The MSP service desk is on the edge of a major shift. AI and automation are transferring routine work from humans to automated systems. That means the role technicians play is also evolving. They are finally able to spend more time solving complex problems instead of completing repetitive tasks.
Since taking the helm at Pia earlier this year, David Schwartz has focused on a single mission: help MSPs harness automation and AI in practical, meaningful ways. In the months since becoming CEO, he has doubled down on partner conversations, roadmap alignment, and the human side of AI adoption to ensure technicians, owners, and service teams understand what Pia automation can do and how to embrace it.
Automation, agentic AI, orchestration, and data-driven insights will define the next era of service delivery, he said. By focusing on both the technology and the human experience, Pia aims to help MSPs reduce noise, reclaim technician time, and build new revenue opportunities from a more automated future.
In fact, the company recently introduced Automation Hub, which gives MSPs, vendors, and technology partners a shared marketplace of pre-built, field-tested automations they can adopt with minimal friction.
“This is a once in a lifetime moment in time, maybe once in multiple lifetimes,” Schwartz said. “Being on the side of building something that welcomes that into the world is really exciting. We’re not here to replace jobs. We’re here to get rid of the noise from the repetitive, to augment day-to-day work so that techs can focus on the things that got them excited to be in the industry to begin with.”
Schwartz and Chief Revenue Officer Nic Ferraro recently sat down with ChannelPro to discuss the company’s evolving priorities. They also revealed why agentic AI matters and how Pia aims to become the orchestration layer MSPs need.
Q&A with David Schwartz
ChannelPro: How Have Your Goals Changed Over the Past Few Months Since Coming In As CEO?
Schwartz: The goal coming in originally was very focused on, “Let’s make sure that the product is resonating with the market from a go-to-market perspective.” That’s across all marketing efforts, events, and, eventually turning into sales. The market was a little more new to AI and automation, so some of it was timing, but also, how do we educate, how do we optimize our processes, and then how do we turn that into a result for the business?
Since then, it has been, “How do we take the product and evolve it, build this roadmap that continues to resonate with our prospects?” A lot of energy has gone into spending time with partners. We are understanding their needs, challenges, and obstacles, and making sure our roadmap is aligned to that.
The Channel Shifted Rapidly Toward AI and Automation in the Last Year. Has That Changed How You Engage with Partners?
Schwartz: Absolutely. A year and a half ago, there was more reluctance and hesitation. It has shifted quickly. It’s not quite table stakes yet, but it’s clearly on a path to that. The other part is figuring out the psychological piece for technicians and MSPs. How do they look at these tools? How do they adopt, accept … and successfully implement them? We’ve spent time thinking through these pieces and taking strategic steps because of the psychological implications.
Ferraro: Like any sort of adoption curve, you have the early movers. We were privy to that back in 2022, when automation didn’t exist. You had those that picked it up with warts and all. Now, it has gone into the mainstream vocabulary. With automation, it’s just a case of how they do it, as opposed to if.
How Is Agentic AI Showing Up in Real-world MSP Use Cases?
Schwartz: For Pia, specifically, the entry point was to target the service desk initially with a plan to expand from there. We’ve actually started seeing a pretty big shift in:
- We’ve given them the tools to allow more of an agentic experience.
- Now, MSPs are taking amazing other tools that they have in their environment, including some AI tools, and leveraging those to actually build upon that. They integrate them with Pia and then Pia can take actions that are so far beyond anything anybody would expect a year ago because of the topic of agentic AI.
What’s Coming Next from Pia? Any New Capabilities or Partnerships on the Horizon?
Schwartz: We have a couple really exciting integration partnerships with a couple providers all the way through to resolution. We’re standing up a lot more efforts around our community as a whole. In alignment with that, we’ll be releasing a marketplace type of capability for partners. (Editor’s note: This interview took place before the Automation Hub news was announced.)
Our AI stuff continues to improve. We’ll be doing things like introducing an MCP layer. In the not-too-distant future, the ease to which MSPs will be able to actually build and publish automations leveraging Pia will be worlds from where it is today.
With That in Mind, What Is Pia’s Unique Value Proposition Today Compared with a Year Ago?
Schwartz: A year ago, it was continuing to focus very much on service desk — building out-of-the-box automations that were ready to solve Level 1 or Level 2 tickets — and simultaneously building the infrastructure to allow it to be truly an orchestration platform. We’re finally at that point where a lot of those pieces are here to allow us to make that shift in being an orchestration layer across not just service desk, but all service delivery.
Ferraro: It started off born out of an MSP for an MSP. We understand MSPs. It’s not a vendor that’s come out of somewhere else … from the angle of having availability straight out of the box. No one’s ever going to be everything for everyone. But we’ve certainly built and evolved the products to go on this journey with [MSP partners].
When You Look Beyond AI, What Other Innovation Trends Stand Out?
Schwartz: The amount of work being done and the number of partners that are building data lakes is really interesting. There is definitely a shift of putting innovation teams in place within an MSP. Not just innovation teams, but automation engineers. That wasn’t really a thing not that long ago. The next iteration of digital transformation is MSPs providing AI services to their customers.
Anjali Fluker is senior channel editor for 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: Anjali Fluker/ChannelPro
