AI & Automation

For Builders FirstSource, the agreement potentially puts its product data and digital services closer to the point where builders make purchasing decisions.

What separates Silver from Platinum and Gold is not simply whether the technology works. It is how broadly AI has been deployed, how long it has been operating, how clearly results can be measured and how much of the supporting evidence comes directly from the distributor.

The one-day program will focus on how distributors, wholesalers and merchants are moving AI from pilots into production, what results companies are seeing and where the technology is beginning to change sales, customer service, operations and workforce planning.

Lowe’s is extending AI into the purchasing process for professional contractors, an increasingly important customer group as the company expands its Pro business.

The lesson from Sysco isn’t the dollar figure. It’s the decision to treat AI as an operating strategy with an owner and a cadence, instead of a pile of disconnected projects nobody is accountable for.

Sysco’s increased focus on AI comes as it prepares for one of the largest expansions in the company’s history.

For distributors still relying heavily on manual quoting, static online catalogs or poorly structured product data, the competitive gap could widen as Home Depot puts AI deeper into the contractor purchasing process.

Recent earnings reports and investor calls show companies beginning to talk less about AI as a broad technology initiative and more about where they are putting it to work.