HP in November joined a growing line of vendors downsizing in the name of AI (announcing plans to slash its workforce by 4,000 to 6,000 staff between now and 2028 as part of an ‘AI adoption and enablement plan’).
But to what extent will AI and automation enable the 250 UK channel partners in Oxygen 250 2026 that sell and service their technology to do more with less?
Talking to IT Channel Oxygen in September, Alastair Rudman, CEO of 42nd-ranked Natilik, said he’d be “amazed if there isn’t a channel partner leader right now looking at AI to achieve productivity gains”.
“Does that mean we should be able to scale the revenue and growth of our businesses at a faster rate than scaling headcount? Yes,” he said.
“But we’re not vendors. We don’t create the source code, the software and the products, so proportionally it might be slightly different in the channel.”
The Oxygen 250 grew revenues faster than headcount in their latest years on record.
Although their total employee base rose 5.3% to 71,092, their collective sales expanded by 7%.
Some 111 of the 250 did not increase headcount in their latest years, with 97 cutting it.
“Will there be a massive reduction in sales heads? I don’t think so. I just don’t think there’ll be a growth in sales heads,” industry veteran Alex Tatham said of AI’s impact on UK IT channel job dynamics at an event in November.
“It’ll just get more efficient, and therefore you’ll get better coverage, and generally that’s what I think AI’s going to do.”
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