Ingram bets big on India's AI, cloud push

Mumbai: India has emerged as a key growth engine for Ingram Micro Holding due to its accelerated AI adoption, cloud spending, and data centre investments, said senior executives at the US-based technology distributor and platform company.

India recently overtook China to become Ingram Micro's second-largest market globally, and among its biggest growth opportunities within Asia-Pacific, which accounts for about 29% of its total revenue, said Paul Bay, chief executive at the Fortune 100 company which reported sales of $52 billion in 2025."We've invested ahead of the curve, and we continue to invest ahead of the curve," he said, describing AI as a transformational technology wave that is creating opportunities across infrastructure, software, and cloud services.NYSE-listed Ingram Micro also considers India as a key global capability centre hub responsible for developing its AI platform, Xvantage.

The platform processes around 230,000 customer emails into orders and has generated more than $1 billion in sales so far.Over the past three years, Ingram Micro has heavily invested in AI capabilities.

It has embedded over 42 million lines of AI-generated code, built 400 home-grown AI/ML models, and has 35 patents pending.

A significant share of this innovation originates from the India GCC, said executives.Bay said Ingram Micro is seeing strong demand for AI-related infrastructure, including networking, cybersecurity, and graphics processing unit (GPU) solutions, alongside continued momentum in cloud services.

The company's cloud business grew 34% in its latest quarter, while advanced solutions and specialty business expanded more than 14%.

The company has 30 AI-related patents pending and four approved patents.

Bay said Ingram Micro recently processed more than 220,000 customer order transactions through AI-driven workflows, automating tasks that required manual intervention.India's AI ambitions are also creating opportunities beyond large enterprises.

Flavio Moraes Junior, managing director, Ingram Micro India, said AI, data centres, and small and medium businesses are emerging as the biggest growth catalysts in the country."AI is clearly one of the biggest drivers," Moraes Junior said, underlining rising demand both for AI-enabled devices and data centre infrastructure.

Government initiatives supporting AI development and new data centre investments are further spurring market growth, he said.Increasing data residency requirements are encouraging firms to build and store data locally, creating another tailwind for India's digital infrastructure sector.

Bay dismissed concerns the AI boom is speculative, arguing that the technology is already moving beyond experimentation.

"I don't think it's hype," he said.

"I think we're at the beginning of something very large.

I haven't seen a technology shift move this quickly or touch such a broad base of the market."Asked whether AI has disrupted Ingram's business, Bay said, "We're a $52 billion company.

We manage more than a million shipments globally.

We work with more than 1,500 vendors and approximately 165,000 customers around the world.

When you think about the amount of data that generates, it creates a tremendous opportunity.""Ultimately, that's where the value proposition has evolved," he said.

"It's no longer just about distribution.

It's about using data, insights, technology and ecosystem relationships to help our partners build better businesses and deliver better outcomes for their customers," he explained. ...