AI has become one of the fastest and most disruptive shifts the IT channel has ever faced—outpacing previous evolutions in speed, visibility and cross‑functional impact. That urgency set the stage for a candid discussion led by GTIA CEO Dan Wensley, who brought together Andy Larin of allCare IT, Renee McCloden of Pax8, and John Harden, chair of the GTIA SaaS Ecosystem Advisory Council at the GTIA North America Community & Councils Forum, to unpack what this moment truly demands of MSPs and ITSPs.
From the outset, the panel aligned on one core truth: While the industry has weathered major transformations before, none have moved quite like this. “AI is moving faster than any other evolution we’ve been through,” Wensley noted. “It’s all about shared learning.”
MSP to MIP: Evolution or Just a New Label?
One of the first questions on the table was whether the shift from MSP to MIP (managed intelligence provider) reflects a true evolution or simply a new name for familiar work. Harden framed it pragmatically: The term “MIP,” he said, isn’t about redefining what MSPs are—it’s about acknowledging the new skills and delivery expectations emerging around AI,” he said. “I look at a MIP as a line of business rather than a transformation.”
McCloden added that becoming AI‑native has far less to do with branding and far more to do with organizational readiness. That readiness, she said, comes down to three foundations:
- Mindset
- Operational maturity
- Tooling
“Ask your employees if they’re ready,” she urged. “The mindset shift is that yes, AI might take our job—but it doesn’t have to take our paycheck.”
And Larin pointed back to the last major shift: The rush to cloud. “Cloud wasn’t set up properly to begin with,” he said. “The same sort of thing is going to happen with AI—we’re rushing in.”
Culture Before Technology
When the conversation turned to where ITSPs should focus their AI efforts first—culture, users or tools—the panel aligned quickly: Start internally. “It has to be the organization,” Harden said. He emphasized that leadership plays a critical role in removing fear and reinforcing clarity. “If our leadership hadn’t stood up and broken down the fears people had in their minds, it wouldn’t have mattered what tech or process we put in place,” he said.
Larin highlighted the opportunity AI creates to elevate talent. By offloading routine tasks—password resets, basic triage—employees can focus on higher‑value work and rediscover what they enjoy.
Clients Are Moving Faster Than Expected
As AI enthusiasm rises across the SMB market, ITSPs are feeling pressure to keep pace. McCloden said the only credible way to guide customers is to experiment internally first. “You have to go through your own false starts and your own wins before you can have that conversation with your clients,” she said.
Larin described clients as split between two extremes: Those forbidding AI entirely, and those avoiding it altogether. “Both are mistakes,” he said. “We want to find the happy medium. Yes, you’re going to use AI—but you’re going to use it responsibly.”
Trust, Experimentation and the Reality of AI Adoption
Unlike previous technology cycles, AI is arriving with a heavy dose of experimentation and uncertainty. That raises new questions about trust—both within MSP organizations and with clients.
Harden encouraged shifting the narrative away from “AI readiness” and toward AI value. “Customers don’t need us to help them get ready—they want to be enabled and get value,” he said. While many AI offerings will fail, he believes the long-term winners will come from the productivity suite ecosystem, where real, durable workflows emerge. For Larin, readiness comes back to governance: Using AI deliberately, with clear rules and responsible frameworks.
How Far Along Is the Channel?
When asked to rate the industry’s AI readiness, responses varied:
- McCloden scored MSPs around a 4 out of 10, noting that progress is uneven but earnest. “MSPs are trying—and that’s the most important thing,” she said, adding that vendors share the same growing pains.
- Larin put readiness closer to a 2 or 3, arguing that the industry hasn’t yet begun to tap AI’s full potential.
- Harden took a more strategic view, suggesting the channel is “almost at the hopping of the chasm”—that pivotal moment in the adoption lifecycle where early wins must translate into broader momentum.
Vendors, MSPs and a Shared Set of Challenges
One theme echoed across the session: For the first time in years, vendors and ITSPs are learning in parallel. McCloden said she’s seen a marked increase in operational focus, driven by both opportunity and strain. “Sales and marketing are ready, engineers are working longer hours than ever and the best vendor leaders are taking lessons from enterprise, then tailoring them to MSP and SMB.”
But speed introduces risks. Larin cautioned that competition is driving vendors to move too quickly. “We need a little bit of a slowdown to really test,” he said. Wensley countered that AI’s trajectory may not allow for it. And Harden added that the vendors making meaningful progress are those solving for pain—not novelty.
AI’s Real Promise: People, Value and Measured Risk
As the discussion moved toward outcomes, the panel returned to a familiar grounding: AI must ultimately strengthen teams, improve operations and reduce exposure. McCloden underscored the link between AI adoption and employee experience: Better retention, better training and better utilization. “AI will help us eventually make more money,” she said, “but we can’t do it at the risk of exposure.” Harden framed the path forward as a strategic choice: Be bold and risk moving too fast or be cautious and risk moving too slow.
Progress, Not Perfection
Across every perspective, one thread remained unmistakable: This evolution will happen the way every major shift in the channel has—through shared learning, steady progress and a commitment to moving together. No hype. No finish line. Just the collective work of an industry shaping its AI future the same way it has shaped every other transformation: Together.
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