Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2026. Read them in this 18th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
By Mark Clayman, CEO of Netrio
The MSP industry isn’t just changing – it’s facing an inflection point that will separate the winners from the obsolete. AI adoption isn’t optional anymore, and 2026 will expose which organizations have been preparing and which have been pretending. The gap between leaders and laggards is widening every quarter, and the companies that hesitate now will find themselves fighting an uphill battle they can’t win.
Three waves are coming, fast:
1. Operational efficiency becomes table stakes. If you’re still burning hours on routine tasks that AI can handle in seconds, you’re not competing – you’re drowning in self-imposed inefficiency. Think about the daily grind: ticket triage, system monitoring, patch management, basic troubleshooting. These tasks consume enormous amounts of human capital while generating minimal strategic value. AI can automate these workflows with greater accuracy and consistency than any human team, freeing up your technical staff to tackle complex problems that actually differentiate your services. The MSPs who master this automation will operate with higher margins than their competitors, while delivering faster response times and more consistent service quality.
2. Data stops being a buzzword and starts driving revenue. The MSPs winning new business will be those using AI to predict customer needs before the customer even asks. Everyone else is just reacting. Consider the depth and breadth of information flowing through your systems every day – usage patterns, performance metrics, security logs, support tickets. Right now, most MSPs let this data sit idle or use it only for basic reporting. AI transforms this raw information into predictive intelligence. You’ll identify which clients are heading toward capacity issues before systems slow down. You’ll spot security vulnerabilities before they’re exploited. You’ll recommend upgrades based on actual usage patterns rather than generic best practices. This proactive approach doesn’t just improve service delivery – it creates natural upsell opportunities rooted in genuine client needs. The result? Higher client satisfaction, increased recurring revenue, and dramatically improved retention rates.
3. AI goes customer-facing, and the service model explodes. The old MSP playbook -reactive support and basic infrastructure management – won’t cut it. AI enables entirely new service categories, and if you’re not building them, someone else is already selling them to your prospects. Imagine offering intelligent virtual assistants that help your clients’ employees resolve common IT issues without ever opening a ticket. Picture delivering business intelligence dashboards powered by AI that turn technical metrics into actionable business insights. Consider providing AI-enhanced cybersecurity services that adapt in real-time to emerging threats. These concepts aren’t aspirational any longer – they’re services that innovative MSPs are packaging and selling right now. The organizations that expand their service portfolios to include these AI-powered offerings will command premium pricing while their traditional competitors race to the bottom on commodity services.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: AI will expose how much time your team has been wasting. When you implement intelligent automation and see tasks that took hours now completing in minutes, the inefficiency of the old way becomes obvious. But for MSPs willing to confront that reality, there’s a massive upside. Free your people from repetitive work, and suddenly they can focus on what actually grows the business – strategic thinking, deeper client relationships, and innovation that commands premium pricing.
This shift requires more than just buying AI tools. It demands a fundamental rethinking of how your MSP operates. You’ll need to invest in training, redesign workflows, and potentially restructure roles. Some team members will embrace the change; others will resist. Leadership must communicate a clear vision and demonstrate a commitment to the transformation.
The question isn’t whether AI will reshape your business. It’s whether you’ll lead that transformation or get reshaped by competitors who moved faster. MSPs that act decisively now will build sustainable competitive advantages. Those that wait will find themselves explaining to increasingly sophisticated buyers why their services cost more while delivering less than AI-powered alternatives.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Clayman is the CEO of Netrio, a North American IT managed services provider (MSP) focused on small to mid-market businesses. Prior to joining Netrio in late 2024, Clayman served as CEO of Navisite until its acquisition by Accenture in early 2024. His previous leadership roles include serving as CEO of RDX (which was later acquired by Navisite in 2019) and as President and CEO of TriCore Solutions (later acquired by Rackspace). Throughout his career, Clayman has demonstrated expertise in corporate strategy, scaling operations, and successfully integrating multiple businesses to create unified, customer-focused organizations in the IT services industry.
