sceptical CISOs, and watched Azure AD quietly become Entra ID while everyone else was looking the other way.
Then I took over marketing, which was not a career plan. Our solutions team was as capable as any in the UK, and our marketing had very little idea what those people actually solved for customers. From the inside the gap was obvious. From the outside it looked like a company that could not explain its own work. So I moved across and fixed it. Rebuilding the website and the demand programme around it took traffic up 415% and leads up 680%, and that was not down to clever campaigns. It was down to marketing that finally described the thing being sold. Technologists who can market, and marketers who understand the technology, are rarer than either side admits.
I went independent in 2024, working with system integrators, FTSE-listed enterprises and government organisations on cloud transformation, AI adoption and cybersecurity resilience. That included cyber remediation work on behalf of the National Cyber Security Centre and speaking at Microsoft Ignite, Cisco Live, and Experts Live. I still take advisory work, currently with Microsoft on Copilot PC and with a UK bank on AI adoption for traders.
Then AI got serious. Not the hype cycle. The moment when GitHub Copilot landed in your editor and started actually working, when ChatGPT showed up and broke the internet, when it became clear this wasn't a feature, it was a platform shift.
What changed for me is that I stopped only writing about it. PartnerFlo started as a gap I had lived with for twenty years: channel partner management that nobody had built properly. Deal registration, MDF, commission automation, partner portals. I defined the product, priced it, positioned it, built it end to end across Next.js, TypeScript, AWS, PostgreSQL and Stripe, and took it from concept to a live commercial product on my own. Twenty years ago that would have needed a team and a funding round.
This site came out of the same instinct. I built it myself, deployed it on AWS, and used Claude throughout. That story is very much part of the point.
Career timeline
Present
Independent Consultant, AI and Cloud
Advisory engagements, UK
Advising Microsoft on Copilot PC launches, covering positioning and adoption for the commercial channel. Providing solution architecture advisory services to a UK based bank, covering AI adoption for traders.
Present
Founder & Product Lead
PartnerFlo (partnerflo.io)
Founded and launched a multi-tenant SaaS platform for channel partner management, built from a gap I had lived with across twenty years in the IT channel. Defined the product, positioning, pricing and go-to-market single-handedly, and shipped deal registration, MDF management, commission automation, partner agreements, branded partner portals and analytics. Built end to end using AI-assisted development across Next.js, TypeScript, AWS, PostgreSQL and Stripe, with CRM integrations via REST API and Zapier. Took it from concept to live commercial product, including marketing site, onboarding, trial and billing.
2025 – 2026
Director, Global Alliances & Strategic Partnerships
Robopack
Building Robopack's global partnership architecture across EMEA and North America, enabling the SaaS platform to scale through service providers and system integrators. Launching the reseller and services ecosystem from zero.
2024 – 2025
Independent Consultant
Hybrid Cloud, Copilot & Cybersecurity
Advised system integrators and enterprise organisations on cloud transformation, cybersecurity resilience, and AI adoption. Worked directly with government and FTSE-listed organisations. Cyber remediation advisor for the National Cyber Security Centre. Keynote and panel speaker at Microsoft Ignite, Cisco Live, and Experts Live.
2022 – 2024
Head of Marketing and Partner Alliances
CDW UK
Rebuilt the corporate website and the demand programme around it, delivering a 415% increase in traffic and a 680% increase in leads. Established an in-house digital and creative agency, reducing external agency spend by £1.6m while increasing output. Launched the Office of the CTO go-to-market strategy, creating a new market position and an executive thought leadership programme, and built out the partner alliances function across vendor marketing and co-marketing investment.
2019 – 2022
Head of Workspace Solutions
CDW UK
Led cross-functional pursuit teams across presales, delivery, commercial and partner organisations on multi-million-pound bids. Developed packaged transformation propositions spanning workspace, cloud, security and managed services, shortening deal cycles and improving win rates. Acted as executive sponsor and technical authority in competitive bids, and launched the Future of Work enterprise transformation campaign, contributing directly to pipeline growth across key accounts.
2012 – 2019
Senior Solutions Architect
CDW UK
Seven years architecting Microsoft solutions for enterprise and mid-market customers. Deep technical pre-sales, complex solution design, and a front-row seat to the shift from on-premises to cloud.
Pre-2012
IT Support → Systems Engineer
VAR / Reseller
Hands-on infrastructure work that built the technical foundations: servers, networking, desktop support, and early enterprise deployments. Where most careers in this industry start.