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Ricoh’s 2025 Partner Summit opened in Nashville with a clear purpose: Refocus, strengthen alignment, and equip dealers for the next phase of industry transformation. Rather than broad, program-heavy messaging, this year’s event leaned into strategy, execution, and meaningful peer connection with every general session designed to encourage real, actionable takeaways.
Setting the Tone: Collaboration and Clarity
The morning began with remarks from Drew Baker, Ricoh’s Regional Vice President of the South, who underscored the Summit’s intentional, streamlined structure: fewer sessions and more depth, fewer broad updates and more practical direction. Baker encouraged attendees to use the event to gather insight they can act on—not just listen to.
He also emphasized priority areas that will shape 2025 growth across the channel, which included workflow automation, production print momentum, and the continued rise of A4.
Reinforcing Commitment to Dealers
Chief Dealer Officer Jim Coriddi followed with a realistic and candid look at market conditions. He noted that roughly half of dealers experienced no growth in 2024, which raises expectations for stronger, more creative revenue strategies heading into 2025. Coriddi highlighted Ricoh’s Business Development Group, which is created to streamline processes, accelerate support, and increase local decision-making flexibility. He also reinforced Ricoh’s continued investment in dealer profitability, including absorbing significant tariff-related costs to prevent channel disruption.
A Leadership Mindset for the Moment
President and CEO of Ricoh North America Carsten Bruhn centered his keynote on trust, calling it the foundation of every successful deal, customer retention strategy, and partnership. In a market defined by shifting expectations and evolving buyer mindsets, Bruhn encouraged dealers to embrace adaptability, lead with transparency, and view AI as a tool that enhances human relationships rather than replaces them.
The Competitive Landscape
Guest speaker Kevin Hooper of Gartner provided a data-driven look at today’s business climate. Mild recession expectations remain high among executives, but Hooper stressed that cost-cutting alone is not a growth strategy. Instead, organizations that use AI and data-driven processes to target the right opportunities outperform competitors significantly.
More to Come
Across Day 1, one message remained constant: Growth will increasingly come from new revenue, not just efficiency gains. The day concluded with panel sessions featuring dealers who shared firsthand experiences accelerating production print, scaling workflow services, and building internal cultures prepared for change.
See you tomorrow!
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