The well-known proverb “He who controls the information controls the world” is very true regarding the growth and strategy of any business. The point is that data and AI in business isn’t an asset anymore—it’s a source of competitive advantage regardless of the industry.
In 2022, Forrester researchers found that leaders of advanced insight-driven companies believe they grow by at least 20% more annually compared to their competitors. That’s because they test various revenue sources and occupy a unique position by utilizing their data well. This applies to Managed Service Providers (MSPs) as well.
As the host and organizer of the top MSP leadership conferences in the US, Build IT LIVE, we’ve designed this experience to empower MSP professionals and help them utilize AI for business—whether you’re a first-timer or a seasoned attendee.
For MSPs, embracing data analytics is not just about dashboards and reporting. It’s about transforming your business model to move faster, operate smarter, and deliver outcomes your clients can see.
The Stakes Are Higher Than Ever
Let’s get real—MSPs today are facing multifold challenges.
- Increased competition from both traditional players and cloud-native disruptors.
- Razor-thin margins, especially in commoditized services like endpoint management.
- Demand for transparency and value demonstration from increasingly tech-savvy clients.
And yet, according to a McKinsey Global Survey, only 20% of organizations report that utilizing AI for business and data-driven business decisions initiatives have significantly improved performance. Why? Because too many companies collect data—but few connect it meaningfully to decision-making.
The Opportunity: Data-Driven Business Decisions
Here’s how smart MSPs use analytics to inform every layer of their operations and make data-driven decisions:
Mindset Shift: From Gut Feelings to Data-Driven Decisions
It’s no longer enough to rely on tribal knowledge or leadership instincts. Implanting data and AI allow you to:
- Spot declining service quality before the client calls you.
- See which engineers are overloaded—and who could handle more.
- Understand which services are bleeding margin.
- Predict whether a “happy” client is actually at risk of leaving.
A Forbes Tech Council article notes that companies using data to guide decisions are 5x more likely to make decisions faster than their peers. In the MSP world, that speed translates to better service, happier clients, and a more profitable bottom line.
5 Key Steps to Becoming a Data-Driven MSP
From Data to Growth: Where AI Fits in MSP Businesses
As artificial Intelligence becomes more mainstream, forward-thinking MSPs are combining human insights and implementation of AI in business. This includes:
- Predictive analytics
Traditional reporting tells you what happened last week. Predictive analytics tells you what’s likely to happen next—and gives you a window in which to act.
For example, by training models on past churn data, AI can now flag which of your clients are most likely to leave—based on variables like declining ticket volume, sudden NPS dips, or unusual support behaviors. Imagine the power in proactively reaching out before your client even voices dissatisfaction.
Hence, AI in business doesn’t just give client retention. That’s relationship insurance.
Use case:
We recently benchmarked a mid-sized MSP that had been struggling with rising churn and reactive service delivery. Their turning point? Integrating AI into their existing RMM platform.
By layering AI onto their ticketing and billing systems, they uncovered a critical insight: clients with less than 70% monthly platform utilization were 3x more likely to churn within the next quarter. The AI didn’t just identify the pattern—it prioritized these accounts and triggered automated workflows for proactive outreach.
Their account managers got ahead of the curve, re-engaging at-risk clients before issues escalated. Within six months, the MSP prevented over $250K in potential churn—and more impressively, reduced manual monitoring and follow-ups by 70%.
- Natural language processing
Our teams are bombarded with support tickets, emails, and chat transcripts daily. Within those lines of text are emotional cues—frustration, urgency, trust, satisfaction. But let’s be honest: most of it goes unnoticed unless it escalates.
AI-powered Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools can now scan communication threads in real time and flag negative sentiment—even when it’s subtly worded. At our top MSP conference in the US, we’ll discuss about how leaders can utilize AI in business and intervene before a molehill becomes a mountain.
- Automated ticket triage
One of the most labor-intensive areas of MSP operations is ticket routing. Who handles what? How fast? How urgent?
AI can triage tickets based on historical urgency, client priority, issue type, and even technician availability. Some tools now go further—auto-tagging tickets, recommending resolution paths, or escalating based on sentiment, all in real time.
This isn’t just faster. It’s smarter. Your best engineers spend less time on low-impact issues, and your new hires get guided support from the system itself.
Use case:
When we integrated AI in business operations at IT By Design, classify incoming tickets. Over 60% were resolved by Tier 1 engineers that would’ve otherwise been escalated unnecessarily. The result? A 35% drop-in time-to-resolution and improved team morale across the board.
Learn How Top MSPs Are Doing It — Only at Build IT LIVE 2025
This August, Build IT LIVE 2025, the top MSP leadership conference in the US, in Jersey City, New Jersey, will spotlight data-driven growth strategies in our Strategy & Growth track. You’ll hear from MSP leaders, data experts, and AI innovators on how to move from reporting to real ROI.
Don’t Miss Sessions Like:
- “From Insight to Action: Metrics That Drive MSP Growth”
- “How to Build a Data-First Culture in Your MSP”
- “AI Meets MSP: What’s Real, What’s Hype, and What You Can Use Today”
AI will not replace our strategy, our vision, or our relationships. What it will do is elevate them. It will give our teams the clarity, speed, and focus to make better decisions and create more value—every single day.
If you’re still on the fence, consider this: MSPs that embed AI into their core operations today won’t just be more efficient—they’ll be more intelligent. And that’s a game you want to be ahead in, not catching up to.
Join us for the top MSP leadership conference in the US.
