ConnectWise Exec: AI And Hyperautomation ‘Creating New Business Lines’

‘AI is not just a tool for efficiency, it’s creating new business lines and solving complex challenges in areas like cybersecurity and revenue stream analysis,’ says Os Haque, vice president of product and hyperautomation at ConnectWise. ‘Once you’ve implemented automation internally, the next step is offering these services to your customers.’

AI and hyperautomation are causing a “seismic shift” in the managed services space, with more and more capabilities being launched to drive increased efficiency.

ConnectWise is harnessing that shift and creating tailored AI solutions to better assist MSPs. The goal, according to ConnectWise’s Os Haque, is to seamlessly integrate AI tools to make operations more efficient and reduce manual workloads.

Haque, vice president of product and hyperautomation at Tampa, Fla.-based ConnectWise, spoke at CRN parent company The Channel Company’s XChange March event in Orlando, Fla., this week about hyperautomation and AI and spotlighted the company’s Olivia, a digital worker to handle on-boarding processes.

Equipped with AI capabilities, Olivia can complete tasks such as cloning a user, creating temporary passwords and adding new employees to relevant groups in a fraction of the time it would take a human technician.

[Related: Here’s How One MSP Is Using Automation, AI To ‘Scale Operations’]

“What used to take 20 minutes per user can now be done in just five minutes,” Haque said.

And the impact of such automation is significant, he added. As an example, Haque shared a story of how one MSP that typically spent 50 hours on on-boarding tickets and was able to cut that time by 35 hours, saving about $1,000 in the process by using Olivia. Another MSP in Ohio realized $400 in savings, cutting 15 hours from its workflow.

“If automating a task saves you minimal hours or doesn’t reduce costs significantly, don’t bother,” he said to a room full of MSPs. “Focus on the processes that will make a real difference.”

Haque also shared a study that said 73 percent of MSPs are encouraging their employees to use AI, with an average productivity boost of 40 percent.

“AI is not just a tool for efficiency, it’s creating new business lines and solving complex challenges in areas like cybersecurity and revenue stream analysis,” he said. “Once you’ve implemented automation internally, the next step is offering these services to your customers.”

Nathan Archer, director of business development at New York-based A&H Technology Group, said Olivia has the potential to revolutionize workplace automation.

“It’s more than just a tool, it’s a mindset shift,” he told CRN. “The future of work is about creating intelligent systems that can do some of the repetitive tasks we struggle with.”

He said the potential of AI was once thought of as just a tool for enhancing productivity. “It’s now being reimagined as a catalyst for the next wave of innovation. And for many of us, this is just the beginning.”