(This is part of a regular series of technical advisor CEO Spotlights, where leading TAs share their secrets for success and goals for the future).
You can say Ty Smith literally grew up in the telecom channel. His parents spent decades at Verizon, and he worked at Cox for more than a decade in sales and as channel manager before starting his Optical Diversity tech advisor firm in 2024. So it’s no wonder he considers networking a huge priority in the channel.
“In this industry, your network literally becomes your net worth,” he said.
While everyone talks about AI these days, Smith is acting on it. He uses a custom supplier intelligence agent to bring non-technology service distributors into deals, and has built a training program platform to help people identify channel career opportunities. He advises TAs provide clients with a “voice of truth and access” to AI research tools.
Smith was an inaugural Channel Partners TA Thought Leaders winner. We caught up with him to learn more about his background, his AI initiatives and strategies for growth.
What inspired you to start or lead your company, and what is your company’s mission?
Smith: My original inspiration for building my company was my parents. Both of my parents spent over 35 years in front-line roles at Verizon, from the 1980s to the 2010s. They encouraged me to carve out a different pathway and create a new lane for myself and my future family.
My company’s mission is to serve our customers and local communities by leveraging technology to solve complex challenges.
What do you see as the biggest opportunities and challenges in your industry over the next five years?
Smith: I believe the largest opportunity will be to capitalize on the growing data center services demand. And the biggest challenge will be navigating the growing popularity of AI procurement solutions, and the future AI Technology Advisor bots.
How is your company using AI and other emerging technologies to stay ahead of the curve?
Smith: I use a custom-built supplier intelligence agent so I can quickly identify ways to incorporate some of the non-TSD suppliers into a deal.
What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs or leaders in the tech space?
Smith: Invest in growing your executive network, specifically CTOs, CIOs, etc., because in this industry, your network literally becomes your net worth.
Optical Diversity president Ty Smith
What’s next for your company? Are there any exciting projects or initiatives you’d like to share with our audience?
Smith: Outside of my traditional advisory work, I’ve built an educational platform called Pivot to the Channel. It’s a training program designed to demystify the channel by teaching and showcasing the numerous career opportunities that people can explore in the channel ecosystem.
What do most people misunderstand about building a sustainable business in the advisor channel?
Smith: It gets challenging at every scale of growth, but there’s solutions and resources and communities of amazing TAs that can help you along the way. You’re never really alone, unless you want to be,
Where do TAs risk losing credibility with buyers today?
Smith: I believe it’s important to not disregard the AI-driven technology procurement and research tools. Whether we like it or not, the information in those tools (even the home-made ones) are often valid and fairly accurate. But a TA can augment the AI research tools that a client is already using by providing a voice of truth and access to supplier-agnostic technology experts.
If you were starting today, what would you do differently and what would you do exactly the same?
Smith: I would definitely spend more time securing upfront capital and structuring my business more like a startup. Just because most TAs are bootstrapping… it doesn’t mean that I have to. The TA business model is very solid, and with the right investors & sales resources on staff, a significant ROI can be achieved in the first 3 years or less.
What I would’ve done exactly the same is network with other TAs, join the various TA communities like the Technology Advisor Alliance, along with the regional IT communities.