TD Synnex hands Andy Brown responsibility for driving AI programme

TD Synnex has given an experienced staffer responsibility for driving the channel player’s Destination AI strategy.

The distributor has appointed Andy Brown as senior business unit director for data and applications, UK and Ireland. On top of that role, he has responsibility for the firm’s artificial intelligence (AI) strategy.

The firm introduced the Destination AI programme in August 2023, enabling resellers to understand and espouse the benefits of AI with customers. It should also help partners uncover opportunities that are emerging as a result of the technology.

The activities that will come under the purview of Brown include the distributor making systems with the latest neural processing units (NPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs) available for partners to run demonstrations and proof-of-concept testing within the firm’s Business Solutions Centre (BSC) in Bracknell.

The firm is also providing independent software vendors with more education around AI to help them develop solutions and take them to market.

For the past eight years, Brown has been technical services director of the Advanced Solutions portfolio, UK, at TD Synnex, and has a CV that stretches back even further than that, bringing a weight of experience to his latest role.

The role of looking after data and analytics, line-of-business applications and AI-driven solutions business also includes managing relationships with vendors, as well as supporting partners looking to exploit opportunities in those areas.

Brown said the distributor was well positioned to tap into the growth markets that he would now be looking after. With the significant resources already in place and more investments being made, TD Synnex is ready to drive real partner success. In Destination AI, we have a unique programme – I’m excited to be taking the lead on that and helping more partners to chart their own journey to AI enlightenment.”

Simon Bennett, managing director of Advanced Solutions UK and Ireland, said the decision to put an experienced staffer like Brown in the position to look after data and analytics and AI was a sign of its commitment to vendors and partners.

“This appointment and the additional joint investments that TD Synnex is making with vendor partners underlines our total commitment to supporting partner growth in AI and in data and applications, all of which are fast-growing areas of opportunity for us and our partners,” he said.

Speaking to analysts last month to discuss the distributor’s fourth-quarter results, the channel player’s CEO, Patrick Zammit, touched on the impact AI was having on the firm’s business.

“Digitisation is increasingly critical for enterprises seeking efficiency and growth. The rapid evolution of the IT ecosystem, driven further by the integration of technologies like AI, is creating new complexities as enterprises work to meet the evolving needs of the end users. These challenges are creating large opportunities for TD Synnex,” he said.

“We are a global leader at the centre of many of IT’s most powerful tailwinds, and customers and vendors are increasingly relying on us as a trusted strategic partner to navigate this complexity, grow their business and deliver turnkey solutions that integrate software, hardware, cyber security, AI and other emerging technologies,” he added.