As senior business unit director – data and applications, Andy Brown is responsible for making TD SYNNEX’s Destination AI programme a success – we spoke to him about his plans
In February, TD SYNNEX announced the appointment of Andy Brown as senior business unit director – data and applications. In this role, in addition to overseeing this fast-developing area of the Advanced Solutions portfolio, he has taken responsibility for developing TD SYNNEX's Destination AI programme in the UK and Ireland – and wants to encourage as many partners as possible sign-up for the programme. ‘Destination AI exists because AI is such a huge opportunity for partners – and my job is to make sure that they are fully-equipped to articulate and deliver the benefits of AI to their end user customers.’
He’s made a fast start, setting up a cross-company team to co-ordinate efforts around AI and ensure that TD SYNNEX is consistent in its approach. There is now an ‘AI ambassador’ within each of TD SYNNEX’s business units responsible for connecting the central strategy with the actions being taken at business unit level. The team is sharing information and best practice across the company, both within the UK&I and other TD SYNNEX countries across Europe.
New investments
In addition, he is overseeing a vendor-backed project to install the latest AI-driven hardware in the TD SYNNEX Business Solutions Centre (BSC) in Bracknell. Partners will be able to use this to run demonstrations and proof-of-concept testing on AI solutions. He’s also pulling together a library of AI-readiness education and enablement resources, specifically to support ISVs in building AI solutions and taking them to market.
‘These investments are important and they’ll make a real difference for partners. They may well become extremely good at selling AI solutions, but prospective customers will still want to test them out before they commit – and we’re giving partners the ability to do that in the BSC without having to make any up-front investment. And of course, they will be able to call on our internal experts to help them as well.
Developers may have great ideas and technical skills, but they won’t necessarily have the capability to take a solution to market
‘The ISV enablement training and support is just as significant. Developers may have great ideas and technical skills, but they won’t necessarily have the capability to take a solution to market. We can help them to do that.’
Bringing partners together
TD SYNNEX has been engaging with ISVs and other partners on AI for some time through it’s AI Industry Ecosystem, which meets several times a year to discuss advances, share ideas and foster new partnerships. ‘For us, it’s all about bringing partners together and helping them to get enabled and ready to take solutions to market. The AI Ecosystem does that and we’ll also be looking to connect ISV partners who engage on Destination AI to the ecosystem, where they can meet other businesses that have complementary skills or access to markets.’
Vendors are keen to invest and support partner development
Destination AI is not just about ISVs though. While a degree of maturity in terms of understanding infrastructure technologies, and having the capability to deliver solutions, is probably a pre-requisite to making the journey successful, the programme is open to all partners – and plenty are ready to make a start.
‘All reseller partners will be in a different place today with respect to their AI journey, and while we are still very much in the awareness phase, here in the UK&I we have a more mature and ready market than many other countries. Vendors are keen to invest and support partner development.
‘Destination AI aims to harness that enthusiasm and to take partners through the different stages of learning and becoming enabled for AI. We already have a number of partners that are moving through those first stages, consuming the training we make available and developing business plans that they can deliver against.’
There are no formal rules for engagement on the Destination AI programme – it is more of an agreed collaboration between TD SYNNEX and the partner. Following a collaborative assessment of maturity, a structured pathway will be set out for the partner.
Partners that are most likely to flourish are those that have a particular focus or understanding of a vertical sector, such as healthcare, financial services or the legal profession. ‘It certainly helps if you can identify a specific use case or requirement where AI can be deployed that is repeatable. Our aim is to support partners in attaining the skills they need to develop those use cases and turn them into deployable solutions.’
The best possible start
There is plenty of information available about the Destination AI programme and TD SYNNEX will be running a number of events throughout the rest of this year, giving partners the opportunity to understand how they can get involved and start to develop their own AI capabilities.
For all the hype and talk there has been around AI, from a partner perspective there is not very much out there that is tangible and usable
For many, enrolling in the programme will be the best way to get started with AI, says Andy. ‘For all the hype and talk there has been around AI, from a partner perspective there is not very much out there that is tangible and usable. Destination AI breaks through all that and gives them a way forward and yes, I believe it is going to be the ideal way for partners get a good understanding of AI, how they can use it to deliver benefits and add value for their customers, and how it’s going to help them grow their business.
Partners that want to engage in Destination AI or find out more about the programme can email andy.brown@tdsynnex.com or their usual contact.
Find out more about Destination AI
Destination AI – Q&A
What is Destination AI?
Destination AI is an end-to-end programme designed to support your journey in creating, enabling and growing an AI practice. It’s a structured, programmatic approach that enables channel partners to become competent and capable in AI. TD SYNNEX supports partners through four key stages:
- Awareness – sharing market intelligence, use cases and marketing materials to help partners understand AI opportunities
- Enablement – providing AI training, workshops, and lead generation activities that enable partners to build their expertise and pipeline
- Sales Support – assisting with demos and POCs to ensure successful AI solution sales
- Post-Sales Support – Deployment and monitoring services to ensure ongoing success
Who is it for?
Any mature partner that wants to learn how they can harness the power of AI to help their customers enhance productivity or gain a competitive advantage and grow their own business by delivering AI-based solutions. While AI is versatile, implementing solutions can be complex and require expertise in infrastructure, cloud and other technologies. You may need a good understanding of the existing IT environment and to be capable of identifying areas where AI can provide significant, measurable benefits, for example, in a vertical market.
What will it help me do?
Understand how and where AI solutions can be put to use, identify potential AI opportunities and articulate how the technology will be applied and the benefits it will provide. Ultimately, it will help you build your own successful AI practice.
What do I get out of it?
Ultimately, the programme aims to help partners build their own value proposition, take it to market and start a sales pipeline. TD SYNNEX will assist with demos, proof-of-concepts, Cloud Labs and other resources to ensure successful delivery of AI solutions. We’ll also provide post-sales support for deployment and progress monitoring.
What kind of commitment will I be asked to make?
There is no financial cost, but partners engaging on Destination AI should be fully committed to going through the full programme and ready to embrace AI through their own investment. A partner should also be willing to engage on training and working to gain vendor certifications, and prepared to put their own dedicated resources in place for AI. Having a strong understanding of your market and the challenges customers face is important too.
