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 Channel Outlook: Driving Growth Through AI, Connectivity with 5G and RFID, and Robotics
As we look ahead, the channel is entering a transformative era—one where technology convergence and workforce readiness will define success. At BlueStar, we’ve had a front-row seat to these changes, and our insights come directly from what we’ve seen in our business over the past 18–24 months.

Robotics: Moving up to the Top of the Technology Hype Curve
CO-BOTS are the best investment at these time & over next few years because CO-BOTs will work alongside of the human work force and increase efficiency and reduce labor cost across all businesses, and verticals.

This graph from the National Heath Profile of 2022 depicts the global and country population by age and male vs female.

The main reason for the surge in robotics is global depopulation. The work force is shrinking, and the human longevity is increasing around the world. Replacement fertility rate needs to be at 2.1 children per woman to sustain a workforce that can serve the entire population of a country.

Countries with a stronger economy will see the introduction of CO-BOTs prior to low-income countries that have a larger population base to support a work force.

The smaller workforce is developed countries is putting stress on healthcare, warehousing, and hospitality and retail business as they compete for workers to fill repetitive work positions. There are strong ROIs for many businesses across many verticals for CO-BOTs.

This includes great margin stacks for tech companies that deliver and support robotics solutions. Robotic solutions are typically a platform sale which includes hardware, software, warranties and services.

In tech, follow the money for trends. Watch the investments of the tech OEMs into robotics. Examples are LG purchased 51% controlling stock into Bear robotics and Epson is heavily involved in robotics and in acquisition mode. Intel has introduced their Robotic AI Suite in Q4 2025.

Networking and Connectivity: The Frontier Fueled by RFID and 5G
Almost every edge solution requires connectivity and networking. Connectivity is no longer a supporting player; it’s the backbone of every AIDC and RFID deployment. Our networking and connectivity practice has grown tremendously in 2025 because end-users demand seamless integration between devices, cloud platforms, and analytics engines. VARs who embrace networking as part of their portfolio can position themselves as strategic partners, not just hardware providers. Think edge computing, secure wireless infrastructure, and IoT-ready networks—these are the building blocks for smart factories, omnichannel retail, and connected healthcare. The opportunity is clear: those who invest in connectivity expertise will lead the charge in delivering holistic solutions.

Think of physical AL, the physical sensors like RFID, BLE, and LORAN sensors that gather the data so AI can be monetized. All require 100% connectivity, 100% of the time, and failover with dual sim cards is a must, and more solutions are including satellite connectivity such as StarLink solutions.

RFID plus Sensors will dominate. Expect explosive growth in sensor-enabled RFID applications across supply chain and healthcare. Our RFID business has experienced significant growth over the last two years, and the trajectory shows no signs of slowing. What began as a steady adoption curve in retail and logistics has accelerated into manufacturing, healthcare, and even emerging sectors like smart agriculture.

The real game-changer, Sensors…RFID combined with sensor technology is unlocking new possibilities for real-time environmental monitoring, cold chain compliance, and predictive maintenance. For VARs, this means moving beyond traditional asset tracking into solutions that deliver actionable intelligence—creating opportunities for recurring revenue and deeper customer engagement.

AI: At the top of the Technology Hype Curve

We believe that there is too much AI hype in the world. The term AI is being misused by many tech companies. When they state their product uses AI it is merely enhanced report writing and dashboards.

Strong AI is what happened, why did it happen, what will happen- how do we make it happen. AI solutions that support this concept, will the solutions that capture market share in the long run.

The real question is how you monetize AI, and many tech companies have no idea…a little bit like RFID from 2015 to present… “Is this the year of RFID”? Well, “Is this the year of AI”?

The best monetizing of AI is in the form of intrinsic value. Here is an example of intrinsic value of AI & Robotics in a retirement community. Robotic with AI are used to deliver food in the dining rooms and in retirement community, helps keep workers on the dining area and residence rooms, or delivery of packages from the front desk to residence rooms. One of the goals in a retirement community is to increase the patient overall experience, and have the staff engaged with the residents. If you can have waitstaff in the dining room rather than running back and forth to the kitchen a facility can increase the patient’s overall experience. Very similar to the old “Hi Norm” experience “where everyone knows your name”. At the end of the day, how much does it cost a retirement community to fill a resident’s spot which was vacated because of poor resident’s experience, which in some cases is more than cost of one CO-BOT for one year.

We are seeing more AI solutions for businesses to cut expenses with automating processes internally rather than AI solutions to drive revenue outside the four walls of the business.

We see good monetization models for AI in the following models:
1. SaaS Subscription Models – Provide access to AI capabilities via a subscription, often tiered on usage, number of agents, number of models, value delivered.
2. Usage based / consumption – based pricing – charged based on volume of data processed, number of inferences, actions taken by AI system. This allows lower entry cost, scales as value grows.
3.Outcome based / performance linked pricing – align pricing with business outcomes (Cost savings achieved, productivity improvement) This encourages trust with clients and reduces risk of “just analytics”.
4.Platform = Ecosystem Play – Provide core AI capability (model= data platform) and then monetize via an ecosystem of applications or partners. Similar of Platform as a business model.
5.Vertical Solution Bundling – Combine AI= domain expertise+integration+services into packaged “vertical Solutions”. (Ex. AI for retail demand forecasting, AI for equipment maintenance).