Businesses are safer than ever in the hands of the young and will soon gain traction if they push forward their upcoming youngsters into work areas they have not before occupied.
The catalyst for this change of approach? Their naturalisation of technology - which makes them the natural choice for certain roles, believes Comms Vision panelist Andrew Lippman, Associate Director and co-founder, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"Hire the young in this time of transformation," he said. "We see companies bring in kids as interns and put them in front of customers in some circumstances. For the young, they don't talk 'technologies' - they were born with it."
A secondary obligation on the younger generation is to influence change within their organisation, believes Steve Best, Managing Director, Product, BT Wholesale. "We have a big focus on generational factors, and young people need to help us change as a company," he explained.
"Furthermore, the way customers communicate is changing and this has a lot to do with the younger generation. Customers want a far more integrated comms environment, including social media for example."
The advance of digital technology is not only creating new opportunities for the youthful, it is also sparking additional markets and new revenue streams - and the channel sits in the middle.
So how can the channel continue to harness technological innovations and turn them into digital value propositions?
It's a matter of understanding the influence that resellers are able to leverage, says Elsa Chen, CEO, Entanet.
"The channel has the power to transform the British infrastructure that will support the digital revolution," she stated, also noting that the company's full fibre roll-out could potentially be led in part by partners.
The channel should also elevate customer engagement to a new level, believes Mark Lewis, EVP of Products & Development, Interoute.
"The engagement is no longer transactional," he stated. "The challenge is that to become a trusted advisor involves a long process of partnering with the customer."