Overview

Team Air Distributing is a leading HVAC wholesale distributor headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1980, the company serves contractors across the southeastern United States through a rapidly expanding network of 18 branches. Under the leadership of CTO Alisha Thompson, Team Air has embraced innovation as a strategic differentiator, leveraging AI to create a workplace where employees can thrive while supporting rapid business growth.

Supernova Award Category

Future of Work: Employee Experience

The Problem

As Team Air expanded from 5 branches to 18 locations in less than three years, Alisha Thompson recognized that traditional business processes would not scale with the company's growth ambitions. Employees spent valuable time searching for information such as locating inventory, performing manual, repetitive work such as answering credit inquiries, and learning complex business processes. At the same time, the company faced the challenge of onboarding new employees quickly while preserving institutional knowledge and maintaining consistent employee experience across all locations.

The Solution

Rather than viewing AI as a standalone technology project, Thompson and Director of Technology Innovation Aaron Cogley, developed a vision for building an "agentic enterprise" where AI works alongside employees as a trusted digital teammate. Team Air deployed AI agents integrated with Infor CloudSuite Distribution ERP to augment employees across accounts receivable, inventory management, onboarding, and knowledge sharing. The initiative focused on eliminating low-value administrative work, providing instant access to trusted information, and enabling employees to spend more time building customer relationships and delivering business value.

The results

The initiative transformed employee experience across Team Air. Employees who previously spent significant time navigating ERP screens and consulting colleagues can now receive answers in seconds through AI agents trained on Team Air's data, business rules, and operating procedures. Within weeks of deployment, employees adopted AI agents as a trusted first line of support for ERP and operational questions, accelerating broader adoption and laying the foundation for Team Air's agentic enterprise strategy. The impact extends beyond productivity gains. Team Air has created a scalable knowledge-sharing environment where new employees can access expertise instantly, experienced employees can focus on higher-value activities, and institutional knowledge is preserved as the company grows. Most importantly, AI has become a trusted digital teammate that augments employee expertise rather than replacing it, enabling Team Air to scale its workforce, customer service capabilities, and operational excellence simultaneously.

Metrics

Empowering Employees Through AI Credit Agent • 50+ employee inquiries supported daily • Responses delivered in less than 60 seconds versus 15–20 minutes previously • 80–95% reduction in resolution times • 2,000+ employee hours saved annually Inventory Agent • 80–90% reduction in inventory sourcing search time • Inventory visibility across 18 branches delivered in seconds • Reduced manual coordination between locations Private Knowledge Hub • Faster onboarding and knowledge transfer • Standardized processes across a growing branch network • Continuous improvement in agent intelligence through company-specific knowledge and procedures In Development: Invoice Processing Automation The AP capacity freed will be redirected toward higher-value work, consistent with Team Air's broader philosophy of using technology to protect and deepen human relationships, not replace them. Expected results: • 60–70% invoice automation in phase 1 of implementation • 95% invoice automation in phase 2 of implementation • $155,000 annual capacity saving once phase 2 is completed

The Technology

Team Air implemented Infor Velocity Suite, an all-inclusive AI package built for industry specific Infor CloudSuite. It offers pre-built tools and solutions combining AI agents, generative AI, AI/ML, process mining, document processor, and robotic process automation (RPA). The package also includes Infor Forward Deployed Engineers who implement, co-develop, and stay accountable to outcomes — not just deployment milestones.

Disruptive Factor

While many organizations are experimenting with AI, Team Air has embedded AI directly into employee experience and daily workflow. Under Thompson's leadership, the company embraced the latest technology advancements with Infor to create one of the industry's earliest examples of an agentic enterprise in distribution. AI agents now understand Team Air's customers, inventory network, business rules, and operating procedures, providing employees with instant access to expertise regardless of tenure or location. This approach transforms AI from a productivity tool into a workforce-enablement platform that scales knowledge, accelerates onboarding, and empowers employees to perform at their highest potential.

Shining Moment

What makes this initiative special is that it demonstrates how AI can strengthen people rather than replace them. As Team Air rapidly expanded, Thompson recognized that the company's greatest asset was its collective knowledge and employee expertise. By transforming that knowledge into a digital teammate available to every employee, Team Air is creating a workplace where new hires gain confidence faster, experienced employees focus on meaningful work, and every team member has access to the expertise needed to succeed. The result is a scalable model for the future of work- one where human talent and AI work together to drive growth, innovation, and exceptional customer service.