Commvault's Michelle Graff and Chad Blackwell Honored as 2026 CRN® Channel Chiefs

Graff and Blackwell demonstrate unwavering commitment to Commvault's partner ecosystem

TINTON FALLS, N.J., Feb. 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Commvault (NASDAQ: CVLT), a leader in unified resilience at enterprise scale, today announced that CRN®—a brand of The Channel Company—has selected Michelle Graff, Senior Vice President, Global Partners & Channel Sales, and Chad Blackwell, Vice President, Americas Partner Organization, for inclusion on the prestigious 2026 CRN® Channel Chiefs list. This annual recognition celebrates IT vendor and distribution executives who are shaping channel strategy and driving innovation and partnership across the industry.

Since joining the company, Graff has advanced Commvault's "Connected Partner Strategy," unifying the company's diverse routes to market into a cohesive ecosystem focused on accelerating customer success and adoption. With 25+ years of experience in building high-performance partner ecosystems, Graff's advancements to Commvault's partner strategy include shifting to outcome-based partner solutions — critical as Commvault works hand-in-hand with partners to deliver industry-leading cyber resilience to its joint customers, across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

This past year, Blackwell led the launch of a new partner engagement framework, focused on integrating co-sell planning, enablement, and communications. By building quarterly partner insights dashboards, revamping the channel newsletter, and streamlining MDF processes, Blackwell improved partner alignment, accelerated deal velocity, and increased partner-sourced pipeline and satisfaction scores across the Americas.

"We are thrilled to see Michelle and Chad recognized as CRN Channel Chiefs, celebrating the exceptional work they do every day to empower our partners and help joint customers achieve unified resilience at enterprise scale," said Gary Merrill, Chief Commercial Officer, Commvault. "Together, they exemplify what it means to build true partnerships – where innovation, collaboration, and shared outcomes drive mutual growth."

"Being recognized as a CRN Channel Chief is an incredible honor that I share with our entire partner community and the talented team at Commvault," said Graff. "Our partners are at the heart of everything we do – and when we help our partners deliver value that helps our joint customers thrive, we all win."

"I'm honored to once again be named a CRN Channel Chief alongside the exceptional leaders in our industry," said Blackwell. "This recognition is a testament to the success we achieve with our partners, together transforming how customers protect their most critical data and achieve resilience in an increasingly complex world."

The annual CRN Channel Chiefs list spotlights the most influential leaders across the IT channel, celebrating those who champion collaboration, drive innovation and empower their partners and customers to achieve shared success.

"Leaders recognized as CRN Channel Chiefs this year have demonstrated unwavering commitment to their partners and the broader IT channel. Their vision, passion and drive for innovation continue to shape the future of our industry. We are proud to celebrate their achievements and the positive impact they make every day," said Jennifer Follett, Vice President, U.S. Content, Executive Editor, CRN.

CRN's 2026 Channel Chiefs list will be featured on CRN.com beginning Feb. 2 at www.CRN.com/ChannelChiefs

About Commvault
Commvault (NASDAQ: CVLT) is a leader in unified resilience at enterprise scale. In a constantly evolving threat landscape, Commvault keeps customers ready by unifying data security, identity resilience, and cyber recovery, on one cloud-native, AI-enabled platform. Customers trust Commvault to conduct the fastest, most complete recoveries – not just their data, but their entire business. Purpose-built for the agentic enterprise, Commvault also enables organizations to safely embrace AI while protecting against AI-driven threats.

SOURCE COMMVAULT