WASHINGTON, DC -- Claiming AI changes the way channel partners sell technology, Ingram Micro president Sanjib Sahoo Tuesday called on the channel to think more innovatively in the AI era.
He said channel partners should start by using AI to solve problems and sell it to solve their customers’ problems.
“We don’t want to chase AI,” Sahoo said during his Ingram Micro One keynote. “Everybody has a unique problem for your business. Start with your problem. Don’t chase AI to be cool.”
He urged partners to focus on the intelligence part of AI, calling intelligence “the new operating system.” He said they should create AI opportunities instead of focusing on fulfilling orders.
“The channel has been following innovation,” Sahoo said. “We take others’ innovation and show it to the market. When will we be the innovation? When will we be the story? We sell amazing technology in this channel, but do we use that technology in our business? When will people say, ‘Wow, the technology channel uses amazing technology, disrupting the world?’ You never hear that. Let’s create demand with intelligent data and a partner ecosystem.”
Channel partners at Ingram Micro One said demand exists, but education is required for customers who approach AI with a mixture of high expectation and fear.
“Customers use it, but they don't necessarily know why,” said Tom Kirk, president of solutions provider CNI Sales. “AI does scare them. AI scared me a little bit. I have to be really honest with you, because I sometimes look at the bad part of the technology versus the benefits of what this technology can do for you. I think we just have to be careful of telling our customers how they need to run their business. Education is so important, and it's important for us. Everybody's going to get there, but I think everybody's going to get there at their own pace.”
Marc Lester, CEO of London-based MSP WWCS, agrees. “AI is the one of the first technologies that we have to educate customers about ,” he said. I think it's a journey. I think if you go and do a huge change in Day One, it's going to break you. So it's about working out where that endpoint is.”
Chuong Mai-Viet, managing director of MSP Fuse Technology, said much of the fear of AI comes from customers worried about it taking their jobs.
“The challenge I’m seeing is you have business owners who know it needs to happen but staff members act like it’s a threat,” he said. “It’s not there to replace you, it’s there to help you.”
Sahoo said partners need to get that message across.
“Either we can read the story in this AI era, or we can write the story to innovate, disrupt, and create value,” he said.
Sahoo said partners can innovate through Ingram Micro’s Xvantage platform built to use AI across cloud and cybersecurity services.
“We want to give you intelligence in your hand with your data and insights,” he said. “So we have built an AI platform, we have built a cloud platform, we have built a cyber security platform and services. Guess what the good news is? -- it's all one.”