We’re at a decisive moment in the managed services industry one that’s being defined by AI innovation, not just automation. From the conversations I’m having with MSPs globally, one thing is clear: the era of “we’ll patch, monitor, and report” is giving way to something far richer. If you’re still delivering the same set of services without evolving, you risk being leap-frogged.
What I’m Seeing in Market
- Client Expectations Are Changing Fast
Businesses know about AI, they’re hearing about generative models, agentic bots, productivity gains and risk-reduction. They expect their technology partner to not just maintain their environment but to help them innovate with it. According to ChannelPro, MSPs that don’t embed AI will be at a disadvantage. - Operational Pressure is Real
MSPs are trying to scale, maintain margin, service more clients, support more devices, more data, more complexity and they’re trying to do it with leaner teams. AI offers an opportunity to reduce manual workload, free up capacity, and shift from reactive to proactive. - The Rise of Agentic AI Forces a Strategic Shift
It’s not just automation of tickets or tasks anymore. Autonomous agents (agentic AI) are emerging digital workers that operate, triage, make decisions. A recent Smarter MSP analysis notes that “enterprise networks may host more than a dozen AI agents for every human end user.” For MSPs, this represents a fundamental shift. Future clients will look to you not just for IT management, but for expertise in coaching, governing, and overseeing fleets of AI agents. The time to lead this transformation is now.
Why This Service Direction Matters
This is not just about adding a new line item. It’s about reimagining your managed service model in three keyways:
- Internal Innovation: Use AI yourself in your service desk, your operations, your monitoring, your analytics. If you can’t walk the talk, you can’t credibly lead clients. Make your own practices smarter, faster, leaner
- Client-Facing Managed AI Services: Offer health checks, readiness assessments, AI agent management, LLM integration, productivity accelerators. Clients don’t know exactly how to start you step in as the advisor+operator
- Wrap & Upsell Opportunities: AI opens doors. You’ll extend beyond break/fix, uptime and patches into advisory services: “Which model fits your business? Should you build or buy? How do you govern data? How do you ensure compliance?” ChannelPro outlines high-value AI service offerings MSPs should adopt
Suggested Managed AI Service Offerings for MSPs
Here are some concrete services to build into your portfolio:
- AI Readiness Assessment & Governance: Evaluate data maturity, model risk, agent use, compliance
- AI Agent Deployment & Management: Bring in autonomous bots (ticket triage, dashboards, alerts) and manage them like you manage devices
- LLM Advisory & Implementation: Help clients select, configure and operationalize large language models (for customer service, knowledge management, help-desk augmentation)
- Operational Intelligence & Predictive Maintenance: Use AI to surface issues before they become incidents, and to optimise workloads, resource utilisation, cost
- AI-Enabled Security & Compliance Services: Agents + models identifying threats, automating policy response, strengthening identity and governance frameworks
The Opportunity for MSPs Right Now
- Differentiation: Many MSPs still look and sound the same. Add AI managed services and you shift from “just IT” to “strategic intelligence partner”
- Revenue Expansion: These services can be high-value, higher margin, and create stickiness. Clients will pay for performance, outcomes, not just uptime
- Client Trust & Retention: If you help a client navigate AI wisely, you become indispensable. You’re no longer the back-office supplier, but the strategic enabler
Final Word
I believe the next wave for MSPs is AI-wrapped managed services not just tools, but frameworks, outcomes, intelligence. Agents will proliferate. Models will proliferate. The question is will you lead or follow?
If your service catalogue still centres on traditional IT operations, I’d suggest now is the time to refresh. Start imagining how you deliver and manage AI for your clients, how you govern it, how you monetise it.
Because the companies that view you as “the AI enabler” will win. Those that don’t will struggle to keep pace.
If you see the opportunity but need the right partner to bring it to life, Insentra is here to help.
Together, we’ll evolve your service model, embed AI where it matters most, and help you stand out as a true intelligence partner. Contact us and let’s make you the AI enabler your clients can’t do without.
