MSPs Share Real-World AI Customer Strategies: ‘You Have To Tie It To What Success Means For Them’

MSPs took to the stage in a panel at the XChange NexGen conference to discuss how they are moving past the hype around AI toward practical implementations that are transforming how they and their customers operate.

Three AI-focused MSPs said AI is no longer a futuristic add-on but rather the backbone of their business models, team development strategies and client value delivery.

“I’ve always been very passionate about company culture and keeping people in the zone, doing 80 percent of what they do best,” said Zac Paulson, vice president of technology at Fargo, N.D.-based ABM Technology Group. “If AI can get rid of the junk, the easy stuff, the stuff we don’t like doing … that’s what I’m looking for.”

In a panel at CRN parent company The Channel Company’s 2025 XChange NexGen conference in Houston this week, MSPs took to the stage with Pax8’s Eric Torres to discuss how they are moving past the hype around AI toward practical implementations that are transforming how they operate.

Torres, vice president of channel and community engagement at Denver-based cloud marketplace Pax8, sat down with Paulson; Sandy McGrath, co-founder and president of new managed intelligence provider MIPGlobal; and Christopher Stock, CTO at Vaughan, Ontario-based Infinite IT Solutions, to discuss how they’re using AI in most, if not all, of their business operations.

[Related: XChange Panel: The Most Important Part of AI Is Being Ready For It]

For Paulson, his company rolled out a voluntary Copilot program and expected limited traction. Instead, more than 30 percent of the staff opted in.

Stock has seen similar transformations after his MSP equipped tier-one support staff with the knowledge of senior engineers by layering AI over clean ticket data and standardized processes.

“That knowledge transfer has been huge,” Stock said. “We’ve been able to grow our team and support more people because now our frontline staff have access to deeper insights.”

His team also built a virtual CTO that scans client environments during on-boarding. It then delivers a “State of the Nation” report in a few days, a process that once took weeks.

“Honestly, it was a matter of a couple of weeks to get it working,” he said. “We were just frustrated with how piecemeal everything was. Once we figured out how to collect the right data, the AI part came together quickly.”

Both Paulson and Stock stressed that fast execution is critical, but that doesn’t mean skipping strategy. Paulson’s team sidestepped a yearslong software development initiative by embedding AI into each of their existing platforms to unify data access across departments.

“Instead of building one mega platform, we just embedded AI where the data already lives,” he said. “Now anyone can ask, ‘What does this customer have?’ and get an answer in seconds.”

Externally, Paulson holds workshops where clients can discuss their biggest pain points and explore where AI can help.

“It always comes down to data,” he said. “One finance client was spending thousands on basic reporting software. We replaced that with an agent for a one-time cost. They’ll never have to pay for that again.”

For McGrath, his company works with both MSPs and end customers to connect AI adoption directly to business goals.

“You don’t just throw AI in their face and say, ‘Make it work.’” McGrath said. “You have to tie it to what success means for them.”

But it’s not just about the technology; it’s a complete mindset shift of the MSP business model.

“The old model of 80 [percent] to 90 percent billable utilization? That’s changing,” he said. “You have to commit time to education, and AI is helping free up that time.”

And success will depend not just on technology, but on adaptability.

“There’s so much anxiety,” McGrath said. “Clients say, ‘If I don’t do this now, I’m behind.’ We help them slow down. It’s OK. We’ll start together.

“The tech is changing so fast, but that’s not the issue,” he added. “The real gap is understanding the business side, being able to go in, talk to decision-makers and say, ‘Here’s what success looks like for you, and here’s how we’ll get there.’”

Joe Ussia, Stock’s business partner and CEO of Infinite IT Solutions, said the message from the stage was loud and clear: Evolve, or fall behind.

“It just reaffirms we’re on the right path,” he told CRN. “There are still companies out there doing Nortel phone systems, and sure, they’ll have a place. But the ones with sticky customers who deliver real value, they’re the ones who evolve.”