Erica Smith becomes Logicalis Australia's new head of marketing

Erica Smith has joined Logicalis Australia as the company’s new head of marketing.

She previously served at Blue Connections IT as the chief marketing and alliance officer for close to a decade, having also held roles at Dell, Frontline Systems Australia, Commander and Ingram Micro.

Smith told techpartner.news that the move came about as a surprise, as she was on a career break and "evaluating what comes next".

"I met with Lisa Fortey [GM of Australia for Logicalis] for a catch up and the opportunity kind of organically grew from there," she explained.

"It was difficult to say no because Logicalis stands for everything I do, both professionally and personally, and the opportunity to work with a company that I am so aligned to, and people that are as passionate about the channel as I am, was too good to pass up."

Smith said her new role will cover strengthening the company and its partners’ value proposition in the market; building integrated campaigns that support shared priorities in hybrid cloud, security, AI, networking, and digital workplace; and deepening alliance engagement and go to market planning with partners.

Reflecting on her tenure at Blue Connections, Smith revealed that she is most proud of embedding environmental, social, and governance principles into the company.

"I was directly involved in securing carbon-neutral certification for three consecutive financial years, with assessment conducted by Pangolin Associates and verified against the Climate Active Carbon Neutral Standard," she said.

"I believe that sustainability messaging is more than a compliance requirement; it can be a differentiator that resonates with customers and vendors alike while reinforcing a company’s brand."

Challenges and opportunities in 2026

Looking at the year ahead, Smith told techpartner.news that navigating AI maturity, integration, and client expectations will be one key challenge for tech partners.

"AI adoption is accelerating, but uneven; by 2026, partners will face pressure not just to offer AI, but to deliver measurable business outcomes with it," she said.

"Cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated, and regulatory environments more complex, so vendors and partners need to be prepared to help customers meet those requirements.

"The tech labour market is tight, but the bigger issue is skills mismatch, not headcount, [so] partners will need to be able to retain their staff and customers will be looking to partners to plug their gaps."

Among the opportunities for 2026, however, Smith said that becoming a trusted AI transformation partner is one partners can take advantage of.

"AI isn’t just a product category; it’s becoming the foundation of digital operations," she stated.

"Tech partners that position themselves as AI transformation leaders can capture significant new revenue streams.

"With cyber threats escalating and regulations tightening, security is shifting from necessary cost to strategic investment. This creates major opportunities for partners with security capability or alliances.

"Digital transformation is evolving from generic cloud migration to deep modernisation tied to sector-specific needs. Partners that specialise can command premium pricing and reduce competition."