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PCR caught up with Xerox’s director for channels, Carlo Longhi, to find out what life is like in the channel…
What is your role?
I head up the Indirect Channel business for Xerox UK.
What does an average day look like for you?
Typically, I’ll leave home by 6.30am and either spend the day meeting partners around the UK or in meetings with my team – often it’s a combination of both! I normally return home between 8-9pm via the gym.
You’ve been at Xerox for 30 years. How has the company evolved in that time?
I’ve spent over half of my life at Xerox and seen significant change in that time. I started my career as an office systems salesman in our Birmingham office which was part of a geographic coverage model. The company has moved through industry sectors, centralised models, services, and back to geographic coverage. In that time, we’ve launched so many fantastic products, solutions and services – our focus on innovation and helping customers to improve the way they interact with documents is as strong today as it was on the day I joined.
What’s kept you at Xerox for so long? Have you ever been tempted to see what the channel is like at another company?
I enjoy the variety at Xerox. I have worked across many different parts of the business including sales, marketing, product management, leasing, direct, channels, UK and European roles. I genuinely haven’t had the time – or desire – to think about working for another company. It’s also helped that half my time with Xerox has been spent working with channel partners and alliances so I’ve had the privilege of working with some great organisations and entrepreneurs in the UK and across Europe. I have learned so much from them along the way.
What projects are you working on?
Right now I’m focused on driving further growth in the Channel through Channel Expansion – we’re doing more with our existing partners in addition to recruiting new ones to Xerox. Channels are central to our growth strategy and will continue to be a key priority for the Xerox business.
What’s going to be the next big thing in tech?
The acceleration to digitisation will be the next big thing for our customers. We know 86 per cent of decision makers feel they have just two years to make significant inroads on their digital transformation before suffering competitive or financial consequences. We expect to see an acceleration of artificial intelligence and augmented reality to support the interaction between physical and digital and help knowledge workers make decisions, improve productivity, agility and competitiveness. It’s interesting that 60 per cent of businesses state that automation is their number 1 priority in the next 12 months. However, I don’t see the death of hardcopy print happening any time soon!
How can people get in touch with you?
Email me at carlo.longhi@xerox.com, call me at 01895 842866 or get in touch via Twitter @CarloLonghi1 or LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/carlolonghi
