How TD SYNNEX Is Preparing Employees To Work Alongside AI Agents

At TD SYNNEX, learning to use artificial intelligence includes learning to question it. Employees progressing through the company’s four levels of AI fluency must demonstrate that they can assess sources, check calculations and recognize potential bias. For Kristie Grinnell, executive vice president and chief information officer, those skills are part of preparing the global technology distributor, which generated $62.5 billion in fiscal 2025 revenue, to change how it operates.

Grinnell oversees employee IT operations and digital integration with vendors and resellers while serving as executive sponsor of the AI Fluency Strategy. Her challenge extends beyond providing tools. Employees must feel comfortable experimenting and capable of rethinking their work. “The hardest part of this has nothing to do with the technology,” she said. “It is absolutely a change management piece that we’re getting to.”

Making AI Fluency a Business Responsibility

The strategy combines skillset, toolset and mindset. Technical instruction sits alongside preparation of data and processes, access to appropriate development tools and training in how to reconsider established ways of working. Grinnell compares fluency with learning a language: basic competence enables participation, while greater proficiency supports more sophisticated conversations and decisions.

Executive ownership is integral to the approach. Every member of the executive leadership team was asked to develop a plan for applying AI within their organization. Despite differences in regional maturity, those plans revealed common opportunities to reduce manual work, lower costs and increase throughput. In technology distribution, speed and responsiveness affect whether a reseller stays with a partner or looks elsewhere.

Giving Employees Permission to Reimagine Work

Combining Broad Access With Accountability

Turning IT Operations Into More Proactive Work