In this presentation, Wes Spencer argues that the skill requirements for Tier 1 staff at Managed Service Providers (MSPs) have increased dramatically over the past five to ten years due to AI, automation, compliance, and cyber‑insurance demands. He contends that AI will not replace jobs but will augment them, making staff far more effective. Consequently, the key competitive advantage for MSPs in 2027‑2028 will be the capability of their people, not the tools they own. Investing heavily in upskilling and continuous education will drive higher efficiency, greater EBITDA, and enable growth without proportionally expanding headcount. Spencer warns that MSPs that neglect people investment will struggle to survive, and he cites a company that successfully implements this people‑first strategy.
Chapters
You know, I was at a conference recently and I asked a show of hands, how many of you would say the requirement for your Tier 1 today is 5 times or more the requirement of knowledge 5 years ago? Every hand went up. I'm like, right. You look at not just AI, but, you know, automating all the things and all the things that come with compliance and, you know, cyber insurance and all of these new things that have come in, all of them. The requirement today for our young people is so much greater than it was 5 years ago, way more than 10 years ago. So why do we not invest in our people? Why are we not keeping them up to date? Look, AI is not here to take our jobs. AI is here to make our jobs more effective than it's ever been before. And the true differentiator for an MSP in 2027, 2028, and on is not going to be what tools they— it's going to be how effective their people are. It's going to be the efficiencies that drive EBITDA higher, that drive capabilities greater, that let them say, "I can continue to grow without having to continually add the same number of people at the same rate as before because my people are so much better." And the MSPs of tomorrow that don't invest in their people will be the ones that cannot make it in the future. Period. So I kind of get tired of hearing people so afraid of AI saying it's going to replace my people, replace my help desk, replace all these things. No, it's going to help them and augment them like better never before, with the except— with the requirement that you invest in your people so that those tools can leverage their full value. That's what it's going to take to be successful in tomorrow's MSP, an investment in people like never before. Just so happens I kind of know a company that does that.
