As expected, artificial intelligence was a frequent topic at Channel Partners Conference & Expo.
Channel partners, vendors and analysts all provided insights on the hot technology impacting all area of the business. Here are highlights of conversations around AI:
- “You need to get on that AI train, because if you are not on that train, you will miss out completely. Every customer wants to look at AI and gen AI capabilities,” Techaisle analyst Anurag Agrawal.
- “Forty-four percent of [partners] are building software, using AI and not hiring developers,” Canalys analyst Jay McBain.
- “Agentic AI is a here and now thing. Those who use agentic AI can get nice software-like gross margins by coupling service with technology, and now you can go out into the community and drive that. That’s a rich revenue stream,” N-Able CEO John Pagliuca.
- “Co-Pilot is a no brainer for a trusted advisor to use,” Accelerate Partners CEO J.P. Panzuca.
- "I feel like this [AI] is a tsunami that's going to just decimate the low end — all your tier ones. It's OK, because we'll all just move up to higher ground. But the tools are not going to necessarily get your company on board with it. You have to do that." – Harold Mann, CEO of MSP Mann Consulting.
- "AI isn't AI until you start combining it with extreme domain knowledge. So you we need partners that have applications and specifics, who are experts in transportation and health care, and [the list] goes on and on and on. That's where AI doesn't just work. Use cases need to be built, and you need to be able to progress to the next level of technology. We need partners to do that in an SI level: hardware, software and intellectual capability.” – T-Mobile for Business SVP of sales George Fischer.
“How do we defend against AI powered threats when they adapt faster than we can? These are not theoretical questions. These are the defining security questions of our time. AI really has reshaped the threat landscape. – Shawnee Delaney, CEO of Vaillance Group.
- “AI has really changed the game, and it's really given them some very powerful tools when it comes to what they can do, what they can see with all of the data that's available to them, but it also comes with some risk. So with that comes opportunities for our partners, but it also comes with some responsibility. And I've seen this enormous shift from this traditional channel to a transformational channel, to this one that I don't even know how to describe because I don't think we've even seen where it's going yet. We're just at the very start of it.” -- Louise McEvoy, Trend Micro’s VP of U.S. channel.
- “ I like to make sure I tell people that with AI, there's still the human intervention, and we need to recognize that that is the critical part of it, deciphering and understanding. It is great to have all the data, but then you need someone to be able to understand it, and take that AI information and make the right decision because if you shut down your e-staff because of a vulnerability, guess who's getting that phone call? So it's how we use AI in order to make us all look smarter and look better, and to make sure that the experience is better for our customers.” -- Ken McCray, Fortinet’s VP of channel sales.