The MSP’s New Role in the AI Economy
Jan 22, 2026
JP Kehoe
From IT Support to Intelligence Partner
For the last 20 years, MSPs have been the backbone of the digital economy.
You helped businesses: move to the cloud, secure their data, modernise their infrastructure, and operate reliably in an always-on world.
But something fundamental has changed. We are no longer entering a new technology cycle. We are entering a new economic cycle.
And at the centre of it is AI.
According to ARK Invest’s Big Ideas 2026, artificial intelligence is not just another tool – it is becoming the operating system of the global economy. Data centres are now factories that manufacture intelligence. AI agents are replacing human workflows. Productivity is no longer constrained by people, but by compute.
Which raises a simple but uncomfortable question:
Where does the MSP fit in a world where intelligence itself is automated?
From Infrastructure Providers to Productivity Multipliers
Historically, MSPs were infrastructure partners. You managed: devices, networks, servers, security, and uptime.
In the AI economy, that is table stakes.
The real value is shifting to something much bigger: Helping customers increase output per employee.
Not: “We manage your IT.”
But: “We help your team do 2x the work with the same people.”
That is a completely different conversation. And a completely different business model.
AI Is Not a Product. It’s a New Operating Layer.
Most MSPs are currently asking: “Which AI tools should we resell?”
But that’s the wrong question. AI is not another SaaS category. It’s becoming the interface to work itself. Just like windows abstracted hardware, the web abstracted software, and cloud abstracted infrastructure, AI abstracts human labour.
Customers won’t care which model you use. They’ll care about:
In the AI economy, MSPs don’t sell tools. They design workflows powered by intelligence.
The Hidden Opportunity: AI Governance and Trust
ARK’s thesis highlights something most vendors ignore: AI agents will increasingly make decisions, move money, access data, and act autonomously.
That creates a massive new risk layer: data leakage, compliance exposure, hallucinations, security breaches, legal accountability
This is where MSPs gain their strongest moat. In the AI economy, MSPs become trusted governors of digital intelligence.
They become the firm that ensures: secure AI usage, data boundaries, audit trails, role-based access, and human-in-the-loop controls.
Not just “IT support”. But AI risk management for the modern business.
Why Waiting Is the Biggest Risk of All
The most dangerous thing for MSPs right now is not choosing the wrong AI tool. It’s choosing to wait.
ARK’s core macro insight is that AI adoption is exponential, not linear. That means:
Your customers will adopt AI with or without you.
They will build workflows internally.
They will experiment with public tools.
They will create shadow systems.
And once that happens, your MSP loses its strategic relevance, trust, and long-term positioning.
In 24 months, every business will be “AI-enabled”. The only question is, will you be the one enabling them? Or reacting to what they’ve already done?
The MSP Business Model Is Shifting
The traditional MSP revenue model was built on: per device / per user / per license.
The AI-native MSP model is built on: per workflow / per department / per outcome / per business function.
Instead of: “We manage 150 seats.”
It becomes: “We automated 5 core business processes.”
This is not incremental growth. It’s a structural shift in how value is created and captured.
The Hatz AI View
The AI economy will not be built by hyperscalers alone.
It will be built by thousands of MSPs helping millions of businesses turn intelligence into real-world results.
The New MSP Identity
In the AI era, the most successful MSPs will be the ones who can say: “We don’t just manage your technology. We help your people do their best work.”
That is the real opportunity. And it’s bigger than anything the MSP industry has seen before.
One-line takeaway
In the AI economy, MSPs either become the interface between intelligence and business – or they become invisible: there is no middle ground.
Hatz AI
© 2025
Hatz AI
© 2025
The MSP’s New Role in the AI Economy
Jan 22, 2026
JP Kehoe
From IT Support to Intelligence Partner
For the last 20 years, MSPs have been the backbone of the digital economy.
You helped businesses: move to the cloud, secure their data, modernise their infrastructure, and operate reliably in an always-on world.
But something fundamental has changed. We are no longer entering a new technology cycle. We are entering a new economic cycle.
And at the centre of it is AI.
According to ARK Invest’s Big Ideas 2026, artificial intelligence is not just another tool – it is becoming the operating system of the global economy. Data centres are now factories that manufacture intelligence. AI agents are replacing human workflows. Productivity is no longer constrained by people, but by compute.
Which raises a simple but uncomfortable question:
Where does the MSP fit in a world where intelligence itself is automated?
From Infrastructure Providers to Productivity Multipliers
Historically, MSPs were infrastructure partners. You managed: devices, networks, servers, security, and uptime.
In the AI economy, that is table stakes.
The real value is shifting to something much bigger: Helping customers increase output per employee.
Not: “We manage your IT.”
But: “We help your team do 2x the work with the same people.”
That is a completely different conversation. And a completely different business model.
AI Is Not a Product. It’s a New Operating Layer.
Most MSPs are currently asking: “Which AI tools should we resell?”
But that’s the wrong question. AI is not another SaaS category. It’s becoming the interface to work itself. Just like windows abstracted hardware, the web abstracted software, and cloud abstracted infrastructure, AI abstracts human labour.
Customers won’t care which model you use. They’ll care about:
In the AI economy, MSPs don’t sell tools. They design workflows powered by intelligence.
The Hidden Opportunity: AI Governance and Trust
ARK’s thesis highlights something most vendors ignore: AI agents will increasingly make decisions, move money, access data, and act autonomously.
That creates a massive new risk layer: data leakage, compliance exposure, hallucinations, security breaches, legal accountability
This is where MSPs gain their strongest moat. In the AI economy, MSPs become trusted governors of digital intelligence.
They become the firm that ensures: secure AI usage, data boundaries, audit trails, role-based access, and human-in-the-loop controls.
Not just “IT support”. But AI risk management for the modern business.
Why Waiting Is the Biggest Risk of All
The most dangerous thing for MSPs right now is not choosing the wrong AI tool. It’s choosing to wait.
ARK’s core macro insight is that AI adoption is exponential, not linear. That means:
Your customers will adopt AI with or without you.
They will build workflows internally.
They will experiment with public tools.
They will create shadow systems.
And once that happens, your MSP loses its strategic relevance, trust, and long-term positioning.
In 24 months, every business will be “AI-enabled”. The only question is, will you be the one enabling them? Or reacting to what they’ve already done?
The MSP Business Model Is Shifting
The traditional MSP revenue model was built on: per device / per user / per license.
The AI-native MSP model is built on: per workflow / per department / per outcome / per business function.
Instead of: “We manage 150 seats.”
It becomes: “We automated 5 core business processes.”
This is not incremental growth. It’s a structural shift in how value is created and captured.
The Hatz AI View
The AI economy will not be built by hyperscalers alone.
It will be built by thousands of MSPs helping millions of businesses turn intelligence into real-world results.
The New MSP Identity
In the AI era, the most successful MSPs will be the ones who can say: “We don’t just manage your technology. We help your people do their best work.”
That is the real opportunity. And it’s bigger than anything the MSP industry has seen before.
One-line takeaway
In the AI economy, MSPs either become the interface between intelligence and business – or they become invisible: there is no middle ground.