AI revolutionizing the way businesses operate 

Ingram Micro in association with VARINDIA organized Partner Transformation Conclave with a theme of Harnessing the Power of AI to accelerate Business, at The Park, Kolkata. The event witnessed presence of major partners, VARs from the Eastern region of the country and also dignitaries from COMPASS, the IT association of the Eastern India. The event commenced with the auspicious lamp lighting in the presence of Debasree Basu, Branch Manager, Ingram Micro India; Namit Sinha, Country Head, Device Partner Sales, Microsoft India; Vineet Nambudiri, Director - Category & Product Marketing, Microsoft; Saranga Babu, National Distribution Lead, Microsoft; Neeraj Agrawal, President, COMPASS; Narendra Dhanuka, Director, Odyssey Computer & Past President, COMPASS; Hemant Chabria, Director, Chabria Infotech and K L Lalani, Chairman, Lalani Infotech.   

Debasree Basu  
Branch Manager, Ingram Micro India

The year 2023 is quite promising and enriching for Ingram Micro

We are very pleased to welcome you for partnering with us for such a long time and you are now a part of the Ingram Micro family. I would like to express my sincere gratitude for accepting our invite and coming together to make this event a success. Last year- 2022 was a great year for us, we are a five-billion-dollar organization in India itself and 2023 looks more promising and enriching. It would not be possible without your support, trust and confidence in our brand.

Dr. Deepak Kumar Sahu  
Editor-in-Chief, VARINDIA and Group PublicationS

The latest software improves accuracy, speed, scalability and security for AI-driven work 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the business landscape, with businesses of all sizes and industries finding new ways to harness its power to accelerate growth.

In my understanding, AI-driven work can only be done effectively with the latest software installed in the computing devices. This is because AI algorithms are constantly being updated and improved, and the latest software will have the latest versions of these algorithms. Additionally, the latest software will be optimized for the specific hardware that it is running on, which will ensure that the AI algorithms can run as efficiently as possible.

The benefits of using the latest software for AI-driven work will Improve accuracy, increase speed, enhance scalability and improve security. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has indeed been making a significant impact on the business landscape.

Saranga Babu  
National Distribution Lead, Microsoft INDIA

Microsoft: A partner centric company

Microsoft's mission is to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more. Microsoft was founded with a vision that technology can create opportunities for every individual and organization to express and achieve more. With this particular view in mind, this vision has been designed like in the past the kind of technology and software we have developed and the ones which we are developing are all path-breaking. These express the kind of technology we have been developing and deliver a success story. This could not have happened without the participation of all the partners. As we all know that 95% of the business is driven by our partners. Microsoft is a partner centric organization and without you we could not achieve this height. I thank you for your contribution in the past years and last year was phenomenal, we over achieved our numbers with all your help.

Narendra Dhanuka    
Director, Odyssey Computer and Past President, COMPASS 

COMPASS has been instrumental in solving problems, issues and development of channel partners 

I have been associated with the computer association – COMPASS since inception. I was a Founder Secretary. Today, COMPASS is 30 years old and one of the oldest IT associations. Few of the IT channel partners felt a need for an association to solve problems, issues and for development which led to the formation of the association. Over the years COMPASS has played a leading role in resolving issues between partners, vendor – channel partners and partners – national distributors. Recently, COMPASS along with FAIITA resolved the Avita Laptop issue involving partners and Ingram Micro. It has also helped members in resolving and educating relevant laws specially VAT and GST. 

Vineet Nambudiri   
Director, Category & Product Marketing, Microsoft INDIA  

“Generative AI is all about LLMs coupled with robust data which help you scale anything”

As we speak to our customers from across verticals such as enterprise, SMB, government etc., there are two themes which are coming out – one is security and the second is AI. As you think of the PCs today, the digital real estate has become more complex and distributed with the hybrid work. The data in any of your devices is access to your privacy. It becomes important for individuals and companies to secure the endpoints. We follow a Zero Trust Security principle. We verify anything which comes in and give access as much access as required with our operating system. We always assume a breach anytime and that is how we build our software.  

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not new, it existed for a long time. But what is the hype about AI today? Generative AI is the most powerful AI that has come thus far. These are very powerful Large Language Models (LLMs) which are built by a lot of companies. Generative AI is all about LLMs coupled with robust data which help you scale anything. 

Panel Discussion on 
Harnessing The Power of AI To Accelerate Business

Generative AI has potential to revolutionize businesses

Dr. Deepak Kumar Sahu (Moderator)
Editor-in-Chief, VARINDIA and Group Publication

We cannot deny the fact that new technology brings disruption to the business environment with innovation. AI is revolutionizing business innovations and harnessing the power of AI to unlock business growth and innovations. Generative AI is rapidly growing and filled in a wide range of potential applications. Despite challenges Generative AI is a promising technology with potential to revolutionize the way we create and consume content. As the technology continues to develop, we can expect to see more innovative and creative applications emerge. It brings advantages like improved efficiency, personalized experiences and data-driven decision making. Partners can play a pivotal role by offering expertise, integration services and customized solutions that help businesses maximize the benefits of AI.      

AI is the next revolution after Internet  

Namit Sinha  
Country Head, Device Partner Sales, Microsoft 

AI has been present for so many years but it has come into being now. The kind of revolution AI is bringing, is like another internet revolution – what the internet brought to the IT industry 20-30 years ago. That is the kind of revolution we are seeing in AI and it is going to change the entire way the industry is going to work. We are at the forefront of that technology innovation with so much investment in Open AI as a platform. We are working very closely in bringing that innovation into the market. So, AI is absolutely key for Microsoft and that is very key for devices businesses as well because while we keep innovating, partners will take the solutions to the customers. As long as customers are getting the innovations that we are bringing in technology, that is what will lead to growth of both the company and partners.         

AI making businesses simpler  

Hemant Chabria 
Director, Chabria Infotech

When it comes to business, we look at four things – branding, reputation, social and funnels. If you look at the four spectrum, this is how you complete. When we are talking about branding, earlier we used to go to an agency to do the work, now you have many tools. You just need to tell the requirements and it does a better job and also gives you options. Earlier, a person with an e-commerce product had to go to a studio, photographer and need to shoot but now you just need to take a photo and you give it to an AI and it does everything.