“There is a lot of noise in the market, and much of it is vendor marketing rather than capability the channel can confidently sell, deploy and support… The challenge isn’t awareness. It’s translating AI into meaningful customer conversations, commercial propositions and support models. Over the next 12 months, the market will start to identify who the trusted AI advisers are, and partners need to be acting now to secure that position.”
AI is the biggest conversation in the channel right now. However, many partners still feel unsure how to turn that interest into real customer outcomes. So, when Comms Dealer invited Access4 to join its latest Channel Forecast panel, we jumped at the chance.
Paul Cooke, our Channel Acquisition Manager, joined industry leaders from CallTower, Nebula and Packet Front Software. Together, they explored one big question. How do vendors and resellers close the AI knowledge gap?
As a result, Comms Dealer have produced a seven-part video series and a full written feature. Below, we pull out Paul’s key points. You’ll also find links to every clip listed at the end of this article.
Is the channel ready for AI?
In short, not yet. Demand for AI is rising fast. Even so, Paul believes the channel still has some way to go before it delivers measurable results for customers.
First, he points to the noise in the market. Much of it comes from vendor marketing. In contrast, far less of it is capability that partners can confidently sell, deploy and support.
Second, Paul argues that awareness is not the real problem. Instead, the hard part is turning AI into useful customer conversations, clear commercial propositions and solid support models.
Finally, he sees a clear window of opportunity. Over the next 12 months, customers will start to decide who their trusted AI advisers are. Therefore, partners need to act now to claim that position.
How resellers can meet vendors halfway
AI collaboration works best when both sides lean in. With that in mind, Paul shared two practical steps for resellers.
Invest time before the sale. Don’t wait for a polished, finished playbook. Instead, bring real customer problems into the vendor conversation early.
Nominate an internal AI champion. When you explore a customer’s pain points and goals, bring in one dedicated AI stakeholder. This person can then tie the technical pieces together. In other words, partners don’t need to become AI experts overnight. Rather, they need the right person in the room at the right time.
A common language for AI
When asked for one fix to close the knowledge gap, Paul chose terminology. Today, every vendor describes AI in its own way. As a result, partners waste time translating jargon instead of solving customer problems.
To fix this, Paul wants the industry to agree on a common, vendor-agnostic language for AI. It should simply explain what a tool does, how proven it is and what it costs to deliver. That way, partners spend less time decoding and more time helping customers.
Where SASBOSS fits
This idea sits at the heart of how Access4 works. SASBOSS, our automation platform, takes the same vendor-agnostic approach. Partners quote, order, provision, bill and manage every product in one place. Moreover, every product follows the same workflow, whichever vendor sits behind it.
That includes our AIX products. So, as AI joins the portfolio, partners don’t need to learn a new process. Instead, they manage AI services within SASBOSS, just like the rest of their stack.
AI partnerships made simple
Looking ahead, Paul expects vendor-reseller collaboration to change a lot. Today, it often starts and ends with roadmap meetings. Over time, however, he sees it moving through clear stages:
- Roadmap meetings
- Co-innovation
- Shared pilots and sandbox test beds
- Joint accountability for AI outcomes
Crucially, this shift helps resellers stay relevant. They move up the value chain. First, they deploy and support technology. Next, they govern and curate it. Ultimately, they take ownership of the outcomes AI delivers for their customers.
Watch the full Comms Dealer series
Want to hear the whole discussion? Each clip tackles one question. Watch them in order, or jump straight to the topic that matters most to you.
🔗 1. Is the channel ready to capitalise on AI?
🔗 2. Agentic AI’s impact on the need for knowledge sharing
🔗 3. Charting successful AI collaboration
🔗 4. Examples of successful AI collaboration
🔗 5. Lessons learnt from AI collaboration
🔗 6. How to close the vendor-reseller AI knowledge gap
🔗 7. What will AI-centric vendor-reseller partnerships look like in three years?
Prefer to read? Comms Dealer also published the full write-up:
Channel Forecast: Closing the channel’s AI knowledge gap.
Ready to talk AI?
A huge thank you to Comms Dealer for hosting such a timely discussion. Thanks also to our fellow panellists for sharing their insight.
At Access4, we want to help partners turn AI interest into real revenue. If you’d like to explore AI with us, or see how SASBOSS simplifies your portfolio, get in touch with our UK team today.
