Multinational information infrastructure firm Equinix has been capitalizing on machine studying (ML) since 2018, due to an initiative that makes use of ML probabilistic modeling to foretell potential prospects’ probability of shopping for Equinix choices — a program that has contributed tens of millions of {dollars} in income since its inception.

However as the corporate advanced for the reason that launch of that challenge, so did its reliance on channel companions to speed up buyer acquisition and growth. So, in 2021 Equinix revisited its prospecting platform to take it a step additional by including a data-driven gross sales prospecting strategy that makes use of AI to determine companions greatest positioned to assist the corporate drive new gross sales, each globally and inside particular areas and nations.

That’s as a result of, in sure geographies, sectors, and industries, Equinix’s channel companions are uniquely positioned to deal with buyer demand for unbiased steerage, built-in options, and superior providers. Working example: the federal sector, the place it’s important to determine companions with essential clearance and beforehand established relationships.

“Unlocking the immense potential of AI to ship a tangible impression to our enterprise was a giant precedence for our IT group,” says Milind Wagle, the corporate’s CIO. “Constructing an revolutionary, clever AI-based prospecting engine for our channel program was the proper use case that enabled us to mix the facility of AI know-how innovation, construct aggressive market differentiation for the corporate, and assist enhance the expertise for our prospects and our channel companions.”

Dubbed “AI-driven associate prospecting,” the initiative  pinpoints which potential prospects are greatest served by way of Equinix direct gross sales versus oblique associate or channel gross sales. The initiative, which earned Equinix a 2023 CIO 100 Award in IT Excellence, has two objectives: To determine companions with the best potential to drive new emblem acquisition, and to prioritize these companions which are predicted to generate the best bookings worth.

“This enables Equinix to focus its investments and assets on the companions greatest fitted to joint gross sales and resell actions,” says Ted Dangson, senior director of utilized AI technique and analytics at Equinix.