Lightning round: Exertis IT's Griffin on Copilot, data skills and his bets for 2024

In the first week of the new year, CRN sat down with the distribution CEO to talk 2024 predictions

In our first interview of 2024, Tim Griffin, CEO of Exertis IT, shares his insights on the anticipated big tech trends of 2024 and their implications for the channel.

One year after stepping into the top job from parent company DCC, Griffin discusses the evolving role of AI, hiring trends, and his bet for the biggest story of the year.

CRN: What will the big tech trends of 2024 be and how will they influence the channel?

TG: One of the biggest trends in 2024 will be the accelerating evolution of artificial intelligence.

Microsoft Copilot will be key to driving customer and end-user engagement with AI, which in turn gives a very important role to Windows 11 as a market driver.

From our perspective, the chipsets required to deliver AI will accelerate the refresh cycle and hopefully drive an economic bounce in the second half of 2024.

AI is also helping us evolve as a business. We've already embedded powerful AI tools that are helping us analyse customer data so we can better understand and service our customers' needs, as well as enhancing the way we purchase inventory.

This technology is helping us to be better than ever at delivering on our essential commitment - right stock, right place, right time.

Next year I expect the trend to go further, with deeper sentiment analysis and other tools to help us understand our customers better than ever.

CRN: How are hiring trends likely to shift this year?

TG: Data scientists and digital talent of all kinds will continue to be in demand.

I think we've become an attractive destination for this talent: data scientists we've recruited over the past year have enjoyed seeing their work really embedded - and at pace - so they get to see the real-world impacts their data tools can deliver.

At Exertis, diversity, equality and inclusion continue to be centre stage as we prioritise an inclusive workplace and seek candidates from a wide range of backgrounds.

We know that a diverse workforce drives improved outcomes for our business and our partners. It's been enormously gratifying, when recruiting digital talent recently, to have been told by recruits that our strong D&I agenda, our employee resource groups recognition schemes and other aspects of our people agenda, have all contributed to them choosing Exertis over other Employers.

CRN: What's your bet for biggest story of 2024?

TG: It would be very interesting to see hardware vendors starting to push towards a subscription model for products like laptops.

And of course, AI will be a big driver of change next year. So, in terms of influential products in the market, the role played by Windows 11 is going to be significant.