Dan Peters
Director, Strategic Partnerships, Google, Australia and New Zealand, AGSM MBA (Executive) 2009
Making Google make sense
As Director of Strategic Partnerships, Dan identifies and brings the best of Google to its top clients across Australia and New Zealand, helping them solve complex business problems with technology.
"We help large partners grow by clarifying and applying what they need from every Google division: from Chrome to YouTube, Android apps to payment, or Pixel phones and other hardware."
Dan's motivation is to help clients use Google to thrive in a digital age, where effectively organising and analysing information is critical.
"Creative deal making can transform industries – it’s possible to be both the disruptor and part of the solution to that disruption."
I think my specialist skill is doing creative deal making. If I was trying to summarise, I’d say we make Google accessible to the largest partners we work with – clarifying the benefits we can bring to them.
For me, doing the complete MBA as opposed to individual courses was about getting a sense of how all the pieces fit together.
Dan Peters
Director, Strategic Partnerships
Google, Australia and New Zealand
AGSM MBA (Executive) 2009
Finding new opportunities in change
Dan and his team of business development managers, strategists and analysts guide their client partners to clarity in the face of accelerating change.
"We've even taken the leadership of some of Australia’s largest companies to Silicon Valley to show them disruption first hand."
Revealing how clients can capitalise on unseen opportunities across information, the organisation and distribution also boosts Google’s overall profitability.
What’s missing is the way to what’s next
Dan joined Google in Australia after working across WPP’s global media network and founding a successful start-up.
"I started the AGSM MBA as I was coming to the end of my start-up. It had become clear in my start-up that the energy and enthusiasm that was able to make us successful wasn't going to carry me into a corporate career."
He sees parallels between bringing clients the best of Google and his AGSM MBA experience. Clarifying what’s missing is the first step. Dan knew he needed to fill some gaps in his own skillset to take the next career step – including both technical and soft skills.
"You have to identify the gaps you have and be honest with yourself about what they are. The AGSM MBA let me plug those gaps in a really sophisticated way."
Understand the parts to reveal the whole
Dan's MBA gave him a clear understanding of the motivations and methods of enterprise businesses and ultimately the confidence to operate at the same level as Google’s largest clients.
Dan points out how vital it is to have a clear sense of how all the pieces fit together. He says: "If you really want to have a sophisticated conversation with people who are running large organisations, you need to have a sense of how the whole entity works."
The siloed nature of big organisations adds to this challenge, but Dan’s MBA experience has helped him understand the diverse elements of complex businesses in order to create greater value from them.
Dan also applies this clarity to charity as a Director of Foodbank New South Wales, Australia’s largest provider of food relief.
Looking ahead
More than just for accessibility and brand recognition, Dan chose the AGSM MBA to accelerate the next stage of his career knowing it would teach him to constantly challenge the status quo in order to do better.
It's no coincidence that he’s succeeding as an innovator in one of the world’s most innovative businesses.
What are you made for?
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