AI’s Impact on the B2B Tech Ecosystem

AI is already reshaping the B2B tech landscape — are you ready for what’s next? 🦾

Opening the Channel Ecosystem Track straight from the Six Five Summit: AI Unleashed, Sanjib Sahoo, President, Global Platform Group at Ingram Micro, speaks about the transformative power of AI in the B2B tech ecosystem! He joins host Tiffani Bova, Chief Strategy & Research Officer at The Futurum Group, for an essential discussion on the future of digital transformation and how AI is redefining digital transformation, platform strategy, and partner experiences across the global B2B ecosystem.

Key takeaways:

🔹Digital Transformation as a Strategic Imperative: Discover Ingram Micro's pivotal moment in recognizing digital transformation as crucial for delivering next-gen value across the global ecosystem.

🔹Platformization Driving AI-Enabled Experiences: Explore the evolution towards platform-centric approaches, where AI-powered platforms like Xvantage are redefining value creation and scaling customer and partner experiences.

🔹Beyond Efficiency – Enhancing Engagement Through AI: Understand how AI is utilized not just for operational efficiencies but also to profoundly enhance the emotional and experiential aspects of B2B engagements.

🔹Untapped AI Opportunities in the Channel: Gain insights into compelling success stories and practical advice for leaders looking to move beyond AI experimentation to full-scale, impactful implementation within the channel.

Learn more at Ingram Micro.

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Or listen to the audio here:

Tiffani Bova: Hi, everyone, and welcome to The Six Five Summit: AI Unleashed. I'm Tiffani Bova, and I am joined today by the man, the myth, the legend, otherwise known as Sanjib Sahoo. He is the president of Global Platform Group at Ingram Micro for the ecosystems track today. Welcome, Sanjib.

Sanjib Sahoo: Thank you so much. A pleasure to be here.

Tiffani Bova: Well, look, I don't know if many people realize that Ingram Micro touches, like 90% of the people on this planet when it comes to technology and has for, like the last four decades. When you look back and think about there being this inflection point of being a technology distributor that had to embrace digital, what do you think was the moment where it was like, hold on a second. This is just not some transition. This is definitely where the market is going and. And now we find ourselves at this inflection of AI. What do you think Ingram's position is now?

Sanjib Sahoo: I think Ingram is at an inflection point and becoming a platform business. Right. But if you think about it, we had been in business for more than four decades that you said, and we didn't own anything. We connected the amazing technology brands with all the resellers reaching out to almost 90% of the world's population. The idea was that if we could embrace digital and create that experience between our resellers and the OEMs and the technology companies better. That's what we wanted. That's how we started embracing the digital mindset and starting the platform journey and rest. In the next few quarters, we started iterating step by step.

Tiffani Bova: Yeah, and I want to double click there because digitizing and digitization and digital transformation is a mindset change, not just a solution or an outcome. And where do you think there's an opportunity for the ecosystem, if you will, to understand that the mindset really has to keep pace with what's going on technologically.

Sanjib Sahoo: Absolutely. A lot of transformations fail because you know what you know, and you do not embrace change. And sometimes to become who you want to be, you have to let go of who you are, and that's hard. We always focus on the art of impossible versus the art of possible. Our mind tells us that no, no, this is working well. We are a successful company. So why change? Why do you change everything that you have done for a long time? So the technology evolves and you build amazing technology, but if it is not adopted, it will not work. So one of the things we did was create something called the operating model DG Ops. Operationalizing digital. Because adoption is not an option. You have to continuously build, evolve, capture value and move on. And most importantly, make small wins and change the mindset.

Tiffani Bova: Well, you've been involved in this digital transformation for a long time and you almost historically as an individual, Sanjib, right. Looked at legacy businesses that have gone a traditional route and said, hold on a second. Technology is going to be moving whether it's financial services or banking. And now in distribution. Do you see correlations in industries where they're more open to embrace these digital transformations?

Sanjib Sahoo: I think every industry has to adapt to transformation. Digital transformation is a name, but ultimately every organization is focusing on driving the top line, optimizing the bottom line and moving fast in the market. The best transformation is when you don't call it a transformation. It's not a project, it's a DNA. Tell me one company that does not want a DNA that can adopt and pivot to market changes can really create value and can understand their customer experience and that is transformation. So digital transformation is using digital technology to fuel that journey. And some companies do it better than others. Some companies do not change faster because of a lot of legacy and traditional businesses. But I think Tiffani, every company should really have transformation in their DNA where you actually focus on the art of possible. You focus on how continuously you change.

Tiffani Bova: Change and what do you believe Distribution's role, ingramicro specifically is in helping the channel ecosystem make this pivot themselves using kind of being their own client zeros, if you will. I don't believe that partners or the ecosystem sells technology. I believe they sell change. And change is super hard. And so what are the things that Ingram is really investing in to make sure that these partners stay on this journey?

Sanjib Sahoo: This channel sells a lot of amazing technology. Do we use that technology in our business? Do we use data, AI, cloud to really create a better partner experience or a better vendor experience? What we are doing at Ingram Micro is using technology and it's not just talking about AI and technologies. We started this journey with Xvantage three years ago. But using this technology and starting with the journeys, understanding the problems and trying to create a better partner experience, can you actually have a platform for every single person? Can you solve special pricing? Can you have hardware, software, cloud, in single order, ticket billing? There's traditional issues that are in this industry. If we can solve them using technology, partners are freed up to grow their business better with the insights that we give. Similarly for the vendors. So our role is to connect the 1500 vendors that we work with, with the hundreds and thousands of resellers that we have reaching out to almost 90% of the population, have a seamless better connectivity and make them connect better so that everybody gets value in this ecosystem. That's where Ingram Micro can play a huge role in the channel.

Tiffani Bova: And how are you reimagining value creation, especially with Xvantage? I think that's a great platform and springboard for this value creation for the channel.

Sanjib Sahoo: Xvantage is not a tool that supports a distribution business. It is a platform that's making us a platform business. So when I talk to our partners and our vendor partners, say partner with a platform, imagine the possibilities together from PDF to SKUs, from integrating months to minutes from solving complexities, taking OPEX out, having hardware software integrations in one single platform. Reimagine your business with the power of platform. And that is where Xvantage is helping. The platform can understand and adapt to the changes. It's a new way of integrating with us. And that's where we are super excited about creating value in the ecosystem.

Tiffani Bova: The role on that platform of AI. How and where are you integrating that? On both sides. Right? So you're doing it, I'm going to guess internally, right, to help the platform, but also externally for the ecosystem.

Sanjib Sahoo: Interestingly, Tiffani, when we started the Xvantage journey, we started with a foundation of data and AI. We had more than 40 years of data. The first thing I did was to hire a chief data officer and told him to build a real time data mesh and an AI factory. Most of the mistakes companies do is jump on AI and find a problem to solve. We started Xvantage with the foundation of AI and data and then from that created engines that took friction out and now we are speeding the go to market and solving problems. For example, if you are creating a complex code using data and automation, you are doing it in minutes and seconds. You are taking a complex catalog and converting it to our SKU format. You are doing it in seconds, you are doing integration from month to minutes. All this is the data and the AI that we have that is helping us. That's the power and the backbone of the Xvantage platform.

Tiffani Bova: What do you think is the greatest or most significant, I should say missed opportunity is for the channel. When it comes to Xvantage, the platform and all you're exposing from data and analytics.

Sanjib Sahoo: I think number one is do not look at Xvantage as just a tool to do distribution. Do not think about, okay, this is another tool we should log in to do our business, get updates. I think the opportunity is to reimagine your business as a partner with the power of a platform. And the platform is not perfect. We are building it. In the last two and a half, three years, we have put in more than 32 million lines of code. We have more than 30 patents. We are replicating 300 million messages every day. We have four petabytes of data, we have brought in engineers and we are working on it and we are solving problems. It's not perfect, but we are approaching our partners and our vendors and asking, what are the most complex problems you have and how can we solve them? And if you do not approach the way that the platform can solve problems, you will miss out. For example, we are talking to the vendor partners, creating a data store with AI to push recommendations, build joint recommendations to the customer partner base or SMBs. We are looking at some of the customers to partner together, take their Opex, improve their opex and go to the market. We have a cyber security vendor we recently integrated where the platform is actually their back end and helping us to grow their business. There are multiple ways you can integrate with the platform. It's not the only way. I think that's what the missed opportunity is. Understand the power of a platform because the channel has to change. The whole world is changing. How do we cater to that change? Using the power of the platform.

Tiffani Bova: What partners are getting it right? I don't need names necessarily, unless you want to share it. But two things I'd ask on that is what is the Persona of those partners that are really leveraging it? Because what you just described is something that a channel partner most likely would never invest in on their own, Correct? Right. So it's a, if I'm going to eat, you know, and be my customer zone, you know, one, I almost can't afford to do everything you just said for terabytes and petabytes and all this, I'm not going to do it. But if I can leverage Ingram's expandage, it gives me a competitive advantage. And so what's the sort of Persona of those partners that really get that message?

Sanjib Sahoo: So if you look at the channel or our partners and what we are doing Ingram Micro. We have to move from an order taker to an order maker. Most of the channel is fulfilling orders, but what the industry needs is you actually fulfill orders that can be automated, but you need solutioning, consulting, bundling, going and asking your customers what problem do you want to solve? How can we solve those? Because you can look at all the technology together. So the partners, where the leaders are involved to look at their business holistically with the data of the Xvantage platform, the insights and instructing their teams to use it in a way and exploring capabilities knowing that they cannot invest themselves even in the mid market or the SMB. We have some enterprises also leaning in. That's where you see success. If you are asking your team to go and use the platform and give another distributor platform you will not see. Yes, there are some benefits you will see. But truly when you want to realize the power of the platform, it has to start with the leadership. It has to start with the C level executives of the companies making a decision. I want to partner with a platform because I cannot invest in AI and the insights. Let me look at that and use the platform to grow our business. That's where you see the most value coming in.

Tiffani Bova: Yeah. So you think it's a. You said a transactional partner finding more challenges with what we're talking about here.

Sanjib Sahoo: Correct.

Tiffani Bova: Versus someone who might be a little more software led or services led where they're like this is great. Right. I can maximize and take advantage of Xvantage in a way that I don't have to make those investments. Right. And I can use it here. What would you say to those partners that are still a little resistant to go on this journey and saying like, you know what, what I'm doing now is working like my clients are happy. But I feel like those clients, even SMBs are going to want to go down this journey and they're not going to want to do it themselves as well. They're looking for partners to help them do this. So what would you give for advice from those partners that are still on the sidelines waiting?

Sanjib Sahoo: Yeah, I mean look, the platform can support transactions that is day to day. That we do. Right. The idea is that the motion in the industry changing the sales motion, even if you look at cloud, AI, cyber cloud is all intertwined. If you look at services, you buy a cloud, you need to have services, you buy hardware, you also need subscriptions or cloud. We need to understand that as the sales motion is changing, the partners need to reimagine how they look approaching their business, would you really focus on looking at hyperscalers, looking at services, or have a connectivity through a platform and do that? The second thing is we have something called Xvantage integrations. Today our partner works on multiple systems switches. Today we have an integration hub almost like an app store which can actually connect those integrations to our platform, which gives those integrations from months to minutes. Like you have a CRM or CPQ and the partner doesn't have to switch and you can really build your efficiencies to the platform. I think we have to really look at it. The transaction part is fine, but how do you really grow your business together? And that mindset has to change. So my advice is pick one or two use cases. And that's always my advice in new technology. Think big, but act small. Take one or two use cases, experiment with the platform. If you can solve those problems, understand and then iterate more and look at some of your complex problems and then use the platform.

Tiffani Bova: You know, look, I've worked with Ingram for a long time, with Ingram Micro for a long time. And I'd say I always appreciate what the role of distribution has played in this ecosystem, in the supply chain, right? In the moving of technology. It doesn't look anything like it looked 20 years ago, 10 years ago, even five years ago. So I would, if I was going to ask anybody where I thought it would go, Sanjeev, you'd be one of the first ones I would call and be like, where do you think it's going? Right? If you could say, look, I, I feel like, because you're really pushing the envelope here, three to five years from now, where do you hope Xvantage and the platform and all that you're adding value in, where do you hope it goes?

Sanjib Sahoo: It is not just about automation. Right. The biggest mistake people think is that the platform is all automation. It's a combination of freeing up time for non value and work so that we can invest that time in relationships with our partners to add more value. But with the involvement of AI and how technology is evolving, we need to use data and AI or agentic AI to make better decisions. And I see that happening in the industry right now where solutioning, bundling, the challenges about pricing, the challenges about matching, all that will evolve and change because technology is changing at a rapid pace. Technology consumption is changing quite a bit. So the distribution has to change as well. You cannot really have the same notion of an OEM to a Disney to a reseller to the end customer. That doesn't work that way. Everybody is going to everybody. So that aggregation through a platform that can scale and connect all the pieces of the ecosystem, in my opinion is the future. And that's what we are trying. It doesn't mean we are perfect, but that is what we are trying to really help our partners get there together with us.

Tiffani Bova: And I think the component, there's another component to that I would guess is the partner to partner connection. Because what you just described, right. The OEM to Disney, Disney to reseller, reseller to customer. Right. But along the way I feel like there's more opportunity for partner interaction and engagement. And it. It's been one of those things we've talked about for a really long time, but I've never really seen it scale. And maybe the marketplace is the way in which the platform is the way in which that will finally come to fruition.

Sanjib Sahoo: Yeah. I think what happens is that the more you can actually get the technology and the platform working, you free up things, for example, from tracking calls. So now we are proactively reaching out to our partners with some sales opportunities. The more you free up, it frees up the time for interaction, engagement on the platform. Both engaging with Ingram Microsoft and engaging with partners of Ingram Micro, for example, looking at solutions, insights, recommendations, communities of your partners. And the more you do that, we make more education for our partners to make the right decisions, how they can make their own businesses profitable and can go to market better. And that's the goal. Right. You really automate the repetitive things that they do to run their business and help them to have a more cognitive, strategic and consultative approach for them to learn. And that's the way I see the platform operating more and more.

Tiffani Bova: Thank you, Sanjib, for joining us as the opening track for our Six Five Ecosystems track. It was really a pleasure talking to you. Be sure to follow us on social and check out what's next SixFiveMedia.com/summit. We'll be back shortly with more.

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Speaker

Sanjib Sahoo
President, Global Platform Group
Ingram Micro

Delivering over 100 keynotes across several countries, Sanjib Sahoo is a sought-after speaker, visionary global business leader, and innovator. In Q1 of 2025, he commanded the stage at CP Expo 2025, HP Amplify 2025, Leadership Summit 2025, and Capgemini. Sahoo has keynoted at Best of Breed, Computerworld Open Business Conference, NASSCOM, ONE and TEDx. He has challenged conventional thinking at Constellation Research and HMG Strategy events and has been a guest on a number of industry podcasts and TV stations including DisrupTV, CRNtv and the B2B Tech Talk. Sahoo serves as President of Ingram Micro’s Global Platform Group—leading all aspects of the industry leader and publicly traded company’s platform strategy. This includes platform development, the innovation flywheel, global growth, services and support, and the business expansion plans for Ingram Micro’s platform operating model. Sahoo joined Ingram Micro in 2021 as EVP and Chief Digital Officer, where he spearheaded transformative initiatives, including the creation and implementation of the company’s groundbreaking digital twin Ingram Micro Xvantage. Recognized for his unique ability to blend strategic vision, technical expertise, and a results-driven approach, Sahoo is a driving force behind Ingram Micro’s digital transformation to a platform company and strategic focus on continuous business value creation. Widely regarded as one of the most influential minds in business and technology, Sahoo has successfully architected and executed large-scale transformations across multiple high-profile industries, setting benchmarks for excellence in the digital era.

Sanjib Sahoo
President, Global Platform Group