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AvePoint points to clear partner AI opportunities
Vendor uses partner event to call for wider adoption of artificial intelligence and outline areas where partners can work with customers
The AvePoint partner event in London has stressed the combination of strong data management, security and governance are areas where the channel can reap artificial intelligence (AI) rewards.
The get-together highlighted opportunities generated by delivering AI backed with a solid data foundation, and the ability to harness good data that can be protected by security and then kept in line with governance.
Dux Raymond Sy, chief brand officer at AvePoint, used his keynote at OnPoint to urge its channel to embrace AI and work together to build a stronger future.
He said the significant investments from the likes of Microsoft and Meta demonstrated where the major players thought the market was going. There was also market reality, with some business going away to be replaced with fresh AI-generated options.
Sy said trust was emerging as the main currency, and that to have belief in AI, the data it was generating insights from had to be solid. He advised partners to start working with customers to harness quality data.
Sy added that AI was also generating new growth opportunities because the technology was “no longer optional” and research had indicated that most customers were planning to adopt or accelerate investments. “We’ve seen reports over reports … everybody’s planning to adopt; they’re already developing solutions and somewhat delivering business value,” he said. “We live in this world, and yet, despite all this, your customers and our customers around the world are lost.
“Where you need to help your customers is to show them where AI can make a key impact,” said Sy, adding that there were several areas where partners could make a difference. “Number one, harness data for decisions. Number two, scaling creativity and productivity, and number three, being able to ignite transformation and resilience,” he said.
Unstructured information
Sy echoed the idea of starting the AI journey with data, and warned that for most customers, they were dealing with unstructured information.
“85% of business data is unstructured,” he said. “Email, chats, Teams, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and yet nobody’s doing much about this. Its where you can help customers by leveraging AI to harness data to make good decisions. You see the impact that they can get is they can look at trends and patterns faster than ever, and what’s the outcome? How can they grow from it? Smarter data decisions, reduce risk and uncover new opportunities.
“Start thinking about the lines of businesses your customers are in,” said Sy. “What smarter solutions can you offer them that they can’t even think of that will help their business, can help scale creativity and productivity, and it can be as simple as freeing teams from repetitive tasks.
“You’re enabling people to focus on higher-level workloads,” he said. “That’s innovation, and then the growth things can move faster, much more efficient, and unlock new things they’ve never imagined before.”
Sy said that armed with the right data, having used AI to generate fresh working patterns meant that innovation could be delivered, and the partners would be the source of support and growth around AI.
