Aurora Solar

I lead a team of global partner managers focused on driving strategic partnerships within the Aurora and HelioScope ecosystems. In my first year, I expanded the team, forged technology partnerships with leading industry players, led an M&A transaction, and laid the groundwork for a turnkey Global Partner Program.  

In M&A, I manage target sourcing, financial analysis, due diligence, and the negotiation and integration of definitive agreements. 
+ Lyra Solar - Automated Plan Sets  

I lead a team focused on developing strategic partnerships within the Aurora and HelioScope ecosystems, targeting large-scale commercial opportunities to enhance market reach.  
+ EagleView 
+ Enfin (Qcells) TPO Financing
+ Goodleap TPO
+ Lightreach TPO (Palmetto)
+ ENSTALL (Ironridge, Ecofasten)
+ Pegasus 
+ Mosaic  
+ Sunrun
+ Sunmodo 
+++

Aurora Solar is a leading climate tech SaaS company, dedicated to advancing the solar industry through data, AI, and automation for a sustainable future.

Director of Global Partnerships & Corporate Development

Techstars

Mentor

Partnership Leaders

Partnership Leaders is an industry association of Partnership, Alliances, Channel, and Business Development Leaders.

Executive Member

Venture Cooperative

Venture Fellow | Cohort 3

Narvar

- Spearheaded the Global Technology Integrations practice across Enterprise SaaS and Commercial market segments consistent with Narvar’s product roadmap and the needs of target customers. 
- Identified and launched new technology integration partners building the Ecosystem & Platform from 0 to 1.

Director of Global Technology Partnerships & Alliances

Pitney Bowes

- Founding member of the Product Innovation team for the Commerce Services division at Pitney Bowes, focusing on Build-Buy-Partner strategies.
- Responsible for product development, pilot validation, investment analysis, and commercialization of new business lines.
- Led cross-functional teams in matching core e-commerce technologies with emerging client needs, orchestrating RFP processes, and spearheading global market expansions into Canada, the UK, and APAC.
- Successfully negotiated and signed three major API deals with platform partners within seven months, making them the largest revenue contributors in the API segment at Pitney Bowes.
- Conducted technical and product diligence, supporting M&A activities including case development and integration planning for post-merger scenarios.

Led Key Initiatives: Shopify (Fulfillment, Delivery), Google Shopping (Buy on Google, Fulfillment, Returns-as-a-Service, Cross Border), Facebook Marketplace (C2C & B2C Shipping), and PayPal Shipping Platform

Led New Vertical and Product Experimentation: PUDO (Pick up & Drop off Network), Virtual Consolidation, and New International Trade Lanes (APAC, Canada, UK).

Senior Director, Commercial Innovation & Global Partnerships

Anthem SI

- Led major digital transformation projects running using industry-leading SAP HANA database on AWS, leading to unprecedented cost efficiencies, agility, and speed for project management.

Vice President, Innovation & Growth

Intentional Futures

- Product innovation leader managing a Think Tank’s venture studio initiative, incubating four stealth ventures in Robotics, Blockchain, VR/AR, and Learning software leading to additional rounds of venture funding and exits.
- Led technical research, user interviews, and project management client engagement with our Microsoft leading to their current strategy on the Future of Modern IT for Windows OS. 
- Think Tank/ Venture studio working at the edge of business, design, and technology.
Companies: Trusted Key (Blockchain-based IAM - Acquired by Workday), Blue Canoe Learning (Seed B2B AI), Forma Vision fka Omnivor (Seed VR/AR), Occo (Seed - Computer Vision, Machine Learning),

Associate Director, Innovation & New Ventures

Ritani

- Member of the executive team, CEO direct report, and owner of Ritani’s strategic partnerships. 
- Delivered successful strategic partnerships across seven industry verticals with luxury brands.
- Created new product experimentation sprints with a small team to develop and launch a recommendation app for gifting engagement rings.

Vice President of Strategic Partnerships

Zappos Family of Companies

- New Lines of Business team that worked closely with CEO Tony Hsieh to build and explore new opportunities to push one of the world's greatest customer service companies towards new ways to deliver happiness.
- Generate revenue beyond the current Zappos.com online retail model and launch into an independent business
- Conceptualized, designed, launched, and operated other special projects

Advisor to the CEO

- Developed the 1st-ever QR-code shipping label returns experience ever seen in the U.S. market at Zappos from idea to launch, including investment committee proposal, UX research, technical development, physical logistics, and commercial launch now used by hundreds of millions of customers at Amazon today.
- Led the Zappos Connected Fitness team of engineers, UX researchers, and designers to create a new offering that senses mileage and automatically replenishes running shoes using machine learning and consumer IoT leading to rich data and signing strategic partnership with Under Armour.
- Founded a B2B partner pilot program called “Zappos at Work”, securing pilot companies to expand corporate merchandising reach and become a new line of business still going strong today.
- Product Partnership with Shazam using Audio fingerprinting to "Shop the Screen" of your favorite TV shows

Head of Business Development and Analysis

I'm Kyle Kelly, a seasoned leader in Corporate Development and Strategic Alliances, with a proven track record at companies like Zappos (Amazon), Merrill Lynch, Narvar, Pitney Bowes, and Aurora Solar. 

Throughout my career, I've specialized in driving transformative growth by leading high-impact strategic deals and building valuable partnerships across technology-driven sectors.

What I Do Best:

- Corporate Development: I manage the entire M&A cycle, from identifying prospects to LOI to integrating new assets.
- Strategic Alliances: I believe in the power of partnerships to  open new markets and forge growth-accelerating partnerships..
- Financial Acumen: I design and execute complex deal structuring to maintain budgets and meet fiscal objectives.
- Leading by example: I nurture teams to excel and innovate, setting high standards and celebrating our collective achievements.

Industry Expertise:

- B2B SaaS
- Ecommerce Infrastructure and Logistics
- ClimateTech
- Consumer Technology

Personal Insight:

As a former Division 1 athlete with the Temple Men's Rowing Team, I thrived in a Top 10 nationally ranked crew. Today, I infuse that same competitive spirit and collaborative ethos into leading companies towards their strategic futures.

I'm always eager to connect, reach out if you want to talk corp dev, technology, or leadership.  🚀🌔

Apple just blinked.
They’re partnering with Google’s Gemini AI to power Siri.
That’s like Ferrari borrowing Tesla’s engine.

Why? Because Apple’s been too good at building alone for too long.

The same vertical integration that made them unstoppable, chips, hardware, software, is now slowing them down in AI.

They’re 2 years behind. Their best talent is leaving. And their next big bet? A $3T company launching… a tabletop robot.

Here’s the truth:
When you’re late to a platform shift, you can’t build your way out. You have to partner for speed, buy for capability, and build for differentiation. In that order.

If I were Apple, I’d drop $100B over 3 years to:
 → Partner fast (Gemini)
 → Buy smart (Perplexity, Anthropic, Character.AI)
 → Build what only Apple can, seamless on-device AI.

That’s just 3% of their $3.3T market cap to protect 100% of their moat.

They can afford it. The real question: 
do they have the guts to move?

I break down plays like this in Line of Sight: where AI, strategy, and GTM meet the operator’s mindset.

#AI #Apple #Strategy #Siri #GTM #BuildBuyPartner #LineofSight

Kyle Kelly

I've learned that what matters most isn't what you build. It's who you build it with and who you build it for.

This Thanksgiving, I'm grateful for my family. My wife, who's been my partner through every decision. My kids, who remind me every day why the work matters.

I'm also grateful for the people who've shaped my career. The mentors who shared frameworks that turned complexity into clarity. The colleagues who became friends. The leaders who trusted me to multiply their impact when the path wasn't clear.

This year has been a leap forward, a chance to build what matters most.

To everyone who's been part of this journey, thank you. Let's make 2026 even greater!

800M ChatGPT users can now buy things with one tap.

I deconstructed the Stripe-OpenAI partnership to understand what this means for commerce.

This isn't just "ChatGPT adds shopping." It's the infrastructure play for a $5 trillion market.

Here's what matters:

→ Stripe and OpenAI co-developed an open standard (not proprietary)
→ PayPal adopted it one month later (validation, not competition)
→ 78% of Forbes AI 50 companies already use Stripe
→ AI startups are hitting $5M ARR 13 months faster than traditional SaaS

The strategic insight: This isn't about payments. It's about who controls the transaction layer when AI agents sit between buyers and sellers.

I built 6 charts showing the architecture, market opportunity, competitive landscape, and ROI analysis.

My prediction: By Q4 2027, 25% of single-item online purchases will start in an AI chat interface.

Full teardown in this week's Line of Sight (link in comments).

What do you think? Are you are a founder, ecommerce operator, or developer are you preparing for agentic commerce?

#AI #Payments #Stripe #Ecommerce #OpenAI #AgenticCommerce #LineofSight

(Reading time: 7-8 minutes) Hi, I'm Kyle Kelly. Each week Line of Sight breaks down how AI, strategy, and revenue growth architecture turn complexity 

Open article: ChatGPT Can Now Buy Things. Stripe Just Became the Tollbooth of AI Commerce. by Kyle Kelly • 7 min read

ChatGPT Can Now Buy Things. Stripe Just Became the Tollbooth of AI Commerce.

Apple just blinked.
It might be the smartest $1 trillion move they’ve ever made.
My DMs blew up after I posted about it.
Here’s the Build-Buy-Partner breakdown.

#AI #Apple #Strategy #GTM #BuildBuyPartner #LineofSight

Hi, I’m Kyle Kelly. LineofSight.io breaks down how AI, strategy, and revenue growth architecture turn complexity into leverage. Apple’s partnership wi

Open article: Apple Just Blinked: And It Might Be Their Smartest $1 Trillion Move Yet by Kyle Kelly • 6 min read

Apple Just Blinked: And It Might Be Their Smartest $1 Trillion Move Yet

Amazon's $60B ad business has a Perplexity problem.
AI agents don't show ads.

They show answers.

No discovery. No browsing. No revenue.

I spent years at Zappos (Amazon company) watching this ad machine get built.
Now I'm watching it get disrupted.
The twist?
Platforms control the data agents need to operate.
Classic innovator's dilemma.

I mapped out the entire value chain here 👇

#AgenticCommerce #AIAgents #Ecommerce #LineofSight

Perplexity, Amazon, and the Future of Ads What if the most valuable real estate on the internet is no longer the top of the search results page? For t

Open article: Agentic Commerce Will Break the Ad Business by Kyle Kelly • 8 min read

Agentic Commerce Will Break the Ad Business

2026 may be the ChatGPT moment for robotics.
Most AI value today is created in the cloud, captured by Nvidia, TSMC, & hyperscalers. The next wave of value creation won’t be behind a GPU. 

It will be PHYSICAL.

Embodied AI is moving from science fiction to commercial reality. Humanoid robotics companies attracted a record $1.2B in 2024 funding, a figure projected to reach $2.3B in 2025. 

This is more than a trend. It’s a MARKET INFLECTION.

CES 2026 will be a key indicator of this shift. The convergence of robotics, spatial computing, & embodied AI into commercial systems will be on full display. 

From humanoid labor in manufacturing to autonomous logistics, every physical task is becoming an API.

This creates an opportunity to build new systems of record as physical workflows are reinvented.

I'll be at CES 2026 exploring the commercialization of edge AI, from hardware to Go-To-Market. 

Let’s CONNECT.

📍 CES 2026, Las Vegas 🗓️ January 6–9
#AI #Robotics #EmbodiedAI #CES2026 #CommercialStrategy

I still remember when Amazon had no ad business.
Just a few small experiments tucked inside the search bar.
All the tiny moments between intent and purchase.
Now it’s a $60B revenue engine.

But the biggest threat isn’t Walmart.
It’s your AI.

Perplexity built an agent that shops for you, compares prices, adds to cart, and skips Amazon’s sponsored listings.
Amazon sued.

They called it a “security issue.”
But I call it a money issue.
Perplexity’s AI deletes those moments.

If your AI finds the best product, it doesn’t click ads.
It doesn’t care about brand placement.
It just buys. 

Agentic commerce is quiet commerce.

That’s a nightmare for Amazon’s ad business.
The internet was built on monetizing indecision.
AI is built on eliminating it.

This isn’t a lawsuit. It’s the first battle for digital demand.
The future of commerce won’t be about ads.
It will be about agents.

#AI #Amazon #Perplexity #Ecommerce #AdTech #FutureOfCommerce #Innovation #LineofSight

I stared at this table for 10 minutes.
Every single row is a conflict.

Primary Goal: Maximize ad revenue vs Optimize for user

Discovery: Sponsored results vs Direct answers

Data: Walled garden vs Entire web

Revenue: Cost-per-click vs Subscription

Winner: Platform vs User

There's no middle ground here.
One model has to die.

My bet? The one that puts the user last.

#AgenticCommerce #AIAgents #Retail

Two weeks ago, Shopify reported Q3 results that didn't make sense.

32% growth. 18% FCF margin. 7x AI traffic.

You don't re-accelerate growth while expanding margins.

So I spent 10+ hours with their investor deck and 10-Q.
Discussed the findings with ecommerce colleagues I've known for a decade.

Here's what everyone missed:

Shopify isn't just growing.
They're building the operating system for AI shopping.

While everyone's focused on ChatGPT and Perplexity, Shopify quietly became the rails underneath.

The playbook:

→ 18x TAM expansion (zero acquisitions)
→ 65% payments penetration (margin expansion engine)
→ 7x AI traffic, 11x AI orders (better conversion)

That last one is the insight:

AI orders are growing faster than AI traffic.

AI isn't just shifting demand.
It's creating better matches between buyers and products.

This is the Stripe moment for commerce.

I broke down the entire strategy:
→ Three compounding flywheels
→ How they interconnect
→ The exact playbook

Full analysis: [LINK IN COMMENTS]

p.s. If you're building in commerce, this is required reading.

#Ecommerce #PlatformStrategy #SaaS #AICommerce #Shopify #GrowthStrategy #RevenueGrowth #LineofSight

A breakdown of Shopify's Q3 2025 results and the strategic playbook behind 32% growth, 18% FCF margins, and 7x AI traffic growth (Reading time: 7-8 mi

Open article: Shopify's Platform Playbook: Three Flywheels Every Operator Should Study by Kyle Kelly • 8 min read

Shopify's Platform Playbook: Three Flywheels Every Operator Should Study

Stripe and OpenAI just built something bigger than most people realize.

This isn't just "ChatGPT can buy things now."

It's a complete re-architecture of how commerce works:

→ 800M ChatGPT users get instant checkout
→ $1.4T in Stripe payment volume
→ Merchants keep full control (OpenAI is NOT the merchant of record)

The key? A new open protocol called ACP (Agentic Commerce Protocol).

Here's what everyone's missing about the architecture 👇

[Full teardown on Substack]
https://lnkd.in/gWKRfJ43

#AI #LineofSight #Ecommerce #Stripe #OpenAI

What happens when 800M people can shop inside a chat window?

Stripe becomes the tollbooth for AI commerce.

This is the biggest shift in e-commerce since the iPhone. I've spent the last few weeks analyzing the Agentic Commerce Protocol and its implications for operators, founders, and investors.

The key insight: This isn't about payments. It's about who controls the new transaction layer.

My full analysis, with 6 original charts, is ready for your weekend reading.

Link in comments.

#AI #Ecommerce #Fintech #Stripe #OpenAI

Where does Amazon's $60B ad business break in the agentic commerce stack?
Layer 4: Platform Interface.

When agents bypass discovery and go straight to answers, the entire retail media model collapses.

But here's the twist:

Platforms control Layer 2 (Data Access & Legal).

They can cut off the data agents need to operate.
Classic innovator's dilemma.

Full analysis in this week's Line of Sight Newsletter 👇
[LINK IN COMMENTS]

#AgenticCommerce #AIAgents #Ecommerce

Traditional e-commerce:
→ Search on Google
→ Click through to merchant site
→ Fill out shipping form
→ Enter credit card
→ Complete CAPTCHA
→ 2-3% payment failure rate

Agentic commerce:
→ "Buy this in ChatGPT"
→ Done.

That's it.

One tap. No forms. No CAPTCHA. Higher authorization rates.

This is why Stripe and OpenAI's partnership matters.

They're collapsing the entire e-commerce funnel into a conversation.

The ultimate playbook on exactly how it works 👇

https://lnkd.in/gWKRfJ43

#AI #LineofSight #Ecommerce #Stripe #OpenAI #LineofSight

What’s the single most repetitive, low-value GTM task you wish you could fully automate with AI?

I'm building something to solve this, and I'm curious where the biggest pain points are.

#AI #Automation #GTM #SaaS #LineofSight

VP | GM | Head of Partnerships, Commercialization, and Growth | Scaling 0 to 1 Ecosystems in AI, SaaS, and Tech

The velocity of agentic commerce is insane.

Stripe: $1.4T payment volume (+38% YoY)
ChatGPT: 800M weekly active users (doubling every 7-8 months)
OpenAI API: 6B tokens/minute (4M developers building)

AI startups are hitting $5M ARR 13 months faster than traditional SaaS companies.

This isn't a trend. It's a fundamental shift in how commerce works.

The companies that adapt now will dominate the next decade.

The ultimate teardown on the partnership here 👇

https://lnkd.in/gWKRfJ43

#AI #Ecommerce #LineofSight #AgenticCommerce #OpenAI #Stripe

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