As part of the prestigious 11th edition of the DT Partner Summit, Digital Terminal hosted a high-impact panel discussion titled “AI and the Channel Advantage: Unlocking New Business Opportunities in the Era of Intelligent Solutions.”
The panel brought together some of the brightest minds and most influential leaders from India’s IT, storage, surveillance, AV, and gaming industries. Against the backdrop of rapid digital transformation, the discussion focused on how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the way partners deliver value, and tap into next-gen customer demands.
Held amidst a gathering of top system integrators, VARs, OEMs, and channel influencers, the session explored the real-world impact of AI across product design, customer experience, and business growth models—unveiling key strategies that channel partners must adopt to remain competitive in the AI-first economy.
Moderated by Rajeev Ranjan, Editor & Publisher, Digital Terminal, the panel addressed the evolving AI-led landscape and its impact on businesses, technology adoption, and the partner ecosystem.
A Powerhouse of Industry Thought Leaders
The panel featured an exceptional group of speakers:
Rohit Sharma, Head Technical Sales - India/SAARC, Micron Technology
Sushil Sharma, Zonal Manager - Channels & SMB, Mid-Market, AMD
Rajesh Khurana, Country Head - Consumer BU, South Asia, Biwin Technology
Maj Gen Rajesh Arya, VSM & Bar (Retd), Head, Training & Business Development, CP PLUS (Aditya Group)
Dr. Ramya Chatterjee, CEO & Director, Prointek Global Innovations | Chief of Solitaire Brand Business
Vishal Parekh, Chief Operating Officer, CyberPowerPC India
Navin Gupta, President, FAIITA
Storage and Speed: Building the Backbone for AI
Opening the discussion, Rajesh Khurana of Biwin Technology highlighted the rapid evolution in flash storage and memory due to the demands of AI workloads. “AI is basically a new form of statistics being run very fast. To enable this, devices require blazing fast I/O performance. We’ve already launched SSDs in the Predator GM9 series with read speeds up to 14,500MB/s. Similarly, in DRAM, we now offer DDR5 products like Hera with speeds of 8,400 MT/s. These are no longer luxuries—they are essential for enabling AI applications.”
He also cautioned partners to avoid low-grade products, “After COVID, SSD adoption grew, but unfortunately, people bought anything available. Now, there is a major shift towards quality—towards branded products that meet real performance demands.”
AI in Gaming: An Opportunity for Channel Partners
Vishal Parekh, COO of CyberPowerPC India, discussed the massive AI-driven shift in the gaming and PC performance space. “Customers today often know more than us. Especially when it comes to AI, it’s become a buzzword in IT and gaming,” he said.
Highlighting the scale of the gaming boom in India, he added, “Esports has become the third most watched sport in India after cricket and kabaddi. There are 40 teams earning over ₹1 crore annually, and even individual gamers are hitting that mark. This is the market we’re looking at.”
Parekh urged partners to move beyond box selling, “System integrators need to build AI demo stations, let customers experience performance. Don’t just sell products—sell experiences. That’s where transformation begins.”
Empowering Education & Enterprise: Solitaire's AI-led IFPs
Dr. Ramya Chatterjee illustrated how AI is revolutionizing smart classrooms and meeting spaces with their Solitaire IFPs. “We solve two problems: make life easier for teachers and enhance meeting room productivity. Our AI engine allows a teacher to simply write ‘human heart’—and within seconds, 2D/3D content appears on screen,” he said.
Dr. Chatterjee also emphasized the importance of partner enablement, “Spec-sheet selling is outdated. AI enables channel partners to provide full solution documents—panel placement, brightness requirements, camera angles—via simulators. This helps partners shift from transactional to solution-oriented sales.”
Micron on AI’s Backbone: Data Center to Device
Rohit Sharma of Micron Technology offered a deeper look into how AI is being powered by memory and storage innovation at scale. “AI is a super tool, but unless you use it for something meaningful, it's just a tool. The kind of advancements from memory and storage side are what make today's AI use cases possible,” Sharma said.
Discussing cutting-edge developments, he stated, “We now have 60TB drives, 14GB/s performance tiers, and much lower latency—all this comes from our efforts on NAND and DRAM. From 1-alpha to 1-beta to 1-gamma nodes, Micron is enabling the compute revolution behind AI.”
He encouraged partners to upgrade their knowledge, “They must understand what differentiates a PC from an AI PC, or how LPDDR is entering the data center space. This is how you help customers make smarter decisions.”
AMD’s AI-Ready Processors: Hardware that Powers Tomorrow
Sushil Sharma of AMD spoke about how the company is helping partners adapt to the AIPC boom with advanced processors. “We work on two Ps—product and partner. Our new Ryzen AI 300 processor delivers 50 TOPS with its integrated NPU. It’s the world’s first x86 platform to do that,” he stated.
He continued, “We’re enabling partners through 250+ training events a year, a dedicated Achievers Club, and Partner Hubs with collaterals, use cases, and AI demos. We’ve also set up Customer Experience Centers where partners and end users can engage with real-time AI functionality.”
Surveillance Gets Smarter: CP PLUS Insights
Maj Gen Rajesh Arya (Retd), Head of Training & BD at CP PLUS, reflected on the evolution of AI in surveillance. “We deployed just 2,700 cameras at Mahakumbh, compared to 9,000 in 2018—but with AI, the data output doubled. Daily footfall was tracked in real-time. That’s the power of AI combined with surveillance,” he said.
He also highlighted the importance of ground-level training, “The guy installing your office camera needs to know what a lens does. The failure of hardware is minuscule—it's the poor networking or lack of user knowledge that causes problems.”
Maj Gen Arya advocated for slower, more responsible adoption, “Development is too fast. Please go slow. We need to educate users and employers to make this transformation successful.”
FAIITA’s Commitment to Channel Readiness
Navin Gupta, President of FAIITA, shared the federation’s mission to drive awareness and readiness among its vast partner base. “We’re seeing a huge shift. 90% of our dealers still need to be educated on AI’s relevance and opportunity. This is our responsibility as a national body,” he noted.
Final Thoughts: Evolve or Be Left Behind
In a final remark, Vishal Parekh summed up the call to action for all partner. “We’ve already crossed the fear-of-technology phase. AI is here to stay. Your customers are Gen Z—they don’t want products, they want solutions. If you don’t learn, adapt, and demonstrate, you’ll be left behind.”
The panel at DT Partner Summit 2025 laid bare the evolving expectations of AI-era customers and the urgent need for channel partners to modernize. Whether through education, infrastructure, demo-based selling, or solution thinking—the path is clear: those who adapt and lead will thrive, while others risk obsolescence. Digital Terminal continues to serve as a catalyst in these important conversations—ensuring that India’s IT channel ecosystem stays future-ready and relevant in the AI age.
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