Softcat’s CEO has characterised the current memory shortages as “the new normal” as he vowed to maintain its hiring rate in the AI era.
The Marlow-based VAR giant this morning unveiled bumper fiscal 2026 results showing gross invoiced income rising 30.5% to £4.72bn amid a renewed UK marketshare rivalry with LSE-listed peer Computacenter.
Talking to IT Channel Oxygen afterwards, CEO Graham Chalton claimed many people are failing to see the big picture of how AI is transforming the opportunities for companies in Softcat’s position.
“I think the broader appreciation of that big picture [of AI] sometimes gets lost because people want to talk about what NVIDIA or Anthropic is doing,” he said.
“It’s not a year’s build out. It’s not two years. It’s not a cycle. It’s a new wave of technology that’s stimulating growth in exactly the space that we’re capable for.”
“New normal across 2027 and beyond”
Charlton branded the current kit shortages – which have been fuelled by AI – the “new normal, certainly across calendar ’27 and probably beyond”.
“What I do think will happen is there’ll be huge evolution and innovation in how AI software works, and how it starts to use narrower data sets for more specific tasks, which will help moderate some of the demand as well,” he said.
“But I think the power of technology, the power of what AI brings, and how applications will develop, will mean the world will consume all the hardware it can produce for many years to come.”
“It’s nice to see our industry doing well”
While Computacenter’s UK sales are now neck and neck once again with those of Softcat, Charlton said the duo’s renewed marketshare contest means little to him.
“It’s always nice to be at the top of any tree, but there is room in this market for all of us,” he said.
“Computacenter and us compete in some areas and we don’t in lots as well, so it’s nice, honestly, to see our industry doing well – whether it’s Computacenter or Bytes.”
New internal AI and data analytics capabilities Softcat has rolled out are aimed primarily at driving top-line growth, rather than taking cost out, Charlton stressed.
“You should expect to see our headcount continue to grow at similar rates to that which it has over the past few years,” he said in referenced to Softcat’s 10.8% 2026 headcount increase.
In the full interview, Charlton also opens up on which number from its full-year results most pleased him, Softcat’s recent $1.05bn acquisition of GDT, and his priorities for 2027.
What did he say?
Interview begins on following page…
