What does B2B digital transformation look like when your end user is an HVAC contractor standing on a rooftop in 95-degree heat? In this episode of The Watson Weekly, we sit down with Lindsay Althouse(Johnstone Supply), Bryan House (Elastic Path), and Lee Trotter (Data Realm) for a candid panel discussion on modernizing legacy B2B businesses without breaking what already works.

Johnstone Supply—a $4 billion HVAC distributor with 450 stores—offers a fascinating case study in real-world transformation. After shifting from a co-op model to an LLC, the company faced a daunting challenge: building a unified digital experience on top of 72 store groups, each running its own ERP system. Lindsay walks us through how a headless commerce architecture made a modern mobile app possible, why deep customer discovery (including interviews with contractors in the field) shaped every design decision, and how a phased alpha-to-beta rollout helped them validate the product with real users.

The conversation also dives into Johnstone's AI assistant rollout, where the stakes go beyond bad recommendations—suggesting the wrong furnace part could cause physical harm. Lindsay explains why they chose a private LLM in a restricted environment, limited to verified product data, to keep trust and safety at the center.

This B2B webinar is sponsored by Avalara , Elastic Path , and Data Realm.

Beyond the case study, the panel unpacks the strategies that separate successful B2B modernization from expensive failures:

• Why customer-centric design beats feature checklists every time
• How commerce platforms can abstract legacy ERP complexity without a rip-and-replace
• Change management tactics for aligning sales teams with digital channels (hint: give reps credit for digital orders)
• Why every project decision should ladder up to a clearly defined goal

Whether you're leading a digital transformation, building B2B products, or just curious about how a 70-year-old distributor competes with Amazon-era expectations, this conversation is packed with practical insight.

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