SHI has become the latest global IT solutions provider to bolster its AI offering via M&A as it revealed its global sales now top $16bn.
The US-headquartered VAR has made a strategic investment in NStarX, a 100-employee outfit which provides enterprises with “AI-driven intelligent products and platforms”.
It comes after US-based peer Insight earlier this month acquired Inspire11, a company it claims can help organisations scale their AI investments.
It also follows UK peer Softcat’s move to snap up data and AI consultancy Oakland in its first-ever acquisition.
SHI said the NStarX deal will bolster its commitment to “being at the forefront of AI solution development and delivery”.
It represents SHI’s fourth deal in two years following its swoop on orchestration-as-a-service vendor, Moot Inc., attack surface management vendor, Vector0, and offshore digital services and 24/7 support organisation, Locuz.
Analyst Omdia recently said the global partner AI opportunity will grow to $267bn by 2030, up from $59bn in 2025 (see more, bottom).
“AI is unlocking possibilities we could only imagine a few years ago,” stated SHI President and CEO Thai Lee.
“At SHI, our mission is to ensure customers don’t just keep up with this transformation – they lead it.”
$16bn success
Boasting over 7,000 employees worldwide, SHI is the largest Minority and Woman Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) in the US.
Although its privately held status means it rarely breaks out its financial performance in detail, SHI revealed that its rolling 12-month gross sales now stand at $16bn.
SHI appears to be adding very roughly $1bn to its top line each year – press releases from 2025 and 2024 have generally pegged its sales at $15bn, with those in 2023 and 2022 generally putting the tally at $14bn and $13bn.
Looking at its peer group, that makes it smaller than CDW ($21bn net sales and 15,000 employees) and WWT ($20bn revenues and 12,000 employees), but bigger than Computacenter ($10bn gross sales and 20,000 employees) and Insight ($8.7bn net sales and 14,000 employees).
