MSPs turn to AI to drive innovation and growth

A new survey from Lansweeper of almost 200 managed service providers across North America and Europe shows 90 percent recognize AI as vital to their growth strategy, with 63.6 percent rating it as 'very important.'

Despite its priority status though only 41.5 percent of respondents report AI integration levels above 25 percent, indicating that many MSPs are still in the early stages of adoption.

With AI fundamentally transforming IT services, MSPs must adapt to remain competitive. The report not only highlights emerging trends and challenges but also provides practical recommendations for overcoming barriers such as data quality management, legacy system constraints, and workforce skill gaps.

The most common AI use cases are revealed as IT monitoring (66.7 percent) and ticketing and incident management (54.4 percent). The biggest roadblocks cited as preventing full AI adoption include data quality issues (93.3 percent), legacy system integration (52.8 percent), and a shortage of skilled AI professionals (51.8 percent).

The data quality issues can all be attributed to fragmented and outdated systems and data sources as the performance of AI-driven automation relies heavily on clean and accurate data input.

There are significant regional differences, MSPs in EMEA consider AI more critical to business growth compared to their North American counterparts, while North American MSPs say they face greater challenges in sourcing skilled AI talent.

"AI adoption is not a nice to have tech innovation -- it has become an essential tool for MSPs looking to optimize operations, enhance service offerings, and drive new revenue opportunities," says Christina Klein, vice president, global MSP business at Lansweeper. "This report equips MSPs with the insights they need to translate AI potential into real, measurable advantages."

You can get the full report on the Lansweeper site.

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