TD Synnex is expanding PartnerFirst digital portal with new agentic AI tools, an MCP connector, lifecycle coaching, and self-service reporting aimed at helping channel partners automate operations, access real-time insights, and spend more time growing their businesses and serving customers more efficiently.
IT distribution heavyweight TD Synnex Thursday expanded its PartnerFirst channel program with the addition of new agentic AI capabilities aimed at making it easier for channel partners to spend less time on operations and more time on their business needs.
The new additions include pre-built AI agents along with a standardized MCP (model context protocol) connector to lifecycle coaching and self-service reporting.
Nate Herz, regional CIO for North America at TD Synnex, used his on-stage presentation at the company’s Inspire 2026 conference in Greenville, South Carolina, to introduce the additions to PartnerFirst, TD Synnex’s unified digital portal and platform to connect channel partners and vendors into a single workspace.
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“I think the power of the channel lies in the way that we all work together, and we view AI as a catalyst to transform the way that we work and to really improve the way the technology is delivered to the world,” Herz said.
Towards that end, TD Synnex is launching a single PartnerFirst AI program spanning three different channels, Herz said.
“We’ve extended a market-leading 53 AI tools that span things like product discovery, solution definition, managing transactions, and then administering licenses and subscriptions,” he said. “But we know that each company is different. So these capabilities are extended through AI agents within PartnerFirst through our new Agent Bridge that we’re announcing today, and through our model context protocol connect. This is the next journey in PartnerFirst, and it really helps us to connect, to automate, and to grow together.”
New to PartnerFirst are:
- A robust model context protocol (MCP) connector that gives partners a new way to connect AI applications directly to PartnerFirst data and capabilities so partners can incorporate real-time business intelligence into the AI workflows they are already building and using. “Our MCP acts as a ‘USB-C connector’ between your own AI tools and PartnerFirst capabilities,” Herz said. “And we didn’t just stand up an MCP server. [We’ve] launched into the marketplaces for Claude, Copilot, Visual Studio, Chatbeat, and GPT. This allows your coworkers to use these tools to interact with PartnerFirst data.”
- Agent Bridge, which introduces an agent builder function as well as a marketplace of ready-to-use AI agents connecting the systems partners already use with PartnerFirst skills, data, and insights to help them quickly configure and adopt practical agentic AI capabilities without additional tooling or development. “This is a capability that we’ve built within PartnerFirst to allow you to use pre-built agents and to configure agentic workflows that leverage PartnerFirst skills,” Herz said.
- The addition of 40 new features to the PartnerFirst Agent to expand the agent from merely accessing information into task execution and workflow automation across product search, pricing, availability, freight, orders, invoices, quotes, RMAs and cloud subscriptions. “There are so many practical ways that this agent can be used,” Herz said. “Product shortages? The agent can help your team find some stock and find orderable alternatives. Build full solution sales. We know that managing the customer lifecycle is important, which is why we built land, adopt, expand, and renew capabilities. The new AI agent [helps] your team determine where to focus.
- A new Customer Lifecycle AI Business Coach to help transform complex partner data into actionable guidance to provide opportunity identification, risk awareness, and actionable recommendations with contextual insight, executive-ready visuals, and AI-assisted customer engagement inside everyday workflows.
- A new Build Your Own Reports self-service reporting capability aimed at helping partners move from static, manual reporting to flexible self-service insight, with immediate visibility into quotes, orders, invoices, credits, RMAs, subscriptions, and renewals.
For Rhino Networks, the new AI capabilities in PartnerFirst could help simplify operations, said Rikki Gates, chief operations officer for the Asheville, North Carolina-based solution provider and longtime TD Synnex channel partner.
“Currently, if we need help with building out a bill of materials, we’re having to email a team,” Gates told CRN. “It seems like we’re going to have the ability to put in what the customer desires, put in what the customer needs for their network, and be able to see what hardware is recommended from a PartnerFirst standpoint.
Gates, who said she has a long operations background, is looking forward to see how the new PartnerFirst offerings will impact her business.
“I’m excited to see if we’re going to be able to do something like add our P.O. number into the AI chat field, see if that’s going to give us details about our order statuses, see if it’s going to show us what has shipped, what hasn’t shipped, provide estimated ship dates, things of that nature,” she said.
