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Philippe Jarre on Redefining the IT Channel: From Ecosystem Orchestrators to AI-Driven Growth

Philippe Jarre - President, Mindware Group • 02 - 10 - 2025

Since Philippe Jarre took the helm as President and CEO of Mindware in 2019, he has relentlessly steered the distributor toward a new model of channel transformation. Jarre brings a deep well of executive experience from leadership roles at GBM and IBM across Europe and the U.S., a background that emphasizes services and strategic value. He has actively championed initiatives like the Mindware Academy and the MAGIC platform, positioning Mindware and its partners to lead the charge in AI, cybersecurity, and cloud transformation.

Jarre’s Mandate: Orchestrating the Ecosystem

As a key channel influencer, Philippe Jarre’s responsibilities at Mindware revolve around three core pillars, designed to elevate the entire partner ecosystem.

Shaping Strategy: Jarre plays an active role in defining and refining the go-to-market strategy. This involves aligning with vendor priorities and regional dynamics, identifying emerging technologies, and architecting scalable programs that drive differentiation in a highly competitive landscape.
Driving Engagement: He serves as a critical bridge between vendors and the partner ecosystem. By cultivating trust, transparency, and facilitating meaningful engagement through structured enablement and thought leadership, Jarre ensures partners are supported and empowered to deliver maximum value to end customers.
Fostering Growth: Jarre’s focus is on driving sustainable growth through innovation and operational excellence. He leads initiatives that support partner transformation—from cloud migration to AI adoption and services monetization—creating an environment where the entire ecosystem can thrive.

The MEA Channel: Rapid Change and High Stakes

Philippe Jarre assesses the current MEA IT channel as being in a significant state of transformation, fueled by digital acceleration, regional investment priorities, and geopolitical dynamics. The region remains one of the fastest-growing markets globally for IT, with strong momentum driven by spending in sectors like government, energy, and banking.

A key shift Jarre highlights is the evolution of distributors into “ecosystem orchestrators,” integrating training academies, cloud platforms, and marketplaces. However, the market faces a significant challenge: a shortage of skilled talent and advanced capabilities in cloud, AI, and cybersecurity. Jarre notes that Mindware is tackling this head-on through the Mindware Academy, nurturing specialized capabilities across the regional ecosystem.

The Opportunity: Industry-Specific AI Value

For partners, Jarre identifies the single biggest challenge as the need to move beyond transactional reselling and acquire the competencies to become solution providers.

The most significant untapped opportunity, according to Jarre, lies in helping customers translate digital transformation into industry-specific business value, especially through AI, data, and cloud-powered services. Partners who invest in deep industry knowledge in areas like healthcare, finance, or the public sector, and build reusable solution frameworks, are best positioned to achieve higher margins and forge deeper customer relationships.

The AI Transformation and Partner Success

The rapid advancement of AI, encompassing Generative AI and Agentic AI, is profoundly reshaping the channel. Jarre sees partners transitioning from being resellers to AI orchestrators, embedding intelligent systems into enterprise workflows.

This shift creates new revenue streams, as partners develop proprietary AI-powered tools, but it also mandates new skill sets, including AI literacy, model fine-tuning, and expertise in responsible AI and compliance.

The Cybersecurity Imperative

Jarre emphasizes that in the face of escalating threats like AI evasion and deepfake fraud, channel partners must move beyond traditional security offerings. The strategic pivot involves:

Consolidation and Integration: Moving from fragmented tools to integrated, AI-enhanced security platforms.
Intelligence-Driven Defense: Emphasizing real-time threat detection, automated response, and leveraging global threat intelligence.
Advisory Roles: Guiding clients toward Zero Trust maturity and offering compliance and governance services.

Mindware, under Jarre’s direction, supports this through dedicated cybersecurity enablement programs to build the necessary skills and knowledge.

Jarre’s Vision for Long-Term Relevance

Philippe Jarre also stresses the importance of integrating ESG and sustainability factors into business operations, noting that this is becoming a key competitive advantage. Furthermore, to combat the talent crisis in specialized areas like AI and cloud security, he advises partners to create a compelling value proposition for employees—investing in training, offering clear career paths, and fostering an innovative culture.

When asked for his most crucial piece of advice for partners seeking long-term success, Philippe Jarre’s answer is direct: embrace continuous innovation and adaptability. The only way for partners to maintain relevance in this accelerating IT channel is to constantly learn, invest in upskilling, and remain agile in their approach to technology and business models. Jarre’s mandate ensures that Mindware continues to drive that message across the MEA region.