The Zebra APAC partnerships chief says human, business and artificial intelligence must come together as channel ecosystems expand beyond traditional distribution and resale
Future channel leaders will need to combine human intelligence, business intelligence and artificial intelligence as technology and channel ecosystems continue to evolve, according to Zebra Technologies’ Head of Partnerships, APAC, Christanto Suryadarma.
Speaking to CRN Asia after receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at the CRN Asia Channel Awards 2026, Suryadarma said technology skills will remain important, but successful leaders will also need empathy, business understanding, judgement and accountability.
“I think there is no problem in terms of getting technology skills,” he said. “Even though AI has now become another skill that everyone has to learn and adapt to, and people need to be able to master AI, I have no doubt that the younger generation are very intelligent people who can do it.”
For Suryadarma, the bigger requirement is bringing three different forms of intelligence together.
“The first is what I call human intelligence, where you have empathy, ethics, integrity, judgement and accountability,” he said. “You also need to understand the needs of others, including your customers, partners and colleagues.”
Human intelligence, he said, remains important even as AI becomes a larger part of technology and business.
Business outcomes become central to channel value
The second intelligence is business intelligence, which Suryadarma believes channel leaders need to develop alongside their technology capabilities.
He said leaders should understand more than how to sell technology through the channel. They need to understand how partners can ultimately help deliver business outcomes for customers.
“Businesses are buying technology not just for the sake of using it; they want to get a return on investment and real business outcomes,” he said.
The third is artificial intelligence. Suryadarma said leaders need to learn and adapt to AI while bringing it together with human and business considerations.
“In Zebra, I’m very fortunate that I’m able to see these three coming together,” he said. “My ambition now is to work with several teams to be able to deliver the three intelligences together: human intelligence, business intelligence and artificial intelligence.”
That view is also informed by the technology transitions he has experienced during his career.
“I’ve seen five transitions in technology, from the mainframe to the minicomputer, to the PC, then to the internet, the cloud and now AI,” he said. “I’ve gone through those transitions, but relationships are always fundamental and very critical for anyone working in the technology space.”
Relationships remain central despite technology shifts
Suryadarma said the importance of relationships has remained consistent despite those changes in technology.
He pointed to his experience in Australia, where he built a relationship with the CIO of one of the country’s largest banks. He did not know the CIO previously and said he did not speak the language in the same way, but focused on establishing a genuine connection through informal meetings.
“People buy from people; people don’t buy products,” he said.
For channel leaders, he said relationship building requires genuine interest in understanding the other person, along with the ability to listen and show empathy.
“My suggestion is that if you want to build a relationship, you must really like and have a purpose to know the other side,” he said. “You need to have a very big ear to listen and a lot of empathy for people.”
He said relationships become stronger when the other person feels that their needs are being placed ahead of the seller or partner.
“When they see that you are genuinely coming their way and that you put them at the centre, rather than putting yourself at the centre, then the relationship will work,” he said.
That approach has also been central to the biggest career decisions Suryadarma has made.
He began his career in Indonesia, where he spent 10 years and was the second employee of Intel Indonesia, helping build the company in the country. During the Asian financial crisis in 1998, he decided to explore working outside Indonesia and was asked by Intel to consider Australia.
“I had never studied or worked in Australia,” he said. “But with a lot of courage and determination, and support from my seniors at Intel, I went there.”
He initially expected to stay for two years but ended up spending four years in Australia. After that experience, he was asked whether he would consider working for Asia Pacific, which required moving his family from Australia to Singapore.
“That was another big gamble,” he said. “It meant building new relationships from scratch.”
A broader ecosystem is the next channel opportunity
Looking ahead, Suryadarma believes the channel itself needs to become more connected as customers adopt AI.
“Number one, we are entering the era of AI. Another transformation is required to enable channel partners to help customers adopt AI,” he said.
At the same time, he said the channel is becoming more complex and can no longer be viewed only through the traditional distributor and reseller model.
“Channels are much more exciting and complex now,” he said. “It’s not just distribution and resellers, which are still very important, but there are other new ecosystems that need to develop together, such as ISVs, software vendors, system integrators, MSPs and telcos.”
His ambition is to bring these different participants together in more cohesive partnerships, with vendors, distributors, resellers, ISVs, SIs, MSPs and telcos working collectively to deliver solutions for customers.
“I would like to build more complete, cohesive and synergistic partnerships,” he said. “That is a place where the vendor, distributor, resellers, ISVs, SIs, MSPs and telcos can really work together and deliver comprehensive solutions for customers.”
For Suryadarma, the objective is shared growth across the ecosystem.
“With that, we can get growth together,” he said. “It’s like, better together.”
