Profiting From The Algorithm: AI’s Real Impact On Businesses

At XChange March, Sophos Chief Evangelist and Global Head of Community Scott Barlow delivered a keynote aimed at cutting through AI hype and showing managed service providers how artificial intelligence is already driving measurable business results.

Rather than focusing on futurism, Barlow outlined how AI is being applied across cybersecurity operations today, both to reduce risk and improve margin. “We always talk about selling cybersecurity as a service,” Barlow said. “I also think that you need to sell cybersecurity outcomes.”

Barlow told solution providers that AI is already embedded across nearly every security platform they use, even if it is not always visible. “If you say you’re not using AI, you actually are because every single vendor that you use has an AI component to their tools,” he said.

He also warned MSPs about the growing risks tied to AI adoption, including hallucinations, data leakage and increasingly sophisticated social engineering attacks. “Your end users do not understand the concept of AI hallucination,” Barlow said, adding that MSPs must help customers manage both the security and governance challenges associated with AI tools.

Inside Sophos, AI has moved beyond security analytics and into core business operations. Barlow said 89 percent of partner order value is now fully automated, eliminating manual intervention. He also shared that AI-driven deal desk scoring has generated $5.4 million in profit year to date by enforcing margin guidelines at scale.

The goal, Barlow said, is to make Sophos easier to work with while protecting partner profitability. “This is designed to make Sophos the most trusted, digitally advanced and easiest cybersecurity company to do business with,” he said.

For MSPs, the takeaway was clear. AI is not just a defensive tool. “AI isn’t just defending networks,” Barlow said. “It’s defending EBITDA.”

Find more information, visit sophos.com.