Zebra: Zebra Technologies seeks partners with AI consulting skills in new vertical pursuit

Zebra Technologies is on a mission to explore new markets and is actively seeking partners to help step into new verticals like government and public safety, beyond its retail and manufacturing and healthcare remit.The vendor provides enterprise-grade technology solutions like mobile computing, barcode scanners and printers, RFID solutions, IoT and edge solutions, software and analytics, automation and AI.In an interview with sister publication ARN, sales VP of Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ) and India subcontinent Tom Christodoulou and chief product and solutions officer Joe White highlighted its extensive channel partner ecosystem, with over 10,000 global partners."We do have a very robust Partner Connect Programme, which rewards partners with expertise, industry knowledge and technology expertise as well and it is inclusive," he said.Zebra Technologies also has a team of 40 people in Australia to support its distributors, resellers and end customers.However, as technology gets more complicated and there's a trend around generative AI or businesses digitising themselves and so forth, the vendor wants partners that are "keeping up with that".For example, explained White, Zebra was entering new verticals outside of its traditional verticals retail, transport and logistics, healthcare and manufacturing - where it has lots of partners."We're entering new verticals like government [and] public safety where we don't have a great reach," he said. "We're looking for closer partner relationships to take us into those verticals."The other thing Zebra was looking for is technology expertise."We're looking for partners with expertise in that area to grow in [automation with machine vision and fixed industrial scanning] as well," he said."People who have consultants with workforce management expertise, consultants with task management and retail expertise...those are the kinds of partnerships that we're looking to forge."Advent of generative AIOne of the main drivers for this need to expand into different verticals is the advent of AI, although the technology is not new to Zebra."We've been doing AI for decades," said White. "If you look at our machine vision capability, to basically, dimension or measure with micron-level tolerance, with cameras that help manufacturers manage quality control, we've been doing that for years."AI, by its own nature, is not new to us."What is new he noted is the advent of generative AI, which has transformed the capability everything Zebra does."We look at the use cases in their operations where we can apply technology to solve really critical problems," said White. "We do that at the edge - where we connect, digitise and get visibility into what's happening in their operation."That visibility digitising that information, whether it be assets, people, or equipment gives a digital footprint of what's happening in their environment."White said when barcodes are scanned a digital identity is given of what the product is and that creates "a lot of data for customers"."Where generative AI and AI technologies play a critical role is [looking] to mine that data, intelligently interpret it and convert it into meaningful actions... to drive workflow and behaviour in their operations, driving productivity, better customer experience, or operational improvement," he said.During Zebra Technologies' roadshow in February, Christodoulou noted both customers and partners were examining what this will mean for their them and how they can apply it to theirs or their customer's business."Everyone expects some things to go wrong," he said. "We shared a statistic yesterday that most analysts expect 30 per cent of GenAI projects will fail this year."Experts with AIChristodoulou noted even though Zebra is 100 per cent channel-centric, with about 40 people in Australia, another three in New Zealand and a very large repair centre in both countries, traditional partners are cautious about investing in AI expertise."That's why, as the technology vendor, we feel obligated to grow ...to build that market so they can anticipate without having to wear that upfront cost," he said. "A good example of that is the workforce management software-as-a-service solutions we're doing right now as well even with the machine vision technology in manufacturing and warehousing."Some things are very simple to get into. If they sell Zebra mobile computers, getting into an enterprise phone is not a big stretch. Or getting into a kiosk - not a big stretch."What is harder is machine vision, where expertise is needed on top of the customer relationship."The way I always think about it, those 40 people are creating demand generation within the end customers," said White. "Within our Partner Connect Programme, we have specialty tracks for partners, like machine vision, to be a part of that track... we train them, we educate them, they have some partner protection."Like any new category, you want to make sure as you enter that category you can make a small subset of partners very successful and then build up over time."