Distribution Strategy Group will bring distribution executives and technology leaders together Wednesday for a one-day AI Forum focused on turning artificial intelligence from a promising experiment into a working part of the business. The Aug. 12 event at the Georgia Tech Conference Center comes as the industry faces growing pressure to show that AI tools produce measurable results, not just pilot programs.
The agenda reflects a shift in the distribution industry's AI conversation. The question is increasingly less about what AI might eventually do and more about what distributors are putting into production now, whether employees are using it and whether it is improving business performance.
Moving beyond individual experiments
DSG Managing Partner Jonathan Bein will open the program with an overview of the state of AI in distribution and the gap between widespread executive interest and the smaller number of distributors that have moved past pilots. The forum includes distributor case studies, executive discussions and technology sessions covering AI adoption, data, sales, supply chain operations, digital commerce and return on investment.
A keynote fireside discussion with BlueLinx Chief Information Officer Praveen Gautam will address one of the industry's hardest lessons: AI tools can be purchased quickly, but preparing the underlying data, systems and workflows needed to use them effectively can take much longer.
Supply chain consultant Jeff Metersky will address the role of human judgment as AI takes on more planning and decision-making, including how distributors can weigh risk, monetary impact and reversibility when deciding what to automate. For senior leaders responsible for strategic implementation, the AI for Executives & Strategy training provides guidance on balancing automation decisions with business risk.
Customer experience and digital commerce
The afternoon program will turn toward customer-facing applications. Sessions will examine AI-powered product search, digital commerce and how distributors can use customer and operating data to improve retention, sales opportunities, fill rates and order accuracy.
The changing role of distributor websites will also be part of the discussion as customers increasingly use generative AI tools during the buying process. That shift has implications for how product information is structured and how digital investments are measured.
Jack Carrere, CEO and co-founder of Prokeep, will focus on using AI to strengthen customer relationships rather than simply reduce costs. Ben Dwyer, head of forward deployed engineering at Proton.ai, will examine how distributors can move from chatbots toward AI systems capable of handling more complex work.
What distributors are actually running in production
A distributor leadership panel will examine which AI applications have moved into production, where executives expect to invest next and what early deployments have taught them. Topics will include employee adoption, workflow integration, data governance and how executives are measuring AI's effect on productivity, sales and customer experience.
"Running a pilot is no longer the primary challenge. The harder work comes after a pilot succeeds: integrating the technology into existing systems, changing employee workflows, establishing accountability, and proving that the application produces a measurable business result," the source material states.
DSG Chief Operating Officer Brian Hopkins will close the program with a session on shifting from employees using generative AI for individual tasks toward shared AI applications that support broader business processes. For senior vice presidents overseeing this transition, the AI Learning Path for Senior Vice Presidents offers targeted training on scaling AI from isolated pilots to organizational capabilities.
The session will address a broader challenge: as AI platforms rapidly expand their capabilities, the technology's value increasingly depends on the business context, data and operating knowledge companies can provide it.
Why this matters for executives and strategy
The next phase of AI in distribution will not be defined by how many tools a company tests. It will be defined by whether distributors can move AI into the flow of everyday work, get employees to use it and produce results that management can measure. The Atlanta AI Forum's focus on integration, adoption, accountability, and measurement gives executives a framework for assessing which AI investments deserve resources and which remain experiments without clear business cases. For strategy leaders, the practical takeaway is that the hardest work starts after the pilot succeeds.
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