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Dell Technologies has noted a significant shift in local partners’ adoption of AI, but these businesses are are faced with concerns about its use, with the biggest problem being data governance.
AI is advancing and continuing to play a role in improving productivity, customer service and business processes and local channel partners are keen to integrate it into their offerings.
Speaking with ARN, Dell general manager and sales leader Shant Soghomonian recounted to ARN that during a roundtable the vendor held in December last year, roughly five out of the 25 partners that attended had AI concepts in their business offerings. Now, that number is closer to 50 per cent.
“This underscores how quickly AI is becoming a critical part of the tech ecosystem,” he said.
Soghomonian said customers are genuinely interested in using AI to increase productivity, improve customer service and enhance product development.
“[Businesses] don’t want to be left behind,” he said. “We’re still at the early stages of the AI maturity curve, but customers and partners alike are trying to figure out how to utilise AI meaningfully.”
The hype around AI is something Soghomonian has not seen in the industry before and while similar to the cloud wave, there are significant differences.
“Cloud was complicated, but AI is more complex because it touches so many different business processes, product development and other areas that weren’t traditionally part of our partners’ focus,” he said.
Cloud was mainly about running applications and workloads on-premises or in a hyperscaler, Soghomonian said.
“AI, on the other hand, involves integrating data into every aspect of a business, making it a different challenge altogether,” he said.
Recognising this, local Dell partners are piloting AI projects within their organisation, Soghomonian said.
However, there are concerns around AI, with the biggest centred around data governance. This requires solid governance frameworks to enable successful deployment and fully leverage AI’s potential.
“Partners are figuring out how to manage the governance of data, the modelling they use and the output generated by AI. It’s a significant concern,” said Soghomonian.
“[We’re] working with partners to ensure they have the right governance frameworks in place.”
Soghomonian said the vendor will continue making channel program updates, especially in AI, to help support partners.
“We’re still far from the peak of AI adoption,” he said. “Over time, traditional infrastructure will just become part of the foundation.
“However, the areas that will see the most investment are consulting practices, where partners help customers with AI strategies and use case-specific AI solutions.”
According to Soghomonian, partners will continue to invest there and find the most opportunities in the short and long term.
He said the vendor launched the Dell Technologies AI Factory and announced its AI-focused partner network in May to help partners build AI capabilities, skills, and offerings to guide their customers on the AI journey.
“This included providing partners with validated designs across architectures like Nvidia, Intel and AMD, along with skills development and training opportunities,” he added.