Okta CRO turned $850M loss into $760M profit via specialisation, partners

Okta CRO Jon Addison detailed the company's $1.6 billion operating income turnaround on the GTMnow podcast, breaking down the GTM restructure that took the identity platform from nearly $850M in operating losses to over $760M in operating income.

The core moves: product specialisation and a partner-first model. Addison restructured sales teams around specific products rather than broad territories. Result: productivity jumped, and new product deals now close at 40% higher average contract value.

Partner influence hit 95% of Okta's top 100 deals last fiscal year. That shift required operational changes, not just talking points. Addison walked through how they built the infrastructure to make partner-led deals actually work, including co-selling motions and shared pipeline visibility.

The new product driving expansion: Okta for AI Agents. Addison noted 91% of enterprises are already running AI agents in production, but only 10% have a security strategy for them. That governance gap opened a TAM Okta is betting on to hit $5B ARR from the current $3B.

On AI adoption internally, Okta launched a new sales methodology called APEX, built for the reality that buyers now show up to first calls already informed. Discovery is changing: the old "tell me about your environment" opener does not work when prospects have done their research pre-call.

Addison's take on headcount in the AI era: relationships remain Okta's competitive advantage. The company is leaning into account-based marketing, ecosystem plays, and live experiences (including F1 sponsorships) to create the touchpoints that matter when everyone has access to the same information.

Worth noting: Okta's ANZ presence is limited, with under 100 people estimated across APAC offices in Sydney and Melbourne. The growth strategy focuses on enterprise partnerships rather than large local sales teams.

The path to $5B ARR: enterprise expansion, international growth, public sector deals, and the non-human identity TAM unlocked by AI agents. The partner model is doing the heavy lifting, which means fewer direct AE hires than a traditional scale-up would require.

Addison's leadership philosophy: coaching reps and unlocking potential matters more as AI handles repetitive work. The skills that matter now are the ones AI cannot replicate yet.