The Value of a Presales Academy with Rob Fallon

Rob Fallon, Director, Americas SE Strategy & Associate Program at Nutanix, has built presales academy programs at both Dell EMC and Nutanix, joins the show to discuss the strategic importance of creating structured training programs for presales professionals. Rob shares his experience transforming Dell's 12-week boot camp into a comprehensive academy and building Nutanix's current 18-month-old program from the ground up. The conversation tackles the "inverted pyramid" problem that plagues many SE organizations—being too heavy with expensive senior talent and lacking junior pipeline—and why most companies struggle to fix it.

The discussion covers the business case for academies, how to secure executive sponsorship and funding, the structure of successful two-year programs, and why hiring for technical curiosity and grit matters more than existing technical knowledge.

Follow Us

• Connect with Jack Cochran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackcochran/

• Connect with Rob Fallon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robfallon/

Links and Resources Mentioned

• Join Presales Collective Slack: https://www.presalescollective.com/slack

• Sol/Con 2026 (Chicago, August 2026): https://www.presalescollective.com/solcon-2026

• Contact Rob: rob.fallon@nutanix.com

Key Topics Covered

1. The Inverted Pyramid Problem: Why SE Organizations Over-Hire Senior Talent

2. Executive Sponsorship and Funding: Getting Buy-In for Long-Term Investment

3. The Two-Year Academy Program Structure at Nutanix

4. Hiring for Technical Curiosity, Communication, and Grit Over Knowledge

5. Why Field Integration and Manager Engagement Are Critical to Success

6. How Academy Associates Become Productive Within 12 Months

7. Academy Programs as Diversity and Fresh Thinking Enablers

8. Success Metrics: When Field Leaders Want Academy Grads on Their Teams