The year 2026 is shaping up to be a pivotal moment for artificial intelligence in the business world. According to a study by technology consulting firm Omdia, 90% of executives expect to increase their investment in this technology, reflecting a stage of greater maturity in its adoption, moving beyond initial testing and early expectations from previous years. Similarly, IDC estimates that worldwide AI spending will reach $1.5 trillion in 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 20.9% between 2025 and 2029.
This strong momentum demonstrates companies’ confidence in the transformative power of artificial intelligence as a growth engine and a key element for redefining their technological and business strategies. However, large-scale implementation also presents significant challenges. Notable among these are data management and quality, integration with existing systems, and the need to adapt to an ever-changing regulatory framework that ensures responsible, ethical, and secure use of this technology.
Iñaki López Monje, Regional Director of Arrow’s Enterprise Computing Solutions division for Southern Europe, analyzes below why wholesalers and partners can help companies overcome these barriers and how to strengthen their ecosystem.
“AI is rapidly redefining the business landscape. However, for organizations to truly integrate and scale AI effectively, they must go beyond technology, focusing on strategy and implementation to overcome barriers in such a complex and constantly changing area. This is where the role of partners becomes critical, as internal IT departments cannot manage the journey to AI alone and face challenges regarding data management, regulatory compliance, and integration with legacy systems.
Partners offer specialized services covering the entire lifecycle of an AI project, compensating for companies’ internal knowledge gaps and providing a service catalog that ranges from strategic consulting and data preparation to the design, development, and deployment of customized solutions. They also offer ongoing support to ensure adoption and evolution of the technology. Their role is so vital that it even extends to managing transactions across cloud marketplaces, where almost 60% of operations are expected to be conducted through this channel by 2030, according to Omdia forecasts.
In fact, companies are increasingly turning to external specialized help. Nearly 40% now rely on service partners for ongoing operational support and the deployment of their AI projects, according to a report by Forrester on the state of this technology. This creates significant business opportunities in the sector, where AI services provided by partners are expected to reach $267 billion globally by 2030, establishing the channel as the primary driver of this technological revolution, as predicted by Omdia.
Given this scenario, how can we ensure that the channel is prepared to take on such an intense and complex role? Technology aggregators become catalysts within this ecosystem, providing partners with access to teams of experts and specialized engineers, training and certification programs, technical support, and flexible financing models—aimed at delivering value-added solutions that enhance their knowledge and capabilities, as well as guiding them in designing complex solutions. Additionally, aggregators facilitate access to a portfolio of different technologies from multiple manufacturers through unified platforms.
In this context, aggregators serve as a bridge between manufacturers and partners, positioning themselves as strategic allies to ensure the success of AI. Their ability to combine technology, knowledge, and services is crucial for partners to meet their clients’ needs and turn technological promises into operational, profitable realities for end customers“.