With a $550 million investment to lay the foundation for the Xvantage digital experience platform, Ingram Micro is set to accelerate how it does business and bring more value to its partners.

Xvantage is a personalized platform that uses automation intelligence and machine learning to help partners perform a multitude of tasks for employees and customers, such as order and status tracking and customer service.

“It’s not like we’re just starting this journey,” said Ingram Micro CEO Paul Bay. “We made a real company investment both organically and through acquisition to set that foundation to help us accelerate what we’re going to do with Xvantage.”

Ingram Micro’s trove of customer data and how the distributor uses it is a “differentiator for us today,” he said.

“But I would tell you it’s going to be a game-changer for us tomorrow,” he said. “We’re here, and we’re that business behind the brand.”

Bay spoke with CRN for an exclusive interview to talk about the Xvantage platform, the supply chain, the distributor’s culture and more.

Edited excerpts of the conversation follow.