While you can barely get through an IT conversation without mentioning AI, you must dig deep to cut through the hype and find the technology’s real value so far.

To gain perspective on where AI stands on the current value scale, we’ve asked MSP 501 winners how they’re using it. Some use it to establish expertise with customers and others use it in their branding efforts. Others are still trying to educate customers about what they can realistically expect from the much-discussed technology. We’ve found MSPs who already consider it useful while others say the real value is yet to come. Most agree that however it’s used, AI can open doors for talking to prospects.

(You have until April 30 to apply for the 2025 MSP 501).

“Right now, you have a lot of people asking about AI, and a lot of people that are very confused,” said Sourcepass CEO Chuck Canton during an MSP 501 panel at the March MSP Summit. “You forget the small to mid-sized businesses we all work with, they're still trying to figure out cloud, they're still trying to figure out security, and now their nephew or niece is throwing out, ‘What do you do with AI at work?’ And everyone wants to know what your AI strategy is. So what we try to do is really help with AI readiness. And we go in and we say, ‘What are you trying to solve? What are the outcomes?’ Let's start with, ‘Are you prepared to do that? Do you have the right data governance in place, the right security hierarchy?’”

Canton said he advises customers to start off with Microsoft Copilot to train users on the basics of AI. “Then they can tell colleagues and friends they have an AI strategy,” he said.

Awecomm CEO Brent Yax agrees that MSPs can benefit from AI by preparing their customers for the opportunities it presents.

“I think it's a huge opportunity, not only for business in general and for the advancement of AI, but from a channel perspective,” he said. “It's really just going to be an accelerant on what happens within AI, how businesses are leveraging it, what they're able to do with it. And when anything technology-related comes up, our clients go to us to ask, ‘What do I do? How do I do something with this? How can I take advantage of it? Is it right for me?’ Businesses right now don't really have the necessary infrastructure and security to be able to jump into AI effectively. Or they jump in, and then they realize later that they shouldn't have. And I think that's an opportunity for MSPs to take advantage of.”

New Charter CEO Peter Melby said these are still early days for AI – “there’s not a lot that’s actually getting down to the customer yet” – but MSPs need to play a role in developing and innovating the technology.

“If we look at our job for what it really is in the IT industry, we modernize businesses,” Melby said. “This is the next level of modernization. and we've always been in that business, and we've never really talked about it that way as an industry, but this is the next level of modernization. It's like we've seen with the cloud and security. There's all the talk, and there's the noise and there's effort, and then there's value.”

For his March MSP Summit workshop on branding, Triton Networks EVP Ron Lovern surveyed MSP 501 winners on how they use AI to build their brands.

Stronghold Data president David Markley said he sees AI as a useful tool for interacting with clients and prospects.

“AI is getting better in terms of being able to prompt it with certain characteristics to follow your lead and your 'voice,' so we're using it for posts, presentations, and especially outlines and planning” Markley said. “Where I see AI continuing to improve for marketing is being able to leverage what we know about people that are engaging with us, and then learning to anticipate needs or intent and be able to provide relevant information as they need it. That's magic. This extends beyond marketing and into many interactions with prospects and clients.”

Entara CEO Pam Diaz said her team uses AI “across every aspect” of the business, including research and to fine-tune marketing messages. However, she considers AI “just another tool” rather than the answer for everything.

“AI is here to stay and will only continue to grow in prevalence and maturity,” Diaz said. “For now, our team is very conscious of making sure everything we put out into the world is verified and reviewed by a human. If we all use AI more and more, we will begin to lose the unique voices that help us differentiate ourselves from our competitors. It is because of this that we view AI as just another tool in our toolbox, similar to design programs or our website, that can help us amplify our message and reach new clients.”