IT channel pivots to add value as AI takes off

Kathy Gibson reports from Pinnacle TechScape – Artificial intelligence (AI) may be at the peak of the hype cycle, but this doesn’t detract from the value that the technology will bring to the industry.

That’s the word from Tim Humphreys-Davies, CEO of Pinnacle, who points out that 88% of companies are already using AI, with an average return on investment of 5,8%

The technology is having an outsize effect in industries as diverse as agribulure, healthcare, education, financial services, retail and FMCG, transport and logistics.

“In fact, only 8% of companies currently don’t have a plan for AI,” he says. “So your competitors are doing it already.”

The level of AI adoption, and its momentum, can be somewhat frightening, Humphreys-Davies points out. “People need to find wats of properly harnessing it.”

Unfortunately, there are many downsides to AI: workslop, AI washing, deepfakes and fraud.

“Which is why we need to get guardrails into place,” Humphreys-Davies says. “In the IT industry, we are somewhat of a custodian for this, but it is often beyond our reach.”

On the plus side, AI has had some positive wins, particularly in agriculture, healthcare and education systems.

“The reality is that it is here to stay. It is infrastructure, and it is not optional.”

But when everyone adopts the same technology, it becomes a commodity and stops being a competitive advantage. “So how will you succeed?” Humphreys-Davies asks.

He says Pinnacle’s approach is to adopt a differentiator framework that embraces five key pillars: building a building a platform; embracing agility; ensuring expertise; fostering relationships; and trust.

Platform readiness is about having and infrastructure, and ensuring systems can run on that infrastructure, Humphreys-Davies explains.

In this respect, e-commerce and partner platforms are critical.

“We see the future of distribution as platform,” he adds. “And this is where we are putting lot of energy, effort and resources.”

Agility is the ability to move faster than the market. “It is the ability to pivot, to be quick when you need to course correct,” says Humphreys-Davies.

“The market is very fluid: Every day something changes. A key differentiator is cultural readiness, giving organisations the ability to move early and lead the future.”

He adds that, with AI becoming pervasive, the human multiplier is now critical.

“Companies need to understand the space, and ensure staff are capable, so they can continuously identify, deploy and improve faster than competitors. To do this you need to ensure that your people have the expertise, and they guardrails are in place.”

The one thing AI cannot replicate is the human anchor, Humphreys-Davies explains. “It can automate transactions, personalise communication and analyse sentiment. What it cannot do is build genuine human trust. And this is where important human decisions still rest.

“We feel that deep relationships outlast tools – in fact, they are more valuable than ever. Trust drives results.”

Deep human relationships may spell the difference when it comes to staff and customer retention, he adds. “In an AI world, human capital is increasingly irreplaceable. When everything automated, being human is the differentiator.”

At the end of the day, Humphreys-Davies says, the biggest benefit from AI is the time it can give back to people. “It gives you the time to think about high value human work – and the real advantage is what you can achieve with that time.”

He points to his own experience, having built a digital twin for himself and Pinnacle’s chief technology officer. “This has given us time to think more and have deeper relationships. I am already starting to see results.”

Within the broader organisation, Pinnacle is using both CoPilot and Claude for daily work as well as the digital twins.

The distributor has also built a large language model (LLM) trained on 25 years’ worth of Pinnacle data, to support the business.

It is also starting to build this out into a platform for sharing this data with partners. Examples of how it could work include renewals reminders, sales leads and more.

Pinnacle’s AI-driven CRM system today delivers deeper customer insights and improved engagement.

A customer portal that will be available in early 2027 will give app-style, realtime access to Pinnacle services and information with visibility to partners’ pipelines, historical sales, renewals and more.

It will include predictive selling, identifying sales leads and business development possibilities.

“This means our partners will have more time for relationships, allowing them to develop more value-added services and enhanced expertise,” says Humphreys-Davies. “It will give them more time to think, to build relationships, to be strategic, and to grow.”

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