‘What does it mean that Intel’s chip is AI-enabled? What does it mean that the Dell and Lenovo and HP laptops are AI-enabled? What does that do for me? … The more clarity that we can bring to our partners, the better,’ says Kirk Robinson, executive vice president and president of North America at Ingram Micro.

When it comes to AI and Ingram Micro’s strategy around delivering AI-enabled products to partners, Kirk Robinson said the distributor is watching it closely.

“We’re working very closely with all our vendors as they all say, ‘We’re working with AI,’ and we’re looking at that. What I don’t want to say is, ‘We have a line card full of AI vendors,’” Robinson, executive vice president and president of North America for Irvine, Calif.-based Ingram Micro, told CRN.

With AI seemingly at the forefront of everyone’s mind, Ingram Micro is approaching it strategically to gauge the market need and how it will help IT service providers with efficient business outcomes.

One such emerging AI-enabled product is AI PCs. More than 50 AI-enabled PCs are available in the market today, with more to come this year.

Chip companies have been planning to implement NPUs into processors for a few years. But the rise of generative AI, which was accelerated by the launch of ChatGPT, expands many manufacturers’ approach around AI-powered PCs and how they can help businesses become more efficient.

But Robinson isn’t diving right in.

“We’re going to have to work very closely with the PC manufacturers around the clarity and what that means,” Robinson said. “But we need the clarity of what it really means to have an AI-enabled laptop, chip, router, switch or every other vendor product out there.”

CRN spoke to Robinson about AI PCs, Ingram Micro’s AI strategy and partner challenges this year.

What is Ingram Micro’s AI strategy for partners?

I would say that’s still in development. We’re working very closely with all our vendors as they all say, ‘We’re working with AI,’ and we’re looking at that. What I don’t want to say is, ‘We have a line card full of AI vendors.’ Right now we’re spending a lot of time looking at our strategy to help our partners and everything we’re doing with Xvantage, and that will play in nicely.

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing partners in the next six months?

AI is going to be at the forefront, but I think partners are going to have to focus on business outcomes. They’re going to have to decipher, and we’re obviously going to be a huge help to them, but they’re going to have to look at what the business outcomes are that they’re going to be able to drive for their end customers. If they focus on that, with the help from their distributors, I think they’ll be in a good position.

What can partners look forward to with the latest in Xvantage?

We’re going to continue to give them the ability to become more efficient, help them be more productive. … Instead of spending time on quotes and ordering and special pricing, we’re going to free them up and give them data and insights to help build their business profitably … and we think that’s a more valuable use of time.

Do your partners find the new Xvantage platform easier to use?

From everything I see, I would say ‘yes’ in my knowledge of what used to exist compared to what exists today. I get feedback every week. We go out and do the good, the bad and the ugly, the positive, neutral and negative. We have a whole process around reaching out and making sure we touch base with anybody who has anything that would be deemed a negative comment. I want to know the really bad stuff because this is not easy. But that’s the only way we’ll get better, and this is why I know we’re going to succeed.

There’s a lot of discussion about AI PCs being on the rise, what are your thoughts on that?

This comes from conversations with some of our vendor partners. … I believe there’s a bit of a lack of clarity around what AI does for you in a laptop. I think there’s a lack of clarity around Windows 11 and when that support goes away, [what’s] the date of when people should start making that move? We’re going to have to work very closely with the PC manufacturers around the clarity and what that means. What does it mean that Intel’s chip is AI-enabled? What does it mean that the Dell and Lenovo and HP laptops are AI-enabled? What does that do for me? Does it just run ChatGPT? Does it just allow me to run Microsoft Copilot efficiently? The more clarity that we can bring to our partners, the better. But we need the clarity of what it really means to have an AI-enabled laptop, chip, router, switch or every other vendor product out there.