Channel Brief: MSPs are all in on AI. The revenue still hasn’t followed

This seems like MSPs are entering the harder phase of the AI market. Customers are no longer asking which tools they should buy. They want to know where AI fits, who is responsible when it goes wrong, how it should be governed, and whether it is actually delivering a return.

GTIA found that 97% of IT service providers are already using AI. But while the adoption numbers look strong, only 20% have the governance frameworks, formal policies, operating processes, and commercial strategies needed to use it effectively. This means that almost everyone has AI. Very few have figured out how to run it as a business.

Enterprise results tell the same story. Domino Data Lab's Fifth Annual Domino Enterprise AI Report found that while 93% of AI leaders say the technology has improved production capabilities, 57% say the returns still do not exceed the amount being spent. That number has not moved since 2025.

This is where the MSP opportunity gets much bigger. Customers need help governing AI, connecting it to real workflows, training employees, securing data, and measuring whether the investment is paying off. The technology is already inside the business. The next challenge is making it useful, accountable, and financially sustainable. That may become one of the most valuable services MSPs offer.

This Week's Tech, Channel, and MSP News

WatchGuard expands multi-model AI strategy for MSP security: WatchGuard is expanding its use of frontier AI through OpenAI’s Daybreak program and Anthropic’s Cyber Verification Program, giving its security teams access to multiple models for vulnerability research, product testing, red teaming, threat analysis and remediation. The company said the multi-model approach will let it evaluate different AI systems and apply them to the security tasks where they perform best, rather than building its strategy around a single provider.

Absolute Security joins Pax8 marketplace: Absolute Security has launched its cyber resilience platform on the Pax8 Marketplace, giving MSPs a new way to sell and manage endpoint visibility, control, security and remote recovery services through the Pax8 ecosystem. The platform is designed to keep critical applications such as RMM, EDR, VPN and identity tools operational and recoverable, helping partners reduce downtime and service disruption across customer environments.

Keepit brings SaaS backup and recovery to the Pax8 marketplace: Keepit has made its SaaS data protection platform available through the Pax8 Marketplace, giving MSPs and channel partners access to independent backup and recovery for applications including Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Google Workspace, Salesforce, Okta, Jira, Confluence and DocuSign. The platform stores backup data in a separate, immutable cloud environment rather than alongside the production SaaS provider, helping customers improve recovery, compliance and resilience against ransomware or data loss.

Knowledge Grid launches AI-native data layer for cybersecurity: Knowledge Grid has launched the KG Cognitive Data Platform, a new security data infrastructure layer designed to transform raw telemetry into a format that AI models and agents can use more effectively. The company says traditional SIEM and log platforms organize and index data for human analysts but do not prepare it for machine reasoning, which can lead to false positives, missed detections and confident but inaccurate AI conclusions. Built on its patented Temporal Data Grid and more than 15 years of research, the platform processes security data at ingest to support downstream threat detection and agentic workflows.

Point5 joins Sandler Partners to support complex connectivity deals: Point5 Managed Services has joined the Sandler Partners portfolio, giving its network of technology advisors, VARs and MSPs access to managed connectivity support for complex, multi-site and regulated-industry customers. Point5 handles network design, carrier sourcing, implementation and post-sale support across services including data and voice optimization, colocation, MPLS migration and broader network transformation. The partnership is aimed at connectivity projects that often become difficult during delivery, particularly for global organizations and customers in sectors such as healthcare, finance and pharmaceuticals.