Artificial Intelligence Integration: Top American MSPs View AI as Essential Service Rather Than a Future Extra
In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are transforming their services, integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) as the core infrastructure. This shift is aimed at delivering faster, more secure, and error-free services.
AI is being used to automate security policy enforcement at machine speed, reducing risk and human error. MSPs are leveraging AI to proactively detect threats using behavioral analytics and anomaly detection, identifying risks before they escalate. This proactive approach is essential in today's threat-filled digital environment.
MSPs are also delivering 24/7 support through intelligent, context-aware chatbots that provide real-time assistance. These chatbots are not only improving customer service but also ensuring round-the-clock support, a crucial aspect in today's always-on world.
Identity orchestration for onboarding and offboarding is being streamlined through AI, saving time and enhancing security. This streamlined process is essential for businesses that need to quickly adapt to changing workforce dynamics.
The adoption of AI by MSPs is on the rise. According to recent reports, more than 64% of MSPs are currently using AI in internal processes and service delivery. Enterprise AI spending is projected to reach $309 billion by 2032, indicating a promising future for AI-enabled services.
MSPs must deliver AI-enabled services that are measurable, outcomes-based, and simple for customers to consume. The new business model for MSPs values outcomes over effort and intelligence over hours billed. Customers expect real-time resolutions, instant onboarding, and proactive compliance monitoring.
More than 40% of MSPs consider AI services to be a primary business differentiator. The winners in this new era won't be those who talk about AI as the future, they'll be the ones quietly building it into the fabric of everything they offer.
Detailed AI observability and explainability are becoming essential for customers. The real value in enterprise AI lies in owning the infrastructure hardware, software, identity, data, and access on which AI runs. AI is becoming the foundation of all services for MSPs, and those who treat it as infrastructure will define the future of managed services.
The integration process for MSPs involves envisioning and aligning AI initiatives with clients, establishing strong data foundations, building and experimenting with AI workflows, and ongoing optimization and KPI-based growth to measure ROI.
However, the integration of AI also presents challenges. Handling the complexity of AI workloads that span multiple cloud environments, navigating rising regulatory pressures, providing data governance and security consistently across distributed infrastructures, and overcoming the need for new AI-native tools compatible with existing management stacks without disrupting current workflows are just a few of these challenges.
To overcome these challenges, MSPs must build scalable, secure, and observable management layers that offer visibility across customer environments. They must forge partnerships with AI-native infrastructure providers to scale effectively and securely. Internal teams must be trained in emerging skills like prompt engineering, model oversight, and full-lifecycle AI governance.
In summary, MSPs must strategically evolve beyond traditional roles, becoming trusted partners in AI infrastructure design, secure deployment, compliance management, and intelligent automation to unlock AI's full potential for their clients while addressing regulatory and operational complexities. We may look back on 2025 as the year AI became a baseline expectation in managed services.
[1] MSP AI Strategy: Embracing AI as Core Infrastructure [2] The Forrester Wave™: Managed Security Services Providers, Q3 2021 [3] The Forrester Wave™: Hybrid Multi-cloud Management Providers, Q2 2021 [4] The Forrester Wave™: AI Operations, Q2 2021
[1] With the integration of AI as the core infrastructure, MSPs are redefining their strategies in business, finance, and technology, aiming to deliver faster, secure, and error-free services in the digital landscape.
[2] The burgeoning use of AI in the industry is not just transforming the services offered by MSPs, but also reshaping the very foundation of their business models, moving from an emphasis on hours billed to outcomes-based services.
[3] Furthermore, the increasing adoption of AI is making it a standard expectation in managed services, much like electricity in the 20th century. By 2025, we may reflect on this period as the commencement of AI as a baseline expectation in managed services.
