PAUL BAY
CEO
INGRAM MICRO
WHY: Leading the Irvine-based electronics
distribution and AI giant that returned to public
trading in October 2024.
IN THE NEWS: Company is betting that its AI powered
Xvantage platform will improve the
industry’s traditional sales model. The platform
is designed to streamline the process of buying,
selling and managing technology products and services for the electronics
and technology distributor, its customers and partners. The platform
manages cloud, hardware, software and services.
NOTABLE: The firm is in an industry—distribution—that has gone out
of favor as tech companies use the cloud to transmit new products to their
customers. It traditionally has had profit margins around 2%. Ingram
Micro is by far OC’s largest company by revenue—$48B in 2024.
QUOTABLE: Xvantage “is the future of us becoming a platform, the
journey to becoming a platform company.”
