Beth Benkowski

I have spent my career on the front line of enterprise software sales: from early-stage startups hunting for their first repeatable motion, to marquee public companies defining their categories.

That span is rare, and it is the reason this practice exists. I was a top performer at Computer Associates, Informix, SmartForce, SAP and Salesforce, and I led high-performing teams at Documentum / EMC, Splunk, UiPath, Dataiku and Adobe. Through hyper-growth and through downturns, through shifts in licensing and software delivery models, and through industry-wide disruptions including AI, I have had a close view of what separates the teams that adapt from the teams that do not.

Underneath all of it I believe that performance is built rather than found. Coaching is central to how I lead: I identify high performers, develop them deliberately, and create the conditions where talent compounds over time.

The creative half

That same instinct for what resonates in people carries directly into how I design team experiences. Creative, well-crafted QBRs, customer events and team engagements are not a side pursuit for me: they are a performance strategy. When people feel genuinely invested in, they sell better, they stay longer, and they bring others along with them.

It shows up everywhere I operate. I have produced a winter wonderland holiday event built around a fractured fairy tale, with a prima ballerina paired with a breakdancer. I hosted a team-building experience where I rewrote the lyrics to “Good Time,” recorded the track with my team, taught them a line dance, and captured the whole thing on video. I created a Femme en Blanc Women in Tech event that brought the community together in the same room.

These are not one-off ideas. They reflect a deliberate belief that creativity is a lever for revenue, and that the strongest teams are built on moments people remember. Creating unique employee and customer experiences this way has led to increased revenue, deeper relationships and better collaboration.

One of my most treasured memories came after a QBR, when a team member pulled me aside to share that it was the first time they had been able to dance since losing their baby. Moments like that are the heartbeat behind everything I create. It is why one of my favourite quotes belongs to Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss: “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.”

That is my why, and it shows up in every event, every experience and every team I touch.

Why I started Decades

I also lean on AI to help build the next generation of best practices for sales teams, bringing the same rigor and curiosity I have applied throughout my career to what modern selling now demands.

I founded Decades Sales Partners to put that whole body of experience to work for growing B2B and B2C sales teams: the playbooks, the compensation design, the hiring rigor, the live coaching and the creative leadership it usually takes an entire career to develop.

Away from work

When I am not working, I draw on a life lived fully. As a nearly 20-year late-stage cancer thriver, a former nationally ranked springboard diver and a current competitive slalom waterskier, I have always understood that how you show up when it is hard is what defines you. The rest of my time goes to my family and friends.