Puff article has Leahy all excited about customers using AI. Yes, AI is awesome. But does that translate to profit for CDW?
NO. AI means fewer employees are needed. This means less equipment is needed. And in what fantasy land are customers going to rely on CDW for cloud and AI apps, training, and cloud when they can go straight to the vendors (Microsoft, Google, etc.) for configuration, training, and support for less hassle and expense?
We need new leadership that understands tech.
Our iceberg is melting
Maybe they understand the tech, but not the market? “Deploying AI”. Hmm. CDW has been “deploying AI” for years but we didn’t capatalise on it as a company and now have lost our lead. The CDW Digital Velocity team has had an AI practice in customer contact AI plus machine learning solutions and software development in IOT, Google and so forth that use AI. The Security team is securing AI via many methods. The Data team is making Data ready for AI. There is also a AI IT operations discipline. The Data Center practice has been selling NVIDIA GPUs for years to support customer AI (machine learning) solutions. We are one of the top seller of Microsoft AI. It’s just that our execs cant speak about it correctly in the customers language and our internal departments don't work together to create the total story. Then, Chat GPT becomes all the rage and hype on NVIDIA is to the moon and suddenly” AI is new” and “customers are cautious”. No, not at all. Look at NVIDIA sales and the CSPs AI solutions in their earnings. Customers are spending big in this space right now, just not with us at this moment. We realise this and must go after it. The message should be “there is tremendous, unprecedented upside on top of our AI capabilities, driven by generative AI and we are just beginning to capitalise” and “it will be a multi year journey, full of CDW leadership in the space”. We can be an AI leader right now by many measures, and then quickly build on that with a full add-on consulting practice for generative AI, then cognitive AI after that, but that wasn’t our message at all which made us look foolish and behind vs. thoughtful and a leader.
They understand tech. What they don't understand nor care for is human behaviors and intelligence. Having AI replace people to support their customers directly is:
As usual, Chris is more than a day late and a billion+ dollars short. The time to have capitalized on AI was 2-3 years ago. Now, anyone can learn or implement AI from YouTube or LinkedIn Learning.
Time for major changes at the top. Multiple layers.
CDW is trying to stay up with the times and technology. Just think of the companies that “stayed in their lane” and refused to adopt new technology, they’re gone or were bought out
Just because others are the leaders in AI & cloud doesn’t mean we can’t get a slice of the pie or use it to make the business stronger. If we don’t try we know what the result will be
Deer in the headlights Corley too.
Leahy needs to go
Article:
https://www.crn.com/news/channel-news/2024/cdw-1q24-ceo-leahy-says-market-is-tough-but-ai-shows-real-promise
“since deploying AI drives a need for technology investments across the full stack, with entry points across the entire stack, we are uniquely positioned to serve our customers,” says CDW Chairperson and CEO Christine Leahy.