How Cloud Partners Can Take Advantage of the Booming AI Market
Sarah Leitner and Jon Cowan
Artificial intelligence (AI) is seemingly everywhere these days, and stands to change the technology industry as we know it. From being sold as stand-alone solutions to being integrated into more and more tools you’re likely already selling, if you’re in the business of selling technology, artificial intelligence provides a massive market opportunity. The global artificial intelligence market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 42.2% through 2027 to reach a staggering $997.77 billion by 2028, according to Grand View Research.
As a Cloud partner, how do you integrate artificial intelligence into your business in a way that makes sense for you? Much the same way you’d add any other new vendor or technology:
Because the use cases for AI are so widespread, it’s likely that there are already opportunities for AI within your existing customer base—no matter what industry you’re selling in to. Companies who could benefit from integrating AI into their practices include:
· Data-Driven Decision Makers
o Finance & Healthcare: Use AI for predictive modeling and strategic decision-making
o Retail: Employ predictive analytics for inventory management and trend forecasting
· Customer-Centric Innovators
o E-Commerce: Enhance the buying experience with personalized recommendation engines
o Customer Service Providers: Improve response times & resolution rates with AI-driven chatbots and support
· Growth-Focused Teams
o Marketing: Use AI to refine target identification strategies; optimize campaign performance
o Sales: Streamline lead qualification to identify high-value prospects
· Efficiency-Focused Teams
o Variable Demand Customers: Implement dynamic resource allocation to optimize inventory levels based on real-time data
o Tech Pioneers: Integrate AI into product development to stay at the forefront of innovation
Additionally, some common applications of AI include:
· Virtual Assistants: Simplify operations and enhance productivity by offloading routine tasks to an automated system
· Chatbots: Provide instant, 24/7 customer support across multiple platforms
· Machine Learning Platforms: Enable customers to create, train, and deploy AI models, tailored to their unique needs
· AI in Healthcare: Transform patient care with AI that assist in medical image analysis and disease pattern mapping
· Robotic Process Automation (RPA): Apply RPA to automate routine tasks, freeing up human talent for more complex/creative challenges
· Computer Vision: Enhance security and data analysis by interpreting visual information
Adding artificial intelligence vendors or products to your portfolio will look similar to adding any other new offering—start with what you already know and go from there. You may have already have an existing relationship with vendors who have added AI offerings (we can help you identify these!).
Beyond that, if you have an existing relationship with one or more of the major public Cloud hyperscalers, many AI vendors integrate directly into these. Make sure you consider how an AI vendor aligns with what you’re already selling and what your customers already have in their environment.
You’ll also need to consider what AI solutions you can’t use—and may need to consider this for how you sell Cloud in the future. Artificial intelligence applications built on a specific Cloud infrastructure won’t easily integrate into a different environment (for example, an AI app built on Azure won’t necessarily translate to an AWS infrastructure).
If AI is a completely new field for you, there are likely some skills gaps you’ll need to address in some way. Take a look at your plan for what AI products and services you want to offer and what vendors you anticipate selling. Do the vendors offer a selling model where they take on the work and you earn a commission? Does your team have the capacity to take new additional trainings and learn new skills?
If you’re not sure where to start with adding AI skills, check out the AI Fundamentals course on Channel Academy to get a foundational knowledge of AI and machine learning.
Looking for more in-depth training and resources around Artificial Intelligence?
Check our Data, AI & IoT page on Level Up for resources, enablement materials, pre-built solutions, and sales plays to help you build your AI business.