Brian HoppeBoard-Level Advisor to MSP CEOs, Brian Hoppe Coaching · Board-Level Advisor to MSP CEOs at Brian Hoppe Coaching

AI Won’t Steal Your MSP Clients, It’ll Create Demand

25 Feb 2026 · 1 min

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0:47

In this brief YouTube dialogue, two speakers discuss the impact of artificial intelligence on managed service providers (MSPs). Speaker A argues that, contrary to fears that AI will replace MSPs, it will actually generate new demand as clients look to MSPs for AI expertise. By moving up the value chain and offering application‑layer AI solutions, MSPs can command higher fees and become indispensable partners. Speaker B adds that most MSPs currently operate only at the infrastructure level, where clients can often self‑service tools like Outlook, Excel, or generic LLMs. Simply handing over access to large language models without tailored application integration is unlikely to deliver success. Together, they conclude that MSPs should focus on building higher‑value, application‑specific AI services rather than merely providing raw AI infrastructure.

Chapters

My theory is kind of like the cloud in where it's like, oh my gosh, the cloud's going to steal all of our clients. Well, you know, no, I don't think so. In the same way, I don't think AI probably is either. And our clients as MSPs, our clients are going to turn to us for help with AI. And so if we have something to provide to them, then that's just going to put us in a much better position. And if we can get involved at the application layer like you're talking about, that's a much higher value proposition for them, and they're probably going to be willing to pay more for That's right.
I think the reason we were able to get away with the infrastructure level, most MSPs just at the infrastructure level, is because as soon as you got to the Outlook and Excel, they figured it out on their own, or, or they had other resources where they were able to make it productive by themselves. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think if we just gave them access to AI LLMs and said, have at it, I don't think they're gonna have success.