A talk with Helena Kale, Strategic Partner Development Manager at Google Cloud

These FAQs are designed for ISP parents and students. They summarise the key insights from the A to Z Speaker Series interview with Helena Kale and include additional questions linked to the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025.

1. What is this talk about?

Behind every major technology partnership – every cloud deal, every telecoms contract, every go-to-market strategy between giants – there is a person making it happen. This episode of the A to Z Speaker Series looks at what that work actually involves, through the experience of someone who has spent 23 years doing it across Google, Amazon, Meta and Mercado Livre. Helena Kale, Strategic Partner Development Manager at Google Cloud for Latin America and ISP parent at Aubrick School in São Paulo, explains why the skills that have carried her furthest have nothing to do with engineering – and why the ability to connect with people is the one thing no technology will ever replace.

2. Who is Helena Kale?

Helena Kale started her career as a journalist. Twenty-three years later, she is Strategic Partner Development Manager at Google Cloud for Latin America – leading strategic partnerships with major telecoms companies across the region and connecting them with Google Cloud solutions. Her path took her through Google, Amazon, Meta and Mercado Livre, across roles in marketing, business development and partnerships. She describes her journalism background as her secret weapon: it gave her the ability to read people, navigate social contexts and ask the right questions in any room. She is an ISP parent at Aubrick School in São Paulo.

3. What does a Strategic Partner Manager at Google actually do?

Helena’s full title – Strategic Partner Development Manager, SMB, LATAM, for Google Cloud – is, as she puts it, very long. But the job itself is straightforward: build relationships and partnerships that last. In practice, this means leading complex partnerships with major telecoms companies across Latin America, connecting them with Google Cloud solutions and helping them build go-to-market strategies. Her day involves strategic conversations with senior leaders, joint business planning and supporting partners’ day-to-day operations to make things happen.

4. How did Helena get into big tech?

Helena began her career in journalism and press relations – and never expected it to lead to Google. But those early years gave her something she still considers her secret weapon: the ability to read people, understand cultural nuances and ask the right questions. She describes the typical questions every journalist asks – what, who, why, when, how – as a simple playbook that applies to anything, including mastering AI tools.

5. What skills are most important for a career in big tech?

Helena is clear that soft skills – not technical qualifications – are the true differentiator in big tech environments. She identifies the following as most important:

• Curiosity and attitude – Helena says these change everything, and that people with less background but a great attitude will outperform brilliant graduates every time
• Emotional intelligence – the ability to read people, balance competing demands and navigate complexity in a fast-moving environment
• Resilience and adaptability – the capacity to pivot, to face different challenges and to keep learning even when things do not go as planned
• The ability to connect and build alliances – by yourself you cannot do anything big in a large organisation; you need to bring people with you

Helena adds that strategic thinking – seeing the big picture and understanding how small changes connect to larger impacts – is the skill that applies across every discipline and every area of tech.

6. What does Helena mean by being a “humanist in big tech”?

Helena describes herself as a humanist in big tech – someone who believes that technology is an extension of the human, not a replacement for it. In a world where many people are afraid of AI and its impact on jobs, she takes a different view: if you see technology as something that empowers you and gives you extra capabilities, you can embrace it rather than fear it. Her belief is that AI will never replace her ability to connect with people – and that connection is the foundation of everything she does.

7. How is AI changing careers in this field?

Helena is not afraid of AI – and she thinks young people who have grown up with it are better placed than most to use it well. At Google, AI tools can already translate her voice into English in real time. But the ability to think critically remains essential. AI speeds up the process; it does not create the idea. The human ability to connect, to build alliances and to turn data into decisions remains irreplaceable.

8. Why do attitude and resilience matter more than a degree in big tech roles?

Helena has seen exceptional professionals across her 23-year career – and what consistently separates them from others is not their academic background but their attitude. The ability to keep learning, to adapt to new challenges and to pivot when needed is what makes the difference in a fast-moving tech environment where new products and technologies appear every day.

9. How can young people prepare for careers in this field?

Helena’s advice is to resist the pressure to find the perfect career path at 18. Choosing a degree does not dictate the rest of your life. What matters is staying open to learning, building soft skills and resilience, and not choosing the easiest path or the most comfortable option. She encourages young people to fail, to try different things and to understand that skills come from experience – not from books or screens. She also believes that language learning remains important even in an age of AI translation: thinking critically in more than one language builds a different kind of mind.

10. What is Helena’s final message to young people?

Helena’s message is clear: focus on building emotional intelligence, resilience and the ability to connect with people. These are the skills that carry you across a long career – regardless of the industry, the technology or the role. Pick something you are truly passionate about, that you believe you can deliver value through. Be happy doing what you do – and the other things will follow.

Additional FAQs linked to the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025

What does the WEF say about the future of strategic and partnership roles?

The WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 identifies Strategic Advisors and Business Development Professionals among the growing roles globally by 2030 – mapping directly to what Helena does every day. The report also notes that slower economic growth is projected to drive growth in Business Development Professional roles specifically, as organisations prioritise building strategic alliances over transactional selling. Meanwhile, broadening digital access and AI are reshaping how these roles operate: the work is becoming less about managing information and more about building the strategic relationships that technology alone cannot create. For young people drawn to careers that combine business acumen with human connection, this is one of the most promising spaces to enter. (WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, pp. 30-31)

What does the WEF say about leadership and social influence as future skills?

Among the skills identified as core today and expected to continue growing in importance, the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 highlights leadership and social influence as a critical human skill across technology sectors. In Telecommunications – the sector Helena works with most closely at Google Cloud – 69% of employers identify leadership and social influence as a growing skill need, placing it second only to Automotive and Aerospace globally. Information and Technology Services ranks fourth at 67%. The report also identifies motivation and self-awareness as solidifying in importance across the 2030 skills landscape – the WEF describes these alongside leadership and social influence as part of a broader shift towards human-centric skills that remain essential even as technical capabilities are increasingly automated. As Helena demonstrates in this episode, the ability to influence, connect and inspire is not just useful in big tech – it is increasingly the differentiator. (WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, pp. 40-41)

What does the WEF say about resilience and adaptability in technology careers?

The WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 identifies resilience, flexibility and agility as one of the fastest-growing skill requirements across all industries – and the data for technology sectors is particularly striking. In Telecommunications, 79% of employers identify it as a growing skill need – the second-highest of any industry globally. Information and Technology Services ranks third at 78%. This aligns directly with Helena’s message throughout this episode: the professionals who thrive in big tech are not necessarily the most technically qualified – they are the ones who can pivot, adapt and keep learning as products, tools and markets change around them. The report also notes that curiosity and lifelong learning is a top-three growing skill in both Telecommunications and Information and Technology Services – confirming that the mindset Helena describes is exactly what the industry data shows the sector needs most. (WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, pp. 38-40)

What does the report say about the fastest-growing roles in technology?

The WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 identifies Technology and Digital roles – including AI and Machine Learning Specialists, Data Analysts and Digital Transformation Specialists – among the fastest-growing globally. Strategic roles in business development are also growing. The report finds that 39% of workers’ core skills are expected to change by 2030. To prepare for big tech careers, the report and this episode both point to the same fundamentals:

• Build leadership and social influence – the WEF identifies this as a top growing skill in Telecommunications and Information and Technology Services specifically
• Develop resilience and adaptability – 79% of employers in Telecommunications identify this as a growing skill need, the second-highest of any industry globally
• Stay curious and keep learning – curiosity and lifelong learning ranks in the top three growing skills for both tech sectors Helena works across
• Build your ability to connect and influence – the ability to bring people with you is what leadership and social influence actually means in practice
• Do not choose the easiest path – challenge yourself, try different things and learn from failure rather than avoiding it

Big tech needs the whole spectrum of skills – from engineers and data scientists to partnership managers, marketers and communicators. Whether your background is technical or not, there is a role for you. (WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, pp. 32-34)