Freshworks and Sonata IT: partner-led SaaS growth and AI-first expansion in India, APAC

In today’s SaaS market, especially in India and APAC, scaling goes beyond technology; it depends on the strength of partners. Partners bring local reach, cultural understanding, and industry depth. Freshworks, with its AI-first SaaS platforms, is betting big on partnerships, and its collaboration with Sonata Information Technology highlights how the channel is becoming a hub of co-innovation and vertical transformation.

Freshworks: scaling globally through partners

Laura Padilla, SVP, Global Channels and Emerging Markets Sales, Freshworks, underlined why the partner ecosystem is central to the company’s vision.

“As we think about getting to a billion dollars plus, we know that we're gonna do that with partners, and the only way to scale globally is also through partners.”

She added that the role of partners extends across the entire customer lifecycle.

“We want partners to really own the customer experience, be much more involved from prospecting, to selling, to contracting, to implementing, to ongoing support. We’ve won some of our largest deals with partners because they’re at the heart of how customers want to evaluate vendors and figure out how to enhance their tech stack.”

For India specifically, Shelton Rego, VP and MD, India, pointed out:

“India has always been a partner-led market for every OEM that operates here. We have a very vibrant partner ecosystem, and it’s just about us aligning with their goals and then going to market together.”

He noted that the approach is already paying off.

“We’re seeing very good success with some very large logos and some very good strategic business that we are expecting from the partner ecosystem in India as well.”

Sonata and Freshworks: expanding reach into Tier II and III

For Freshworks, Sonata strengthens this reach into emerging markets. Mohan Muthuraj, VP, Sonata IT, said:

“Sonata and Freshworks are jointly targeting mid-market and enterprise customers in both urban and Tier-II/III regions by combining Sonata’s digital transformation expertise with Freshworks’ robust AI-first SaaS platforms designed for scalability and complex business needs.”

The partnership is anchored on delivering enterprise-grade yet uncomplicated solutions that enable rapid implementation and tailored offerings for larger organisations.

Partner program evolution: ownership and enablement

Freshworks has shifted its partner program from commissions to reselling, giving partners ownership of contracts and pricing.

“Allowing partners to own the contract and price the way they want was a big change,” Laura explained. “We’ve also doubled down on enablement with a focused team, launched a new services program, and transformed our professional services team to co-deliver and train with partners.”

She also stressed the importance of making business easier for partners.

“We’ll be launching in the coming months a new partner program, new systems, new operations, to make it a lot easier for them to do business with us.”

Targeting verticals: BFSI, retail, manufacturing, and beyond

Muthuraj outlined Sonata’s vertical priorities:

“We are targeting Financial Services and Insurance (FSI), Manufacturing, Retail, Travel and E-commerce verticals. Through our Freshworks Centre of Excellence, we build tailor-made solutions for verticals and convert them into an experience centre.”

This aligns with Freshworks’ broader strategy of addressing customer pain points with industry-specific AI features.

“One of our main mantras now is that we uncomplicate the customer experience,” said Laura. “With our Freshservice AI Insights product, IT teams are saving anywhere from three to six hours a week. In Freshdesk, our AI Agent Studio lets customers build their own AI agents to respond autonomously. That’s reducing overhead and making customers a lot happier.”

Overcoming challenges: from fragmentation to automation

Muthuraj acknowledged common roadblocks in joint deployments.

“The main challenges faced in joint projects have been overcoming manual and fragmented workflows, and driving adoption across multiple departments. We address these by moving to Freshworks’ unified, no-code service management platform, automating workflows, and integrating with existing systems.”

The result, he added, is faster onboarding, higher productivity, and measurable ROI.

Co-innovation at work: experience centres and AI pilots

At the Sonata–Freshworks experience centre, customers can test-drive innovations:

• Omnichannel customer experience (CX) platforms

• AI COE for self-service and deflection in enterprise service management

• Workflow automation across departments

• AI-powered knowledge management tools

“We cater to these through POCs and pilots,” said Muthuraj. “It’s about showing enterprises how workflow automation, AI deflection, and omnichannel CX can transform service delivery.”

APAC momentum: why partners matter more than ever

For Freshworks, APAC’s diversity makes partners indispensable.

“We’ll only win with partners in this region,” said Laura. “We have passionate partners who have been with us for 10 years. They love our products, and they all want to build a profitable business. Our job is to invest in them and show them how.”

Shelton added scale to that perspective:

“Asia Pacific is home to 2.8 billion people, roughly 60% of the world. Internet adoption is 72% in Southeast Asia and 55% in India. IDC predicts AI adoption in APAC will hit USD 178 billion by 2028. With our pivot to being an AI-first company, this region is a major growth driver.”

Future vision: agentic AI and vertical platforms

Looking ahead, both Freshworks and Sonata are betting big on AI.

“Partners can now upsell AI features and solutions like D42 alongside Freshservice. With program enhancements, they’ll get more support to build profitable businesses,” Laura said.

Shelton added, “You will see a lot of focus on agentic AI, the next phase of AI adoption. We launched products in that space, and you’ll see a lot of innovation and adoption happen there.”

Muthuraj summed up Sonata’s ambition: “The partnership aims to be at the forefront of India’s digital and SaaS evolution for the enterprise and mid-market. The vision is to establish a suite of co-innovated, vertical-specific enterprise platforms and become a reference model for scalable, enterprise-focused cloud transformation in India.”

Conclusion: a partner-led play for India’s SaaS future

Across the conversation, one theme stands clear: Freshworks’ growth story is inseparable from its partners. Laura Padilla emphasised global scalability, Shelton Rego contextualised India and APAC momentum, and Mohan Muthuraj detailed how Sonata is co-innovating to meet enterprise and mid-market needs.

The Freshworks–Sonata alliance highlights how AI-first SaaS, vertical solutions, and deep enablement can drive digital transformation even in Tier II and III cities. Yet challenges such as integration complexity and adoption remain. Success will depend on sustaining innovation while scaling responsibly.

Still, the story sets a strong precedent: in India and APAC, the future of SaaS growth is undeniably partner-led and AI-powered.

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