For the third time annually, the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors and B2B technology advisement firm Applico co-hosted the NAW Innovators Summit — an exclusive and intimate conference that platformed connections between distributors and the tech pushing the industry forward.

Held Sept. 25-27 in Austin, TX, the event served as:

• A match-making opportunity for distributors to connect with technology providers — many of which offer a suite of software solutions; 
• A content program providing innovation thought leadership on fronts that ranged from technology, to venture capital, to go-to-market modeling; 
• A networking event giving attendees ample opportunity to meet and greet with fellow distributors and tech providers 

With the event held two weeks after MDM’s SHIFT Conference, I went into the summit looking for insights on how distributors are approaching their tech innovation roadmap — particularly with AI — and the questions being asked of vendors.

Here’s a sampling of some takeaways I was compelled to jot down during the event’s two-and-a-half days on my flight home.

Two-Way Sounding Board

When attending an industry conference, you often network with the same crowd you always have. It’s hard to get into an innovation mindset when you’re only talking with the same longtime customers and colleagues within your company’s vertical. What made the Innovators Summit unique is that it brought together distributors from across the industry with numerous of tech providers that cater to distribution alongside adjacent industries of retail, manufacturing and more. 

For distributors, it was a chance for them to learn about applications they hadn’t considered before, and for providers, it let them hear about new and evolving pain points that they’ll be happy to get to work on creating features to solve.

The event agenda included a Shark Tank-like setup where tech distributors attended rapid-fire pitch sessions from different tech innovators. This was followed by a distributor-only roundtable discussion to evaluate what they had just heard, as well as share unique challenges and opportunities within their company. Later, distributors took in additional tech company pitches that allotted a little more time for them to articulate how their solution applies to distribution and specific application areas.

Following all of these pitches, the summit provided plenty of time for distributors and tech providers to have 20-minute, 1-on-1 meetings. And it certainly resonated, with over 140 of those meetings representing a new best for the event.

“At $8 trillion in size, B2Bdistribution has a lot of opportunity for innovation,” Applico CEO Alex Moazed told me following the event. “We’re honored to have had the highest caliber tech innovator CEOs and B2B distributor executives join us for our third year of the Innovators Summit.”

AI Insights

Of course, no event B2B event involving technology discussions is complete without a focus on AI, and the NAW Innovators Summit delivered. 

Most of the tech providers there have AI infused into their SaaS solutions, and the common thread of simplification was emphasized. Numerous providers discussed the service goal of shortening the timelines for product lifecycle and purchase orders while reducing manual data entry.

The summit audience heard a handful of distributor case studies and what they’ve been able to do with AI, with the common result, again, was reduction: in manual entry hours, in time spent matching parts from an acquired company; and in overall costs of doing business.

Several other tech innovators detailed how when AI began to be applied in back-office operations, it required having near-perfectly clean and organized data to work with. That’s no longer the case for some solutions that can help perform that data cleaning for you while identifying trends within it.

MDM’s research indicates that one of the current hesitations to AI adoption in distribution is its perceived lack of contextualization, which leads to a “garbage in, garbage out” mantra. 

“Can it read the context? That’s the key to having generative AI interact with your sales system,” one tech provider said. They added that contextualization in sales-oriented AI is rapidly improving.

Tech Innovation and Culture Go Hand-in-Hand

It’s easy to view technology and company culture as separate entities, with one focused on processes and the other on people or staffing. But a great conversation I had there with a distributor executive reminded me how they are inextricably linked. I had asked this executive about his company’s recent tech innovations, and then, intending to start a separate point, asked about his company’s culture innovations. He immediately tied them together, voicing how recent tech upgrades have helped his company’s ability to attract and retain younger talent who expect to work with modern tech on a daily basis.

“We want to be known as a distributor that leads with technology, rather than one who uses it,” he told me. 

Encouragingly, I continue to hear that technology-driven sentiment more often from distributors large and small. 

Venture Capital Advice

My favorite session of the NAW Innovators Summit was a panel discussion on corporate venture capitalists (CVC) and how joint efforts between distributors and venture funds are driving innovation and growth.

The discussion between Specialty Building Products CEO Jeff McLendon, UFP Ventures Managing Director UFP Ventures and Ferguson Ventures Managing Director Blake Luse effectively covered the key questions distributors curious about seeking venture capital partnerships should ask themselves before pursuing a sponsored venture that could drive innovation for them.

“It’s given us speed. It’s allowed us to place some bets on things that might not work out. That’s hard to do within our companies with our narrow margins,” McClendon said. “We’re so focused on the problem at-hand and having our eyes down that we don’t see what’s out there further ahead. The venture investing has us looking out further.”

The panel discussed how distributors can get involved with a venture fund, how to determine if it makes sense for your business, and who on your team should be in those discussions.

Home Depot Talks SRS

The summit closed the vent in grand fashion, breaking out the big guns by having The Home Depot CEO Ted Decker and Chief Information Officer Fahim Siddiqui on stage for a fireside discussion about the future of distribution and an update on HD’s integration of SRS Distribution following its $18 billion acquisition earlier this year.

Decker was candid in discussing how The Home Depot very much views itself as a distributor; how it is integrating SRS to help bolster its Pro customer shopping experience; and the company’s substantial information technology investments, which include leveraging AI and robotics to enhance supply chain efficiency.

Stay tuned for more analysis out of that session.

The Final Word

I left the NAW Innovators Summit in the mindset of “What is possible in distributor innovation?” Of course, going down this path will likely create more questions than answers. For an industry not known for its strides in technology infusion, the event was an encouraging embodiment of the industry’s underestimated willingness to try new things and eagerness to learn about the different change management levers available to pull.

“The success of our third Innovators Summit surpassed expectations, with a higher caliber of technology innovators than ever before,” NAW Chief Innovation Officer Bart Tessel told me. “Keynote speeches and fireside chats provided valuable insights into the latest trends, while the networking was truly powerful, facilitating impactful connections. It was especially encouraging to see distributors already signed on to and thriving with software solutions introduced by past tech innovators. This event is a must-attend for forward-thinking distributors, offering exposure to cutting-edge, industry-relevant technologies ready to enhance efficiency or drive business growth.”

Some of the event’s distributor attendees have now attended all three years so far, and it was interesting to hear about the progress they’ve made on their technology and overall innovation journey in that time, as well as how repeat tech provider attendees’ solutions have evolved in that same span.

The 2025 NAW Innovators Summit is set for Sept. 16-18 in Austin, and registration is already open here.