I'm the VP of Product at CloudRadial, and I've watched MSPs transform a dozen times over in various ways. Email tickets to forms. Manual QBRs to automated. I've seen the future arrive, repeatedly.
So when we launched ServiceAI this October, I figured I knew the script.
Here's what I expected: MSPs would plug in their PSA data, flip a switch, and watch their clients self-serve themselves to happiness. Ticket counts would plummet. Technicians would weep with joy. LinkedIn would explode with success stories.
Here's what actually happened: I lifted the hood on the service desk, and it looked like a crime scene.
I’m only kind of kidding.
First surprise to me: MSPs don't trust AI as much as I thought they would. Not blindly, anyway.
While Silicon Valley bros are busy kneeling at the altar of AI, MSPs are standing there with their arms crossed, asking "Sure, yeah. But how did you get that answer?" They want to see the math. They want to verify the sources. They want to know that when the AI says "restart the server," it's not just hallucinating. I suspect it’s because they’re the ones that are actually on the hook if a rogue hallucination takes down their whale client on an idle Tuesday.
This skepticism? It's SO beautiful. I see MSPs as exceedingly shrewd. These people are running actual businesses, not playing startup roulette. Before they let AI anywhere near a client, they want proof it won't burn down the house. Same goes for using AI as a spotlight (good or bad) on their technician’s performance.
In the end, and on a positive note, it’s that same skepticism that’s going to make this tool be the best it can be, since we’re going to refine it until it’s very, very reliable.
Here's where things got uncomfortable. I thought we'd be feeding AI a banquet of clean, structured data. Instead, we found the digital equivalent of a hoarder's basement.
Technician notes that read like haikus written during a seizure. Documentation that stops mid-sentence, abandoned three years ago. Tickets labeled "URGENT - FIXED IT" with no other context. One MSP had 47 different articles that just said "Microsoft" in IT Glue. Forty-seven.
Here’s the cold, hard truth nobody wants to hear — if the notes are garbage, if the tickets are a disaster, if the documentation blows, then AI isn't going to save you. It's going to amplify your dysfunction and serve it back to you at scale.
Bad data in, bad AI out. It's not magic. It's a mirror. And sometimes, you don't like what you see.
We came in preaching the gospel of client self-service. "Imagine," I'd say, "clients solving their own problems at 2 AM!"
And sure, MSPs nodded politely. But I quickly learned that they had intentions to take care of the back of the house WAY before ever thinking about the client deployment.
Turns out, MSPs are generally more excited about ServiceAI as an insights and diagnostic tool than a client-facing miracle. It's becoming a state-of-the-service-desk report card.
Which technicians write garbage notes, or thorough ones? Where are the documentation black holes? Who's been copying and pasting the same useless template for six months? Which client is, objectively, the biggest pain to deal with?
One MSP service desk manager told me, "I finally have proof that our co-managed team’s notes are worthless. I've suspected it for years, but now I have data." Mark, buddy, if you're reading this, your days of "fixed computer - all good now" are numbered.
Here's the real kicker: The AI's ability to analyze and improve technician consistency is the unexpected hero of this story. Not the sexy client chatbot. Not the ticket deflection metrics. The boring, unsexy work of making sure every tech documents the same way, troubleshoots the same way, communicates the same way.
MSPs are using AI-generated insights to coach their teams. "Look, when Jim handles a password reset, he documents these five things. When you do it, you write 'reset password.' See the difference?"
It's not revolutionary. It's evolutionary. I think that’s what we need now — but we’ll come back to the client revolution soon. We just have to clear this desk inconsistency first.
ServiceAI is practical. It's working. MSPs are actually getting immediate value out of it, right out of the box.
It’s more akin to mirror that shows MSPs exactly how internal ops look when nobody's watching. Some MSPs love what they see. Others are scheduling emergency documentation and ticket reviews and having what (I assume) are very uncomfortable team huddles.
So far, I haven’t heard of any techs getting fired over AI. AI replacement isn’t the looming threat — crappy notes and non-standardized processes are.
And now, MSPs have a tool that can level the playing field in a matter of hours.
The intent was to build a client tool of the future. Turns out we built that, but we also built something that cleans up shop today to prepare for that same future.
The benefits are immediate. I’m no monk, and I have to assume you’re not either — we’ll both take the instant gratification, thanks very much.
And make no mistake, the client-facing utopia IS around the corner. I’m watching MSPs mesmerized by what it can do today, but we’re still sitting at 15% of its total power. If that.
Today, ServiceAI is helping service desk managers coach their techs to write client-facing notes like adults. It’s writing curated documentation for them that doesn't read like it was abandoned mid-thought. It’s guiding them on service desk data insights that don’t require a whip-happy archaeologist to decipher.
Tomorrow, the clients will use that same fuel to get what they need to solve their requests and issues, instantly. The MSPs I’m working with don’t just believe the vision. They share it with us. ServiceAI just gave them a path to get started on it now.
Like I said before, I've seen transformation. I've been a part of it. This is something different, something we've never seen before. This isn't just a productivity multiplier, it's full-on exponential. And it's not just transforming the service desk or the client experience. It's revolutionizing every corner of MSP operations.
Welcome to the real AI revolution. Don’t get left behind and stay tuned — the best has yet to come.
AI-powered MSPs are handling fewer tickets, using less labor, delivering better results, and keeping clients happier. Learn more about CloudRadial ServiceAI here.
Ready to see if ServiceAI is right for your MSP? Book a demo here.