This story is still in its early chapters. The capability to source, fund, and deliver new digital products is crucial to strengthen that backbone. Today, the focus is on artificial intelligence. Tomorrow, it will be robotics, brain computers, and quantum technologies. To maintain this growth and modernisation, traditional systems must evolve as well, creating a significant watershed in how financial services support technology distribution challenges.

"Legacy systems often lack the flexibility, speed, and integration required for today’s fast-paced, global IT distribution chains," says Kristina Promet, AVP of innovative solutions at the WeFi Technology Group. "Traditional providers tend to focus on standardised products and rigid processes, which don’t always address the unique challenges faced by technology resellers, vendors, and financiers operating across diverse markets. Channel partners in emerging markets, in particular, have been left behind due to limited access to credit, outdated risk management, and a lack of localised solutions."

Much of Promet's career has focused on creating better financing solutions in such difficult circumstances. Qualified in law and finance, she has worked with several prominent financial institutions, including Leonteq and LGT Capital Partners, before joining WeFi, where she collaborates with teams, partners, and clients across the globe.

It's becoming trickier to unlock investment opportunities for financiers and cater funding solutions to vendors, distributors, and resellers. Diversification, visibility into transactions, and reducing costs despite uncertainty are some of the obvious problems to overcome.

The strategic use of technology, honed by human expertise, is the clear way to address such concerns and create suitable solutions across granular and variable supply chains: "It is important to strike a balance between tailor-made solutions and automation. Thanks to our people, we do it well. You can't shy away from complex and new transactions. As soon as one has been created, you must think about how to service it in a smart and scalable way."

This change requires platform-driven foundations that enable their people to strike a balance between tailor-made solutions and automation. The required innovation involves experimenting with a combination of established finance technologies and new (even radical) concepts, such as decentralised finance.

"I go back to being agile and prone to experiment. It is about finding a suitable test market to check if the solution works and, when an initial pilot proves to be successful, increasing the investment and rolling the solution out in a major way. To avoid cash-bleeding projects, we evaluate the maturity, security, and regulatory landscape of new technologies before widespread adoption. We prioritise technologies that address real customer pain points and deliver tangible business value and revenue, rather than 'fancy-sounding features'."

The challenges to secure financing among technology supply chain stakeholders are indicative of wider supply chain growing pains. This is where Promet sees the biggest gains, specifically because those solutions reconfigure the best of channel finance with new capabilities.

"We're structuring different programmes, and we see a clear demand, especially in emerging markets. Agile, technology-driven platforms can address these gaps. We evolve our platform based on insights from both clients and internal experts, allowing for rapid adaptation to market changes. The core goal is to truly listen to our clients, understand their needs, and craft financing solutions that fit them best. We must demystify less familiar, more exotic markets, helping our clients unlock and navigate new opportunities with confidence."