{"id":70233,"date":"2026-07-23T08:07:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T15:07:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=70233"},"modified":"2026-07-23T08:07:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T15:07:31","slug":"what-comes-next-dealers-evaluate-best-future-ai-applications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/the-week-in-imaging-twii\/editors-blog\/2026\/07\/what-comes-next-dealers-evaluate-best-future-ai-applications\/","title":{"rendered":"What Comes Next: Dealers Evaluate Best Future AI Applications"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

While we wrap up July\u2019s State of the Industry report on artificial intelligence (AI), this is only the beginning of what promises to be an amazing, exciting and somewhat nerve-wracking journey. Speaking of which, earlier this week OpenAI revealed that an autonomous agent it created went rogue during a security test and hacked into AI startup Hugging Face. Oops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s clear that the art of perfection, in itself, can be quite flawed. But when scaling a mountain, some stumbles are to be expected (hopefully without a free fall). So, as the adventure continues, our dealer panel takes a look at some of the key areas of business they hope to address in the not-too-distant future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Erik Braden,
Braden Business Systems<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Erik Braden, CEO and managing partner for Braden Business Systems of Fishers, Indiana, has targeted two critical areas: inside service operations and small\/midmarket cybersecurity work for the managed IT business. On the former count, Braden cited predictive maintenance and remote diagnostics for the equipment the dealer manages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDevice telemetry has been improving across the major OEMs, and the AI models are finally good enough to turn that telemetry into something a technician can act on before a client even calls,\u201d he noted. \u201cThe dealers who get this right will deliver fewer truck rolls, longer device uptime, and better service margins. The dealers who do not will get squeezed by the ones who do. That is a real channel-level shift, not a marketing story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As to the cybersecurity side, the small and medium clients are confronted with the same threat landscape as its larger brethren, sans the firepower\/resources of larger entities. Braden believes AI has the potential to close the delta via better triage, faster detection, faster response and better \u201csignal-to-noise\u201d for the people doing the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat ties directly to the convergence story this channel has been telling for years: print, IT, and security all under one roof,\u201d Braden added. \u201cAI is what makes that story credible at scale.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, Braden has particular interest in agentic AI\u2014systems that can take action rather than just generate text. This, he feels, is going to reshape how a lot of work gets done in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cService dispatch. Proposal generation. Account research. Quote-to-cash. The risk profile is different from generative AI, and the governance has to be stronger,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are doing that learning now so that when our clients ask about it, and when our peers in the channel ask about it, we have a defensible point of view rather than a sales pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agentic AI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Nate Schaf, Eakes
Office Solutions<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Nate Schaf, CTO for Eakes Office Solutions of Grand Island, Nebraska, sees deeper integration with ERP and operational systems as the next major step. He notes the agentic AI movement addresses systems that are proactive as opposed to reactive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInstead of requiring a user to trigger a workflow, we want AI continuously monitoring pricing changes, purchase order delays, service disruptions, and delivery routing inefficiencies and surfacing alerts automatically,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re also building an internal, company\u2011specific AI assistant tied to our data repositories. The goal is simple: let employees ask questions in plain language, about pricing, items, customers, or delivery status, and get immediate, accurate answers. Moving from report generation to conversational insight is where we see meaningful transformation taking place for dealers like us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Sam Stone,
Stone’s Office Equipment<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

An area with huge potential, notes Sam Stone, president of Stone\u2019s Office Equipment, is proactive service and operational intelligence. He sees an opportunity for AI to move businesses from reactive support to predictive support, on both the office technology and bottleless water systems fronts. These entail:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Identifying service issues before customers notice them<\/li>
  • Predicting supply or maintenance needs<\/li>
  • Smarter dispatching and route optimization<\/li>
  • Usage analytics that improve customer recommendations<\/li>
  • Better visibility into workflow inefficiencies<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cI also think AI has enormous potential in helping small and mid-sized businesses gain access to insights that historically only large enterprises could afford,\u201d Stone added. \u201cA 20-person business should be able to leverage data and automation like a Fortune 500 company without needing a department full of analysts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Stone is also keen on combining AI with operational data \u2014 not just content generation. \u201cThe future is not simply AI writing better emails. It\u2019s AI helping businesses make better decisions faster,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s where the real transformation starts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Making Connections<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    T.J. DeBello, Stargel
    Office Solutions<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Enhancements to service and customer support are focal areas T.J. DeBello, the vice president of sales for Houston-based Stargel Office Solutions. He notes clients expect fast answers, clear communication, and minimal downtime, and AI has the propensity to deliver faster issue triage, better internal documentation, smarter service summaries, predictive maintenance insights, and more proactive customer communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Sales enablement presents another opportunity for AI to shine. \u201cAI can help sales teams quickly prepare for meetings, summarize account history, identify cross-sell opportunities, and create more personalized communication at scale,\u201d DeBello said. \u201cThat could be especially valuable in an industry where relationships still matter, but customers also expect speed and relevance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cThe next area we are interested in exploring more deeply is how AI can help connect marketing, sales and service data. The goal would be to better understand customer needs, improve retention, identify growth opportunities, and create a more proactive customer experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    Jake Elliott,
    Spectrum Technologies<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    While much of the current value is centered around helping customers complete routine requests faster (service, ordering toner, checking invoices or getting information without having to wait on a person) Jake Elliott\u2014vice president and CRO for Spectrum Technologies\u2014sees being able to anticipate future needs as being essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cWe see a lot of opportunity around predictive service, supply fulfillment, customer health and account management,\u201d he said. \u201cIf AI can help us identify patterns, understand where a customer may be headed, and alert the right people before an issue becomes a problem, that creates a much better customer experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There is also considerable value in AI helping the dealer\u2019s internal teams make better decisions. \u201cNot just by automating tasks, but by surfacing better insights across service, sales, operations, and finance,\u201d Elliott added. \u201cThe more AI can help connect data from different parts of the business, the more valuable it becomes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    While we wrap up July\u2019s State of the Industry report on artificial intelligence (AI), this is only the beginning of what promises to be an amazing, exciting and somewhat nerve-wracking journey. Speaking of which, earlier this week OpenAI revealed that an autonomous agent it created went rogue during a security test and hacked into AI startup Hugging Face. Oops. It\u2019s clear that the art of perfection, in itself, can be quite flawed. But when scaling a mountain, some stumbles are to be expected (hopefully without a free fall). So, as the adventure continues, our dealer panel takes a look at some of the key areas of business they hope to address in the not-too-distant future. Erik Braden, CEO and managing partner for Braden Business Systems of Fishers, Indiana, has targeted two critical areas: inside service operations and small\/midmarket cybersecurity work for the managed IT business. On the former count, Braden cited predictive maintenance and remote diagnostics for the equipment the dealer manages. \u201cDevice telemetry has been improving across the major OEMs, and the AI models are finally good enough to turn that telemetry into something a technician can act on before a client even calls,\u201d he noted. \u201cThe dealers who get this right will deliver fewer truck rolls, longer device uptime, and better service margins. The dealers who do not will get squeezed by the ones who do. That is a real channel-level shift, not a marketing story.\u201d As to the cybersecurity side, the small and medium clients are confronted with the same threat landscape as its larger brethren, sans the firepower\/resources of larger entities. Braden believes AI has the potential to close the delta via better triage, faster detection, faster response and better \u201csignal-to-noise\u201d for the people doing the work. \u201cThat ties directly to the convergence story this channel has been telling for years: print, IT, and security all under one roof,\u201d Braden added. \u201cAI is what makes that story credible at scale.\u201d In addition, Braden has particular interest in agentic AI\u2014systems that can take action rather than just generate text. This, he feels, is going to reshape how a lot of work gets done in the industry. \u201cService dispatch. Proposal generation. Account research. Quote-to-cash. The risk profile is different from generative AI, and the governance has to be stronger,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are doing that learning now so that when our clients ask about it, and when our peers in the channel ask about it, we have a defensible point of view rather than a sales pitch.\u201d Agentic AI Nate Schaf, CTO for Eakes Office Solutions of Grand Island, Nebraska, sees deeper integration with ERP and operational systems as the next major step. He notes the agentic AI movement addresses systems that are proactive as opposed to reactive. \u201cInstead of requiring a user to trigger a workflow, we want AI continuously monitoring pricing changes, purchase order delays, service disruptions, and delivery routing inefficiencies and surfacing alerts automatically,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re also building an internal, company\u2011specific AI assistant tied to our data repositories. The goal is simple: let employees ask questions in plain language, about pricing, items, customers, or delivery status, and get immediate, accurate answers. Moving from report generation to conversational insight is where we see meaningful transformation taking place for dealers like us.\u201d An area with huge potential, notes Sam Stone, president of Stone\u2019s Office Equipment, is proactive service and operational intelligence. He sees an opportunity for AI to move businesses from reactive support to predictive support, on both the office technology and bottleless water systems fronts. These entail: Identifying service issues before customers notice them Predicting supply or maintenance needs Smarter dispatching and route optimization Usage analytics that improve customer recommendations Better visibility into workflow inefficiencies \u201cI also think AI has enormous potential in helping small and mid-sized businesses gain access to insights that historically only large enterprises could afford,\u201d Stone added. \u201cA 20-person business should be able to leverage data and automation like a Fortune 500 company without needing a department full of analysts.\u201d Stone is also keen on combining AI with operational data \u2014 not just content generation. \u201cThe future is not simply AI writing better emails. It\u2019s AI helping businesses make better decisions faster,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s where the real transformation starts.\u201d Making Connections Enhancements to service and customer support are focal areas T.J. DeBello, the vice president of sales for Houston-based Stargel Office Solutions. He notes clients expect fast answers, clear communication, and minimal downtime, and AI has the propensity to deliver faster issue triage, better internal documentation, smarter service summaries, predictive maintenance insights, and more proactive customer communication. Sales enablement presents another opportunity for AI to shine. \u201cAI can help sales teams quickly prepare for meetings, summarize account history, identify cross-sell opportunities, and create more personalized communication at scale,\u201d DeBello said. \u201cThat could be especially valuable in an industry where relationships still matter, but customers also expect speed and relevance. \u201cThe next area we are interested in exploring more deeply is how AI can help connect marketing, sales and service data. The goal would be to better understand customer needs, improve retention, identify growth opportunities, and create a more proactive customer experience.\u201d While much of the current value is centered around helping customers complete routine requests faster (service, ordering toner, checking invoices or getting information without having to wait on a person) Jake Elliott\u2014vice president and CRO for Spectrum Technologies\u2014sees being able to anticipate future needs as being essential. \u201cWe see a lot of opportunity around predictive service, supply fulfillment, customer health and account management,\u201d he said. \u201cIf AI can help us identify patterns, understand where a customer may be headed, and alert the right people before an issue becomes a problem, that creates a much better customer experience.\u201d There is also considerable value in AI helping the dealer\u2019s internal teams make better decisions. \u201cNot just by automating tasks, but by surfacing better insights across service, sales, operations, and finance,\u201d Elliott added. \u201cThe more AI can help connect data from different […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":70234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80,1650,82,1638],"tags":[2519,2020,3940,1480,3436],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70233"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70233"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70235,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70233\/revisions\/70235"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}