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Refocus, strengthen alignment, and equip dealers for the next phase of industry transformation is what Ricoh’s 2025 Partner Summit in Nashville was all about. Day 2 moved the conversation from mindset to application—how dealers can execute on Ricoh’s strategic priorities and position themselves for long-term competitive resilience. The keynote speaker, Dan Gottlieb (Vice President Analyst for Sales at Gartner), invited attendees to rethink the assumptions shaping how the channel approaches leadership, sales strategy, and customer value. Rather than focusing on technology alone, he encouraged a broader view: one that acknowledges the rapid acceleration of change and the ways artificial intelligence (AI) is redefining what it means to be effective in the modern business landscape.
AI as the Next Industrial Shift
Gottlieb drew a compelling parallel between today’s AI movement and the steam engine of the industrial revolution. Just as mechanization reshaped physical production, AI is now transforming knowledge work from strategic planning and forecasting to daily communication and customer engagement. Change that once unfolded over years now occurs in compressed cycles, measured in weeks. Dealers and partners, he stressed, must adapt quickly to capture advantage before momentum passes to competitors who move faster.
The Question of Pace
One of Gottlieb’s central messages was that technology adoption is not simply about if a company embraces AI, but how. Some organizations are introducing AI steadily, enhancing workflows, shaving time off routine tasks, and reducing friction in the sales process. Others are choosing an accelerated path, experimenting more aggressively and accepting iteration as part of their operating model. Gottlieb advised that success comes from discipline: Choose a few meaningful applications rather than scattering efforts across too many projects at once. AI should be implemented where it can improve outcomes, not simply where it is trendy.
Real Applications Already Delivering Value
Sales teams are using AI to prepare for meetings more efficiently by synthesizing account histories and market context. Business development teams are generating lists of higher-value targets based on behavioral signals. Proposal development is becoming faster, clearer, and more data supported as AI ties configuration logic to pricing and product details. These advances are not theoretical—they are being integrated into workflows today, and Gottlieb’s message was that the organizations who experiment early stand to benefit the most.
The Human Side of Growth
Talent strategy emerged as a defining theme. According to Gottlieb, the most successful sales professionals of the coming years will be those who demonstrate curiosity, adaptability, and confidence working alongside AI-enabled tools. Leaders must shape environments where questioning, learning, and experimentation are normalized—and where AI is positioned as a supportive force rather than a replacement for human connection, too. “Hard work builds character,” Gottlieb noted, “but adaptability is the new competitive skill.”
A Collective Call to Move Forward
As the session ended, Gottlieb challenged the audience to see themselves not as participants in a shifting market, but as active architects of the future of the channel. The tone throughout the room was optimistic. Dealers, partners, and Ricoh leadership are aligned in acknowledging the challenges and the opportunities ahead. The path forward is not about disruption for disruption’s sake, but about thoughtful reinvention rooted in partnership, trust, and shared ambition.
Keypoint Intelligence Adds to the Show
Anthony Sci and Randy Dazo led a breakout session showcasing the company’s new AI GPT tools, aligning closely with Ricoh’s focus on helping dealers build new business as well as Gottlieb’s message about using AI to strengthen sales teams. Sci walked attendees through a standard sales workflow and highlighted five GPTs designed to support each stage: Obtaining New Prospects, Building Playbooks, Learning About the Person, Building Effective Emails, and Role Playing. Dazo then demonstrated the GPTs live, most notably the Role Play GPT, which allows users to speak directly with a simulated prospect and receive performance scoring in real time. The audience responded enthusiastically to the capabilities shown, and the full GPT package will be available to dealers through Keypoint Intelligence on November 17.
Keypoint Intelligence Analysis
Ricoh’s messaging this year reflects the broader direction of the channel: Growth now depends on relevance, which requires business transformation, not just product expansion.
Dealers that succeed in 2025 and beyond will:
Ricoh’s positioning is clear. The company is not asking dealers to sell more; it is asking them to evolve with intention.
And it is signaling that it intends to evolve right alongside them.
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