Artificial intelligence (AI) has quickly moved from buzzword to boardroom agenda. However, for IT service providers (ITSPs), the conversation around AI is often more complicated than the hype suggests.
The reason is that AI exposes a tension that sits at the heart of modern IT services: How do we embrace innovation without losing control or authenticity? That question shaped a lively discussion among industry leaders at a panel on AI at ChannelCon EMEA in London.
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GTIA research shows that the number one way in which ITSPs are using generative AI today is as a sales and marketing tool. They are using AI-powered tools to draft proposals, write copy or prepare presentations. Nevertheless, the panel agreed that automation doesn’t replace insight.
“When I was doing a presentation, it would have taken me maybe three hours. But using AI, I can get it together really quite fast with my thoughts. Then I’ll spend an hour or so going through it myself and putting my skin on it,” explained Patrick Burgess, technical director at MSP Nutbourne Ltd.
But the real value lies in simplifying admin, not eliminating the human touch, he said. “It’s hilarious when you look at what it creates—it’s not going to be perfect. It takes away some of the admin, but it still needs the human.”
There is also a legal dimension to consider, warned Kim Simmonds, lawyer and CEO at Cloud Contracts 365. “You have to be careful from the intellectual property point of view. What are you putting into these AI tools? Who’s owning that IP? Where is that going and to whom is it going afterwards?”
If an MSP’s marketing team feeds proprietary materials or client data into a third-party AI platform, she said, it could inadvertently devalue the business. “If it’s your IP, you’re a bit more in control. But if you can’t safeguard that IP, look at the valuation of your business—because ultimately, you can’t sell what you don’t own.” Simmonds advice? Use AI to speed up your output, but know exactly what you’re feeding in, and who can claim rights over the result.
Similarly, as enthusiasm for AI spreads, so do compliance risks. “Understand the tools you’re using. Look at the terms and conditions. Look at where data’s stored, where your intellectual property rights start and stop,” said Simmonds. “We’ve got things like the EU AI Act, which is far more prescriptive. The UK is looking at a hybrid between US and EU. Get ready to understand what’s going on with this data, and make sure you are transparent with your customers.”
Automation: The Hands of AI
Elsewhere, Jamie Claret, MSP founder and automation specialist at Autonomate, took the conversation deeper into operations, pointing out the distinction between AI and automation. “AI is like a brain in a jar. It’s great—you can talk to it—but it’s not actually doing anything,” he said. “When you start to automate and augment an entire team or a process, that becomes far more powerful.”
Providing an example from his own MSP, Claret explained: “I wanted to email all my contacts I’d ever interacted with. So, I automated a tool that hived off all the email addresses for people I’d had meetings with or emails over the last five years. That you should automate. The email to those people was from me to them—and I got a fantastic success rate.”
His point? Don’t let AI replace the human connection. Let it handle the grunt work so you can focus on the relationships. To that end, Claret pressed home the importance of human connections within marketing. From synthetic marketing videos to AI-generated LinkedIn spam, automation without empathy is eroding trust.
“We’re going to go way off into slop—lots and lots of slop—and then hopefully it will come back again into a happy medium.” That middle ground, he said, is where ITSPs must operate: Human-led, tech-enabled.
The ROI Question: Process Before Platform
The question of return on investment (ROI) was also raised. AI promises efficiency, but results depend on where and how it’s applied. For Claret, the lack of ROI often stems from chasing the wrong opportunities.
“The biggest reason people aren’t seeing ROI on AI and automation is because they’re trying to use it for the wrong things.” Instead, he advised: “Start with stuff that’s highly repetitive and not complicated. Start with little, tiny projects. Build the trust of your team and the business and grow from there.”
In a fitting analogy for the British audience, Claret compared the challenges around AI to “the cup of tea problem.” “If you ask someone how to make a cup of tea, everyone knows. But if I said, ‘What happens if the tea bag breaks? Or the kettle stops working?’ We as humans know the contingencies—AI doesn’t.”
It’s therefore important that before you implement automation, you should document your processes. “If there’s no process, you can’t automate it,” said Burgess. “You try and plug AI in to solve something that doesn’t have a process, and it just fails.”
Key Takeaways
Each speaker left the audience with a closing piece of advice.
“We work in tech, and as MSPs we like to assume everybody in the business knows what to do. They don’t. Be curious as leaders and help your staff understand how AI should be used,” said Burgess.
Simmonds advice? “Don’t hide your head in the sand anymore. We can’t get away with bad contract terms or outdated privacy policies. Take action now.”
Claret, meanwhile, told the audience: “Before using any AI or automation tool, ask yourself—do you know how you make your cup of tea? Understand your processes first, before spending thousands on licences.”
Moderator Andrew Allen, chairman at MSP, Aabyss, closed with a challenge for the ITSPs in the room: “Success is rewarded by action, not good intentions. So, if there’s something you heard today, do something with it—otherwise you won’t get your return, much like AI itself.”
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