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.
Connect with Jack Cochran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackcochran/
Connect with Rob Fallon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robfallon/
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
The Inverted Pyramid Problem: Why SE Organizations Over-Hire Senior Talent
Executive Sponsorship and Funding: Getting Buy-In for Long-Term Investment
The Two-Year Academy Program Structure at Nutanix
Hiring for Technical Curiosity, Communication, and Grit Over Knowledge
Why Field Integration and Manager Engagement Are Critical to Success
How Academy Associates Become Productive Within 12 Months
Academy Programs as Diversity and Fresh Thinking Enablers
Success Metrics: When Field Leaders Want Academy Grads on Their Teams
