When I sat down with my friend Terry Hedden, founder of Marketopia, for Sunny’s Silver Linings, I knew this wasn’t going to be just another business chat. Terry and I go way back in the MSP channel, and every time we talk, the conversation sparks new insight: that “aha” moment where experience meets vision.
I’ve always believed that great partnerships are built on complementary strengths. I often tell Kam, “No Kam, no IT By Design.” What we’ve built together didn’t come from simply combining two skill sets; it came from multiplying them. One plus one didn’t equal two; it equaled eleven. That’s the power of synergy.
And Terry gets that. He calls his wife his “92X multiplier.” And that’s exactly how great businesses and great leaders grow: by combining forces to create exponential impact.
So, when Terry started talking about AI and how it’s reshaping the channel, I knew we were about to dig into something truly insightful.
The Evolution of an Entrepreneur
Terry’s entrepreneurial roots run deep. He started his first business at just 14: mowing lawns in his neighborhood. And that early hustle shaped his approach to leadership.
Before foraying into the MSP space, Terry spent years in technology consulting, working across business process outsourcing, package-enabled re-engineering, ERP implementations, and project management. He led projects across Central America, Europe, and North America, helping organizations use technology to optimize and evolve.
That experience, paired with his MBA and Big Five consulting background, gave him a unique lens. When he launched his MSP, he wasn’t just thinking like a technologist; he was thinking like a strategist. That made him stand out in a world dominated by technically minded founders.
He grew his MSP quickly, scaled it successfully, and ultimately sold it to a strategic buyer. Most people would’ve stopped there. But Terry’s not wired that way. Instead of retiring, he took what he’d learned and turned it into a mission: helping other MSPs grow.
That’s how Marketopia was born.
Over the last 11 years, Terry and his team have helped more than 1,000 MSPs and 50 vendors scale their businesses. Along the way, they’ve helped create four unicorns: billion-dollar success stories powered by smart strategy and relentless execution.
As Terry laughs, “I just wish we were one of them.”
The MSP Opportunity of a Generation
As we talked, we both came to the same realization: AI isn’t just another trend. It’s the next big evolution.
For the MSP channel, this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Cybersecurity was the last major leap, it helped MSPs transform into MSSPs. But now, we’re standing on the edge of something even bigger: moving from Managed Services to Managed Intelligence.
AI is creating borderless possibilities: a world where your business isn’t limited by headcount, geography, or bandwidth.
At IT By Design, we’ve experienced this first-hand. For years, our service coordinators handled thousands of tickets daily, repetitive, time-consuming work. So, we built our own AI use case: the Digital Dispatcher.
This digital agent automatically routes incoming tickets to the right technicians- 24/7, no delays, no burnout. That single innovation helped us reduce four dispatcher roles, saving about $10,000 per month and adding nearly $1.2 million in enterprise value.
That’s what I mean when I say: growth adds people, but scale adds intelligence.
Helping MSPs Build AI Practices
Terry and his team at Marketopia are helping MSPs take that same leap through ForYou2Grow.com: a platform that guides MSPs in launching profitable AI practices in just 90 days.
It’s a complete roadmap, with playbooks, templates, sales coaching, and marketing assets: designed to help MSPs sell, price, and package AI-powered services without adding headcount.
The results? Early adopters are seeing 3–4x more revenue per hour, closing deals faster, and creating new recurring revenue streams around automation and AI consulting.
As Terry put it perfectly:
“The only ones struggling are the ones with head trash. Those who keep saying, ‘I’m not ready,’ or ‘It’s overhyped.’”
He’s right. The difference between those who win and those who get left behind won’t be resources. It’ll be mindset.
AI, SEO, and the Human Touch
We ended our conversation with an important observation: AI has changed content creation but not necessarily for the better.
Yes, it’s made writing faster. But it’s also created a flood of sameness online. The winners won’t be those who use AI to replace creativity; it’ll be those who use AI to amplify it.
As Terry said, “A writer with AI is like Iron Man with his suit: powerful and precise. But AI without the human? That’s just an empty shell.”
It’s the same lesson for MSPs: technology amplifies human potential, it doesn’t replace it.
The New Frontier
As I reflect on that conversation, one truth stands out: you either get disrupted, or you lead the disruption.
AI isn’t slowing down. Every few months, it evolves: from data-trained models to reasoning engines, from static prompts to dynamic agents. The next phase will belong to those who act now, experiment fast, and think big.
If you’re an MSP, this is your moment to reclassify your revenue: from traditional services to intelligent, future-proof solutions.
Because the world isn’t waiting. And as Terry and I both believe: this is the era of Managed Intelligence.
Final Thoughts
If you want to learn how to launch your own AI practice or future-proof your MSP, check out ForYou2Grow.com: Terry’s platform that’s helping MSPs scale smarter, not harder.
And if you’re ready to start thinking like an AI-first leader, stay tuned for more episodes of Sunny’s Silver Linings.
Because the future isn’t coming; it’s already here.
