Ed Fenton, Graybar’s AI lead, on how distributors can get started with AI, and why your data doesn’t need to be perfect for you to get started

Ed Fenton started his career as a material handler, driving a forklift in a distribution warehouse. When an ERP project came through, he watched processes that looked great in PowerPoint run into the reality of getting a truck out the door at 4:30 on a Friday. That experience pulled him into technology. Today he is Vice President of AI and Digital Transformation at Graybar, and he still makes every decision with that frontline worker in mind.

In this episode of Distributors Deliver, recorded at NAW’s 2026 Innovators Summit in Nashville, NAW CEO Eric Hoplin talks with Ed about how distributors can move AI out of endless pilots and into everyday use. Fenton explains why companies should stop waiting for perfect data, why speed is a competitive advantage, and how to tell a real AI solution from an older product with a chatbot bolted on. He also shares what it’s like working with Graybar CEO and NAW Board Chair Kathy Mazzarella, and his goal of saving everyone in Graybar’s sales, customer service and administrative roles one day a week.

Ed also talks about “Claw Coliseum,” an experiment from his YouTube channel, The Final 10%, where AI agents competed at classic Atari games and found creative ways to game the scoring.

🎧 Also available to stream on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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If you are an NAW member, distribution leader, or part of an organization supporting wholesale distribution and you would like to be considered as a future guest, contact [email protected].