Arrow Electronics introduces AI Companion

Global technology solutions provider Arrow Electronics has launched an initial release of ArrowSphere Assistant, an AI-powered cloud business companion built to unearth new business opportunities, increase efficiencies and discover new revenue potential for channel partners managing their cloud business through ArrowSphere Cloud.

Powered by Microsoft Azure AI, ArrowSphere Assistant streamlines workflows, enabling channel partners to make informed decisions faster, act promptly and offer better cloud service delivery to their customers. With just a few interactions, users can find and understand the most important areas in which to focus on their day-to-day cloud interactions. ArrowSphere Assistant helps generate detailed reports, get recommendations, create communications based on findings, and turn untapped business insights into new business opportunities and reclaimed time at work.

“We’re providing a tool that can reshape how our channel partners comprehend and manage their cloud business and those of their customers,” said Eric Gourmelen, vice president and CTO of ArrowSphere at Arrow. “ArrowSphere Assistant capitalises on the power of generative AI technology combined with the robust business data in ArrowSphere Cloud, to provide unprecedented quality of answers to channel partner inquiries.”

ArrowSphere Assistant empowers channel partners with deeper data and visual aids in numerous areas, making cloud management faster, better informed, and more efficient, at scale. These include:

Business operations – Discover new business opportunities by viewing daily business updates with guided hot spots for additional focus, and where to gain additional cloud efficiencies.

Security operations – Paired with the ArrowSphere Cloud security dashboard, ArrowSphere Assistant can provide actionable security intelligence on security postures in minutes, including remediation recommendations.

Financial operations – Consolidate consumption figures, break down billing statements and view calculation explanation. ArrowSphere Assistant helps analyse current subscription conditions and any discrepancies to produce a clear revenue forecast and new attractive pricing recommendations, if needed.

Arrow worked closely with Microsoft to adapt the tool’s underlying technology at scale to address channel partners’ toughest business challenges. Early feedback indicates ArrowSphere Assistant will have a big impact on partner performance and profitability.

“Arrow continues to demonstrate leadership by creating innovative distribution offerings to enable their partners to achieve business excellence and deliver customer success,” said Microsoft Chief Partner Officer and CVP Nicole Dezen. “The AI-powered assistant in ArrowSphere Cloud is a game-changer for those managing cloud services. It drives great efficiencies and profitability in minutes instead of weeks or months.”

Paul Edwards, director of software channels and ecosystems at global market intelligence firm IDC, said, “It's great to see a tool like this offered on a distribution platform. The functionality is impressive. With ArrowSphere Assistant, channel partners should be able to recognise operational performance gains, and potentially drive more business opportunities.”