A few months ago, I had the opportunity to share how our organization is leveraging AI to accelerate marketing and demand gen at one of the largest IT services provider conferences in the U.S. My presentation opened the door for me to spend time at IT Nation Connect Global with a focus on capturing insights into how our peers and technology vendors were using AI across the businesses.
Key Takeaways
- AI delivers measurable ROI for small businesses when implemented as a business process strategy — not a software purchase.
- Automation reshapes employee focus toward higher-value work rather than replacing teams.
- Organizations that start small, leverage existing data, and align AI with operational outcomes will reap the rewards more quickly.
The big question we have at Exigent is likely the same as other business leaders: Is artificial intelligence really going to change how our business (and other small to mid-sized organizations) operate — or is this just another wave of hype?
I attended every AI-focused session I could, listening to some amazing presentations from forward-thinking MSPs and vendors, and I can tell you this: AI is not just a technology trend. It's a business process investment — and the organizations that approach it that way will be the ones that win. Probably not what you expected to hear at a tech conference, but true nonetheless.
Let's talk about other assertions that caught my attention.
Automation Isn't Coming — It's Already Here
One of the most striking statements I heard at the event was this: Up to 50% of today's work-related repetitive tasks could be automated within the next 3-5 years. That timeline might be a stretch, but keep in mind that we aren't saying the work will be done by AI, but rather tasks will be automated. The outcome isn't that AI will replace people — it's that AI-enabled tools will reshape what tasks people spend their time doing. At Exigent, we use automation to tackle repeatable tasks in our processes so our incredibly smart engineers (and other team members) are free to do more impactful work for our clients. That's a win for everyone.
However, using automation to empower your team demands a choice:
- Continue operating with yesterday's processes and cross your fingers, or
- Intentionally invest in smarter, more scalable ways of working
The latter choice is where many smaller organizations will face their first challenge. Is your company willing to slow down and take a look at HOW it works before trying to integrate AI and automation? A messy, ineffective process may get done more quickly with automation, but it isn't going to impact operations in a measurable way. It's just a faster, automated process that remains messy and ineffective.
That leads us to the second takeaway that resonated with me.
AI Value to SMBs Comes From Business Process Automation
One theme came through repeatedly in sessions that ranged from how to use AI in your service department to improving cybersecurity with AI is this: AI is only as valuable as the business processes it supports.
Too many companies are approaching AI as a tool purchase:
- "Should we get Microsoft Copilot?"
- "Do we need a chatbot?"
- "What platform should we adopt?"
But the better question is: Where are we losing time, consistency, or visibility today — and could AI help improve that?
At Exigent, this is exactly how we think through AI and automation within our business. We start with outcomes, not features.
AI works best when it's tied directly to operational efficiency and improvement, not experimentation for fun.
What does that look like? Well, you can see it already working within our MSP organization. Marketing leverages AI for time-consuming tasks such as proofreading, keyword searches, and data crunching. We also leverage AI within tools such as HubSpot to fill gaps in our CRM records using transcripts from onboarding calls. A whole lot of working smarter, not harder.
In our service department, an automated AI phone attendant steps in when dispatchers are already engaged with customers, helping to route additional service requests or questions to the right place so clients are not left sitting on hold. Those are just a few examples of where and how Exigent has found ways to resolve challenges by identifying areas where repetitive tasks could be handled by a "smart" tool and positively impact both internal resources and the customer experience.
Data Is Oxygen for AI
Another message from the conference hit me hard: Data is oxygen for AI. For MSPs, data is no problem; we already lean heavily on patterns, alerts, and reports. But it isn't only service providers that have more data than they realize. Most organizations that serve customers have similar information:
- Customer support/service tickets
- Internal documentation
- Customer interactions such as surveys
- Operational metrics
- IoT measurements
- Financial or inventory data
- Marketing and demand generation reports
The opportunity isn't to collect more data. It's learning how to use the data you already have to drive smarter decisions, faster execution, and better customer experience. That's where AI becomes a real game-changer. Finding patterns in data is one of AI's greatest strengths. For many small businesses, the first step to harnessing the power of AI is to think about what data you have and what analysis would help inform an improved way of doing business. Once you think about what information would help you make the right changes, you can work back through the right process for collecting it, what tool might work best to find patterns, and who should be involved in the process.
Some examples:
- Purchase patterns (day, time, season, type of purchase, etc.) can improve ordering and staffing decisions
- Service call patterns can improve customer service by highlighting the type of calls and guiding projects, such as the creation of knowledge documents to answer common questions, as well as guide staffing decisions
- Identifying what marketing and demand gen campaigns perform best in what regions can guide spending decisions
Overall: Start Slow and Remain Steady
Last but not least: Nearly every session emphasized starting small, piloting limited use cases, and then growing AI usage as your team gained confidence.
Overall, my biggest takeaway was that AI is about business outcomes, not new technology tools. AI adoption isn't an IT project but rather a business strategy based on using artificial intelligence in places where it will save your organization time, eliminate human error, take over repeatable tasks, and leave your human resources with time to focus on impactful actions that no AI product can accomplish.
The companies that will benefit most aren't necessarily the most technical. They're the ones asking better questions:
- Could AI reduce friction in our operations?
- Could it help our teams focus on higher-value work?
- Could it improve consistency for our customers?
- What risks or compliance needs must we address first?
This is why we believe our role as your MSP is to continue to serve as a business technology partner — consultative, aligned, and deeply connected to your goals. Together, we'll figure out where AI and automation might help your team do more with less. Next week we'll talk about where AI can deliver ROI for smaller businesses.
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