Over the past year, Wesco International (NYSE: WCC) has deepened its use of artificial intelligence and automation across finance, supply chain, and infrastructure.
In one key initiative, the company modernized its accounts-payable operations using Genpact’s AP Suite. According to a company release, “through iterative development and continuous improvement … we’ve reached a point where 40 % of our more than 3 million annual invoices are processed with zero human intervention,” said CFO David Schulz.
In another move, Wesco invested US$10 million in the construction-procurement platform Kojo, combining Wesco’s distribution network with Kojo’s AI-driven materials and inventory management engine.
Wesco also increased its infrastructure focus with AI-optimized data-centre solutions, including guidance on GPU utilization with MIG and Kubernetes to support large-scale workloads.
Across all these efforts, the common thread is orchestration: coordinating humans, bots, and agents into workflows rather than deploying isolated point-solutions.
As Wesco’s Director of Global Intelligent Automation CoE, Max Ioffe, put it: “The process is the hero.”
Scaling from Task Automation to Ecosystem Impact
Wesco’s AI strategy has shifted from narrow automation wins to broad organizational transformation.
In the company’s automation centre of excellence, the approach is bottom-up: employees identify tedious tasks and automation is built around real work friction.
Ioffe explained: “If you ask someone what part of their work they don’t like doing, they’ll tell you. That’s your change-management right there.”
On the supply-chain side, the Kojo deal illustrates expansion beyond internal processes. The investment enables Wesco to embed AI-enabled procurement workflows into its contractor ecosystem, moving from simply being a supplier to being a platform partner.
On the infrastructure front, data-centre business surged. The company reported a 70 % year-over-year increase in data-centre sales in Q1 2025.
These moves indicate a company evolving from cost-centre automation to value-chain transformation: finance, operations, supply-chain, and infrastructure all being woven into a digitally-enabled whole.
Building the Platform for the Future
On one hand Wesco’s AI and automation effort involves internal process automation, like the AP redesign. On the other, it stretches outward — into the data-centre business, the contractor-procurement ecosystem with Kojo, and the modernization of infrastructure for AI workloads such as GPU utilization.
The scale of its digital commitment is substantial.
Industry analysis shows its ICT (Information & Communications Technology) spending in 2024 reached about US$1.4 billion, with technology-theme focus areas including big data, artificial intelligence, cloud, EVs, IoT, and data-centres.
The emphasis on orchestration, rather than simply layering on AI tools, is consistent.
“We’re not just selling products: we’re providing a digital experience that allows customers to operate more efficiently,” said CEO John Engel when describing their ecommerce and digital-services growth.
Between tapping process automation, hybrid human-bot workflows, and embedding AI into infrastructure and ecosystem services, Wesco appears to position itself not merely as a distributor but as a digital supply-chain solutions provider.
In the past year, AI at Wesco has moved from pilot projects to being part of its operational backbone and growth strategy.
New Initiatives and Broader Reach
In recent months, Wesco has extended its AI efforts into manufacturing and industrial intelligence.
A post by the company highlights how artificial intelligence and machine learning are being applied to reduce downtime, optimize processes, and boost productivity in manufacturing environments.
The company also built out a Digital Technology Center in Bengaluru, India, aimed at supporting its global digital transformation efforts.
In an interview, EVP & Chief Digital Officer Akash Khurana discussed how that centre supports AI-powered data-centres and the broader digital supply-chain services business.
Plus, the enterprise has begun to integrate intelligence into its distribution operations via routing and telematics platforms.
One technology report noted that Wesco adopted cloud-based route-planning and telematics for its delivery network, which is part of how they plan to streamline operations and deliver at scale.
Together, these initiatives underline a strategy of embedding AI and digital capability across not just internal workflows but also manufacturing, logistics, and service-delivery operations.
Financial Transparency and Cultural Shift
Wesco’s filings show that digital-transformation costs are now listed explicitly as a line item.
In its first-quarter 2025 results, the company noted that SG&A expenses include US$7.3 million of digital-transformation and restructuring costs.
This transparency indicates the company is treating its AI and automation build-out as an investment line, akin to R&D or capital spend.
Meanwhile, its cultural change program is built around “citizen-ambassador” models: employees are encouraged to suggest what to automate rather than being assigned a rigid roadmap.
The company is aligning its human capital and its digital capital around common goals: efficiency, value creation, and scalability. With that alignment, AI becomes part of the operating model.
Taken together, these efforts mark the beginnings of a full transformation. Wesco is no longer experimenting with automation; it is operating as an AI-enabled distributor, linking finance, logistics, and infrastructure through a single digital foundation.
