TD SYNNEX has announced the launch of its Destination AI Practice Accelerator in North America to fast-track AI go-to-market efforts and monetization for partners. The program provides personalized support to partners looking to deliver specialized AI solutions to their customers.

According to TD SYNNEX's recently released Direction of Technology report, partners are rapidly increasing investments in AI, with nearly half of all channel partners planning to offer AI-driven solutions in the next two years.

"As AI continues to evolve, TD SYNNEX understands that it is not a standalone product — integrating AI across other high-growth solutions and industry verticals is the most effective way for partners to include it in their business strategies," said Jessica Yeck, senior vice president of vendor solutions, TD SYNNEX. "Through the Accelerator program, we're leveraging our expertise to empower partners to enter the AI market in their area of proficiency, with personalized support throughout the go-to-market process — from technical enablement to marketing and selling the solution to their customers."

Part of Destination AI, TD SYNNEX's comprehensive global AI market strategy, the Accelerator program enables partners to identify AI opportunities for their end customers and build an AI practice to meet those needs. The program will feature a new aggregated AI solution each month, with new cohorts of partners participating in six-week courses focused on going to market with one of these solutions on a quarterly basis. Each cohort of the Destination AI Practice Accelerator Program will participate in specialized training sessions and receive enablement resources tied to their vertical use case, enabling them to craft a customized market strategy.

TD SYNNEX is now recruiting its next cohort of partners for its upcoming Accelerator program, which will focus on leveraging generative AI (GenAI) for business automation. Sponsored by Intel, the solution will demonstrate the significant business impact of maximizing GenAI investments. The solution will feature Iterate.ai's AI platform, which enables enterprises to build production-ready applications and ready-to-use products for private AI requirements. TD SYNNEX is now recruiting its next cohort of partners to participate.

"This program brings Destination AI to life by supporting partners throughout their AI journey — from awareness and enablement to support during and after sale," said Sherry Bennett, chief data and AI scientist, TD SYNNEX. "By leveraging a hands-on, collaborative approach, we're able to better understand our partners' goals and challenges in entering the AI market and enable them to execute strategic go-to-market initiatives that will unlock a clear path to revenue."

The program piloted in June, with 12 participating partners across the retail vertical trained to go to market with VisionAI — a solution aggregated by TD SYNNEX that combines offerings from Intel, SAS and meldCX to enhance retail operations and elevate customer experiences. The pilot program received Intel's Distribution Q324 Excellence Award, demonstrating its success in driving impact within the AI sector.

"There is a lot of noise in the reseller space around what we should be bringing to our customers around AI and machine learning," said Nazrin Sadikhova, director of sales, Technology Group Solutions (TGS). "TD SYNNEX's Accelerator program was very specific to the vertical, offering and use cases relevant to our business. For this reason, it allowed us to identify who our target customers are, and what the talk track is. TD SYNNEX even assisted with the marketing collateral and prepared our engineers to speak to the technology effectively."

In other news, TD SYNNEX has published its Third Annual Direction of Technology Report, which reveals that as the technology landscape evolves, businesses plan to invest in strong technology infrastructure, leverage high-growth technologies and work in close conjunction with expert, trusted partners.

The report is based on a survey of more than 1,000 technology resellers, systems integrators, service providers and managed service providers from more than 60 countries globally. These respondents shared they are accelerating investments in AI and generative AI (Gen AI) technologies, with nearly half saying they plan to offer AI-driven solutions within the next two years.

The report also emphasizes the critical role of security, as it remains the top offering for partners, underscoring the need to balance innovation with risk mitigation. But when it comes to doing business, resellers prioritize affordability and flexibility, responding to the evolving needs of their customer base.

"For the third straight year, the Direction of Technology report provides a clear picture both of the current state of the technology market and areas where businesses say they plan to invest the most," said Patrick Zammit, CEO, TD SYNNEX. "This year, we're seeing much more detail on how partners are embracing the power of AI and cloud technologies while making technology more adaptable to the needs of their customers. At the same time, they are balancing the need for robust security and regulatory compliance across all industries."

The report highlights five key global trends influencing the IT market in 2024:

1. Leading with Ingenuity and Flexibility: Tech leaders know certifications and specialization are keys to success in the dynamic tech marketplace, especially in cybersecurity (58%), data privacy (58%) and artificial intelligence (AI) (45%). At the same time, they're optimizing flexible spending solutions to meet the needs of their customer base in today's shifting economic climate.
2. Driving Innovation with a Strong Foundation: With AI changing the way we do business, channel partners are under mounting pressure to make the case for high-growth technologies, including nearly half (44%) who plan to offer AI in the next two years. To power the future, the ecosystem is investing in core technologies like security and hardware, ensuring that the new goes hand-in-hand with the foundational.
3. Leveraging Essential Solutions for a Complex World: This year, products at the intersection of security and innovation are driving the financial success of the channel and the broader marketplace. Respondents identified security as the top profit generator in the ecosystem, while networking, endpoint devices, AI and hyperscale infrastructure round out their top revenue drivers.
4. Prioritizing Collaboration, Coordination and Consolidation: The technology ecosystem thrives when leaders embrace the interconnection of the channel. With nearly three-quarters of information technology (IT) spend (73.2%) driven by partners in 2024, it's clear that collaboration will be crucial as the channel contends with rising competition and technological transformation.
5. Meeting Regulation and Mitigating Risk: Across all industries, global topics like climate change, human rights and strong corporate governance are changing the regulatory and risk landscape. Respondents are keenly aware of this, identifying environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards as one of the top two challenges for their business in the next two years. To stay on top of this shifting landscape, partners plan to offer technology solutions that help customers move toward a more sustainable and equitable society.

"By focusing on these key trends, companies will not only be ready to adapt, but to thrive," said Jill Kermes, corporate vice president of global corporate communications and citizenship. "Looking ahead, technology leaders must stay focused on how to best optimize and grow their businesses, as well as how they can deliver solutions that best support the people who will use them."

In addition to the global Direction of Technology report, TD SYNNEX will publish supplemental reports for each of its global regions: North America, Europe, Latin America and Caribbean, and Asia Pacific and Japan, later this year.

To download the new Direction of Technology report, visit https://content.tdsynnex.com/dot/.