Much of the AI conversation in the IT channel has centered on making technicians more productive. But a growing number of vendors are urging MSPs to use AI and automation to improve the business behind managed services.
For many MSPs, that starts by eliminating the operational work that keeps them from focusing on customers and long-term growth. Many providers remain trapped in day-to-day operations instead of building the next stage of their businesses, said Juan Fernandez, owner of MSP as a Service (MSP-aaS) powered by NocDoc.
“A lot of MSPs have been struggling to try to get to this moment. The noise has been drowning them for a long time. They need to get out of the noise of their business to get into this next level of AI, business consulting and strategic initiatives.”
Put AI to work where it matters most
Here are five practical ways AI and automation can help MSPs work more efficiently.
1. Automate repetitive work before tackling bigger AI projects
Hexi Xiao (left)
Bumblebee encourages MSPs to begin their AI journey with simple, repetitive processes before moving on to more complex initiatives. The company’s platform analyzes existing workflows to identify automation opportunities and estimate their potential return.
Look for opportunities to:
- Identify repetitive tasks hidden in ticket histories.
- Prioritize projects with measurable ROI.
- Build workflows incrementally.
- Gain experience before expanding into larger AI initiatives.
Bumblebee Founder and CEO Hexi Xiao said many MSPs already have good candidates for automation. They simply haven’t identified them yet.
“Look at the repetitive tasks, like email templates or templates in general that have been created. These are all prime candidates for automation,” Xiao said. “AI is as good as you prompt it, so look for the opportunities that are repetitive, the low-hanging fruits, and start putting together processes and automation around it. That’s where you start seeing real ROI that gives you time back to learn more about how to use AI more.”
2. Strengthen financial operations behind the scenes
Baxter Lanius (right)
Service delivery may be an MSP’s primary focus, but many financial operations remain manual. Alternative Payments and FlexPoint believe AI can simplify everything from invoice processing to collections while helping providers improve profitability.
Potential opportunities include:
- Automating accounts receivable.
- Streamlining accounts payable.
- Identifying revenue leakage.
- Reducing time spent on collections and payment follow-up.
Combining accounts receivable and accounts payable data helps MSPs uncover revenue that might otherwise go unnoticed, noted Baxter Lanius, CEO and founder of Alternative Payments.
“You can identify discrepancies between what you’re paying your vendors versus what you’re receiving. This billed and unbilled dynamic with the MSP business and the leakage of revenue from it is a really big pain point that’s difficult for MSPs to track today.”
AI agents can also remove some of the most time-consuming collection activities, according to Victor Lopez, founder and CEO of FlexPoint.
Victor Lopez
“One of the things that’s probably most exciting is it’s able to handle like the common objections. You pick up the phone and call your client. They ask, ‘What invoice is this for?’ and, ‘What was that about?’ These are things that really no human should be wasting their time with.”
3. Remove operational noise to focus on customers
Many MSPs want to expand into advisory services, governance and AI consulting. But they struggle to find the time.
MSP-aaS aims to reduce that burden by taking over routine operational work. That can help MSPs:
- Offload NOC, SOC and service desk responsibilities.
- Spend more time with customers.
- Focus on governance and strategic planning.
- Build new AI-powered services.
Juan Fernandez
Fernandez said removing operational responsibilities gives providers room to grow. “Go get a customer, bring in the money, pay us second and go do your thing. Now you can start thinking about being Customer Zero, building business operations as a service for your customer. You can’t do that if you’re manning the shop.”
4. Reduce alert fatigue with better security context
Security teams don’t necessarily need more alerts; they need more meaningful ones. inforcer is using AI to correlate activity across Microsoft 365, so MSPs can better distinguish genuine threats from routine behavior.
Will Connor
The goal is to:
- Correlate events across Microsoft 365.
- Reduce unnecessary alerts.
- Automate remediation where appropriate.
- Provide clearer customer reporting.
When used correctly, AI should help eliminate noise, not add to it, said Will Connor, inforcer chief community officer and co-founder.
“We’re using AI in the tool to denoise the alerting … to essentially use AI to be smart about what we think is actually a threat versus what is just noise. When you have tools that create a lot of noise for MSPs, noise just gets ignored.”
5. Personalize security awareness training
Many organizations still rely on one-size-fits-all security awareness programs, but usecure takes a different approach. AI can tailor training based on each employee’s behavior and risk profile, making those programs more relevant and effective.
usecure takes a unique approach to security awareness programs.
That includes:
- Identifying individual knowledge gaps.
- Prioritizing training by user risk.
- Incorporating identity signals from Microsoft Entra ID.
- Measuring behavior alongside training completion.
Nihil Morjaria, chief revenue officer of usecure, said personalization makes security awareness more meaningful.
“We understand that each person is an individual human being and has their own strengths and blind spots. So we use a gap analysis to understand each person on day one. Then, that will then feed into the training program.”
The common thread: Better businesses, not just better tech
While each vendor approaches the challenge differently, they share a common message: AI’s greatest opportunity may not be helping technicians resolve tickets faster. Instead, it may be helping MSPs run stronger businesses, reduce operational friction and devote more time to delivering strategic value for their customers.
Anjali Fluker is managing editor of The ChannelPro Network, where she covers news, trends and best practices for the MSP community. She specializes in telling the stories that matter to IT providers serving the SMB market. When she’s not reporting on the latest in managed services, she’s connecting with channel pros at industry events across the country.
Images: ChatGPT (OpenAI), Anjali Fluker/ChannelPro
