Co-Create Program

Overview

The Co-Create Program transforms enterprise customers into active GitLab contributors by providing the necessary support to develop new features, enhance existing ones, or fix bugs. Through workshops, pair programming, and ongoing guidance, customers work directly with GitLab engineers to contribute meaningful improvements that benefit the entire GitLab community.

What We Offer

1. Technical Enablement Workshop: Interactive session to help customers set up GitLab Development Kit (GDK) and understand GitLab’s architecture
2. On-Site Engineering Support: One GitLab engineer co-located for one week to kick off co-creation through pair programming, with the goal of completing at least one merge request
3. Legal Support: Assistance with Corporate Contributor Agreements and open source policies
4. Ongoing Mentorship: Dedicated support from the Contributor Success team for long-term contribution success

Program goals

1. Product Development Acceleration: Community contributions deliver customer-validated features at speed and scale beyond internal development alone
2. Customer Retention & Expansion: Deep technical engagement opens relationships with new personas within customer organizations, revealing additional use cases and growth opportunities while increasing retention through their investment in the platform
3. Competitive Differentiation: Nurtures enterprise advocates who boost GitLab’s share of voice in competitive evaluations, demonstrating our unique collaborative model versus traditional vendor relationships
4. Marketing Amplification: Generates authentic and referenceable customer testimonials and success stories for customer advocacy campaigns

Program Health Metrics

Program success is tracked through multiple metrics across the customer journey. See Co-Create Success Metrics for detailed tracking methodology and current performance.

Target Audience and Criteria

Eligibility requirements

1. Premium or Ultimate tier customers (CSM-led accounts)

Ideal Customer Profile

Organizational Characteristics

1. Premium or Ultimate tier customers (CSM-led accounts required)
2. Engineering teams with capacity to dedicate time to contributions
3. Organizations with open source experience or OSPO (preferred but not required)
4. Companies seeking specific platform enhancements aligned with GitLab roadmap

Engineering Team Attributes

1. Curiosity-driven engineers eager to learn and develop technical skills
2. Passion for open source and collaborative development
3. Willingness to learn Ruby, Go, or Vue.js (prior experience not required)
4. Commitment to pair programming and code review processes

Application Process

Customers can apply through our Co-Create landing page. Applications are evaluated based on:

1. Alignment of contribution goals with GitLab product direction
2. Customer team readiness and availability
3. Current GitLab usage and engagement level
4. Potential for long-term contribution relationship

Structure and Components

Program Benefits

For customers:

1. Zero Maintenance Burden: GitLab maintains all contributions, freeing teams from ongoing upkeep
2. Accelerated Feature Delivery: Direct contribution is faster than traditional feature requests
3. Enhanced Platform Knowledge: Deep understanding of GitLab architecture improves internal usage
4. Community Recognition: Contributors acknowledged in release notes and community

For GitLab:

1. Product Development Acceleration: Customer-validated features beyond internal capacity
2. Customer Retention: Deep technical engagement and increased platform investment
3. Competitive Differentiation: Unique collaborative model versus traditional vendors
4. Marketing Amplification: Authentic customer testimonials and success stories

Phase 1: Qualification & Planning (2-4 weeks)

Activities

1. Application review and customer qualification
2. Initial discovery call with account team and customer stakeholders
3. Identification of contribution opportunities
4. Product Manager alignment on contribution scope
5. Legal documentation review and execution

Deliverables

1. Signed Corporate Contributor Agreement
2. Defined contribution scope and objectives
3. Scheduled technical enablement workshop and on-site week dates
4. Assigned GitLab engineer

Phase 2: Technical Enablement (1-2 weeks before on-site)

Activities

1. GDK setup workshop (virtual)
2. GitLab architecture overview relevant to contribution area
3. Introduction to contribution workflow and testing frameworks
4. Environment validation and troubleshooting

Deliverables

1. Functional GDK installations for participating engineers
2. Access to GitLab development resources and documentation
3. Slack channel for ongoing communication

Phase 3: On-Site Collaboration (1 week)

Activities

1. Daily pair programming sessions with GitLab engineer
2. Code development, testing, and documentation
3. Real-time code review and feedback
4. Merge request submission

Deliverables

1. Complete merge request(s) submitted with tests and documentation

Phase 4: Follow-Up & Long-Term Success (ongoing)

Activities

1. Merge request reviews and iterations
2. Ongoing mentorship from Contributor Success team - details
3. Connection to broader GitLab community

Deliverables

1. Merged contributions
2. Customer testimonial and success story
3. Case study development (optional)
4. Recognition in release notes

Roles & Responsibilities

Co-Create Program Manager

1. End-to-end program coordination and execution
2. Customer communication and expectation management
3. Progress tracking and reporting
4. Continuous program improvement
5. Issue resolution and escalation management

DRI: Wesley De Vrient @wdevrient-ext

Account Team (AE/SA/CSM/As)

1. Identify potential Co-Create candidates within customer base
2. Introduce program and facilitate initial conversations
3. Support legal documentation process
4. Maintain customer relationship throughout engagement
5. Identify opportunities for expanded Co-Create participation (additional teams, follow-on contributions)
6. Identify business expansion opportunities (additional use cases, feature adoption, seat growth)

Contributor Success

1. Conduct technical enablement workshops (GDK setup, architecture overview)
2. Ongoing mentorship for contributors
3. Connect contributors to GitLab Community Discord and relevant community channels
4. Develop Co-Create-specific enablement materials (workshop guides, GDK setup documentation)

Technical Lead: Raimund Hook @stingrayza

GitLab Engineering

1. Identify appropriate engineers for on-site assignments
2. Provide deep technical expertise during on-site week
3. Conduct code reviews and provide feedback
4. Ensure contributions meet quality standards
5. Knowledge transfer and mentorship
6. Maintain curated issue lists for Co-Create program

Coordinator: Shekhar Patnaik @shekharpatnaik

Product Management

1. Validate contribution alignment with product roadmap
2. Provide strategic context for contributions
3. Curate suitable issues for Co-Create program
4. Approve final contribution scope

Resources & Support

For Account Teams

1. Co-Create Landing Page
2. Application Form
3. Customer Success Stories
4. Co-Create Pitch Deck
5. Customer-Facing Doc
6. Program Training Recording (Internal only)
7. Internal Training Deck (Internal only)
8. Slack: #cocreate-initiative

For Customers

1. Contribute to GitLab
2. Tutorial: Make a GitLab contribution
3. GitLab Development Kit (GDK)
4. Curated Co-Create Issues
5. GitLab’s Corporate Contributor Agreement
6. Contribution FAQ
7. GitLab Community Discord

Contacts

Support Channels

For program-related questions and GitLab internal inquiries:

• Slack: #cocreate-initiative - General channel for program questions, candidate identification, and internal coordination

For active customer engagements:

• Dedicated Slack Channel: Created for each engagement with format #cocreate-initiative-CUSTOMERNAME
• Includes: Customer team, Account team (CSM, SA, AE), Program Manager, Technical Lead, and GitLab Engineer

For customers and community:

• Email: contributors@gitlab.com
• Community: GitLab Community Discord

Team Contacts

1. Program Manager: Wesley De Vrient - @wdevrient-ext
2. Technical Lead: Raimund Hook - @stingrayza
3. Manager, Developer Relations Programs: Isa Huerga Ayza - @ihuerga
4. Director, Contributor Success: Nick Veenhof - @nick_vh
5. Engineering Coordinator: Shekhar Patnaik - @shekharpatnaik
6. General Inquiries: contributors@gitlab.com

Playbook

For Program Manager

Project Management & Tracking

All Co-Create customers are managed through our Co-Create GitLab project.

Project Structure

1. Epics: One epic per customer to group all related work
2. Issues: Individual issues track each phase of the Co-Create journey:
   • Qualification & Planning
   • Technical Enablement
   • On-Site Collaboration
   • Follow-Up & Long-Term Success

Maintaining Status

The GitLab project serves as the single source of truth for engagement status. Program Managers must:

1. Create an epic when a new customer enters the program
2. Create phase-specific issues and link them to the customer’s epic
3. Update issue status as the engagement progresses through each phase
4. Document blockers, decisions, and key milestones in issue comments
5. Close issues as phases complete
6. Keep epic description updated with high-level engagement summary

Note: Always update the GitLab project before weekly syncs and OKR reporting to ensure accurate program status.

Engagement Execution

Discovery Call Agenda

1. Co-Create overview and customer benefits
2. Customer objectives and desired contributions
3. Technical team readiness assessment
4. Legal requirements overview
5. Next steps and timeline

Project Planning Checklist

1. Product Manager approval on contribution scope
2. Corporate Contributor Agreement initiated if needed
3. GitLab engineer identified and scheduled
4. Customer engineers confirmed and available
5. On-site week dates confirmed
6. Travel and logistics arranged
7. GDK enablement workshop scheduled
8. Success criteria defined
9. Communication plan established

During On-Site Week

1. Daily sync with GitLab engineer via Slack
2. Monitor progress in Slack channel
3. Address blockers immediately
4. Document learnings and wins
5. Capture quotes and feedback for testimonials
6. Plan post-onsite follow-up

Post-Engagement

1. Schedule testimonial interview within 2 weeks
2. Connect customer to Contributor Success for ongoing support
3. Work with Product Marketing on case study
4. Document lessons learned
5. Plan quarterly follow-up
6. Update customer record in SFDC

OKR Update Process

The Co-Create program tracks quarterly OKRs that require regular updates. This process allows any PM to generate reports without deep program familiarity.

Data Location

OKR data is maintained in the Co-Create Metrics Spreadsheet. This data is updated via an automated pipeline.

Running the Update Pipeline

1. Navigate to Contributor Success Toolbox Pipelines
2. Click “Run pipeline”
3. Add the following variables:
   • CO_CREATE_TRACKER = 1
   • PERIOD_START_DATE = YYYY-MM-DD (start of the quarter)
   • PERIOD_END_DATE = YYYY-MM-DD (end of the current week or end of quarter)
   • DRY_RUN = 0
   • CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE = schedule
   • CO_CREATE_REPORT_SHEET_ID = 1JqhcR2PSpKG3lQRU3Y8llo0K71aWWTrJNFjsjzGQiM4
4. Click “Run pipeline” and wait for completion (typically a few minutes)
5. Monitor status until it shows “job succeeded” or “job failed”

Troubleshooting Pipeline Failures

1. Access the “Jobs” tab of the pipeline
2. Open the failed job to review error details
3. Address issues and re-run pipeline

Using the Results

1. Open or refresh the Co-Create results file
2. Navigate to the “Calculator” tab
3. Update the Source sheet field with the dates used in your pipeline (corresponds to sheet name)
4. Use the calculated results to update:
   • Quarterly OKR progress
   • End of Week reports

Update Frequency

Run this pipeline weekly during the quarter or as needed for reporting. Note: Automatic scheduling is pending implementation; currently requires manual execution.

For Account Teams: Identifying Candidates

Step 1: Assess Customer Fit

Look for these signals:

1. Customer has created multiple issues or feature requests
2. Engineering team actively uses GitLab’s advanced features
3. Organization has open source participation history
4. Technical leaders express interest in deeper GitLab knowledge
5. Recent GitLab usage growth or expansion discussions

Step 2: Initial Introduction

Use this conversation framework:

1. Introduce Co-Create as unique GitLab partnership opportunity
2. Share relevant success story (Thales, Scania, Kitware etc.)
3. Explain value: “Your engineers contribute the feature, GitLab maintains it forever”
4. Highlight accelerated delivery compared to feature request process
5. Gauge interest and identify technical stakeholders

Step 3: Facilitate Connection

1. Direct customer to application form
2. Create Slack channel: #cocreate-initiative-CUSTOMERNAME
3. Invite: CSM, SA, AE, @wdevrient-ext, @stingrayza
4. Schedule discovery call with customer stakeholders

For Engineering: On-Site Best Practices

Please refer to Co-Create On-Site Engineer Guide

FAQ

For Account Teams

Q: Which customers are eligible?

A: Premium or Ultimate tier customers with CSM support. Ideal candidates have engineering capacity, technical curiosity, and interest in platform enhancements. Prior open source experience is beneficial but not required.

Q: What if my customer wants to contribute but isn’t Premium/Ultimate?

A: They can still contribute through our standard community contribution path. The Co-Create Program’s white-glove service (on-site engineer, dedicated workshops) is reserved for Premium/Ultimate customers.

Q: How do I convince my customer this is worth their time?

A: Share these points:

1. Research shows contributing firms achieve up to 2x productivity gains
2. GitLab maintains their contributions forever—zero ongoing maintenance burden
3. Faster than traditional feature request process
4. Builds deep platform expertise that improves their internal GitLab usage

Q: What’s the time commitment for my customer?

A: Typically 1-3 engineers for 1 week on-site, plus 2-3 hours for GDK setup workshop beforehand. Post-engagement time varies based on merge request feedback cycles.

Q: Can customers work on any issue they want?

A: Contributions must align with GitLab’s product direction. We maintain a curated list of pre-approved issues. Custom issues require Product Manager approval.

Q: What if legal is concerned about contributions?

A: We have a Compatibility Guide for Corporate Contributors and can arrange consultation with our legal experts. The Corporate Contributor Agreement is standard across tech companies with open source contributions.

Q: How is this different from a feature request?

A: Feature requests enter product prioritization process with uncertain timelines. Co-Create allows customers to develop what they need immediately, with GitLab maintaining it long-term.

For Customers

Q: Do we need Ruby or Go experience?

A: Not required. GitLab engineers provide pair programming support and teach as you code. Prior experience with any programming language is sufficient.

Q: Who owns the code we contribute?

A: Please refer to https://about.gitlab.com/community/contribute/dco-cla/#do-i-retain-rights-in-my-contributions

Q: What happens if our contribution isn’t accepted?

A: Product Manager approval occurs before the on-site week to ensure alignment. During development, GitLab engineers guide you to meet quality standards. Rejection is extremely rare with this level of support.

Q: Can we contribute to multiple areas?

A: Yes! Returning customers often expand their contributions. Initial engagements typically focus on one area to build confidence and establish processes.

Q: What if we need specific network configurations or can’t run GDK locally?

A: We work with you to find solutions. GitLab Workspaces can help overcome network restrictions. The enablement workshop addresses environment challenges before the on-site week.

Q: How quickly will our contribution be in a GitLab release?

A: Timeline varies by contribution complexity and review cycles. Contributions always ship in the next release following merge request approval.

Q: Can we publicize our participation?

A: Yes! We encourage it. We can support joint announcements, blog posts, and conference presentations. Many customers use Co-Create as part of their open source programs office initiatives.

For GitLab Team Members

Q: How are on-site engineers selected?

A: Engineering leadership identifies engineers with expertise in relevant codebase areas, availability, and interest in mentorship. Engineers typically volunteer for these engagements.

Q: What if a contribution requires significant architectural changes?

A: These should be identified during the qualification phase. Product Managers assess scope and may recommend breaking large contributions into smaller iterations or starting with a simpler related issue.

Q: How do we handle contributions that conflict with planned work?

A: Product Manager alignment happens before commitment. If conflicts arise, we work with the customer to find alternative contribution opportunities that don’t create conflicts.

Q: What if the customer wants to continue contributing after the on-site week?

A: Excellent! Connect them with Contributor Success team for ongoing mentorship. Many customers become long-term contributors.