MSPs are always being asked to do more with less: just a day in the life of a digital transformation expert. Agentic AI may help them achieve just that. So, what are the fundamentals we all need to get to grips with—and did one provider really save its customers two billion minutes spent on hold?
Agentic AI, AI Agents, and Bots: What’s the Difference?
First off, let’s get our definitions straight…
Agentic AI is a broader term that describes a system that proactively makes decisions to carry out tasks in a changing environment. AI agents are designed to perform specific tasks, and are used either alone or as part of an Agentic AI structure. The cocktail party version: your smart home setup is agentic AI, and your calendar assistant is an AI agent. Agentic AI is the conductor of an AI-agent orchestra.
Bots are separate creatures because their responses are usually pre-determined. In other words, bots must stick to the script. The way bots talk like a person but act like a robot is often frustrating—as anyone using a company’s chatbot to answer a question has experienced firsthand, right?
Here are seven big ways in which Agentic AI and its agents are redefining the future for MSPs.
1. AI Agents Don’t Just Say—They Do
Forget static scripts and decision trees. The new breed of AI agents doesn’t just answer questions – they take action. Think automated incident triage, instant remediation of Level 1 issues, and backend integrations that let agents trigger workflows across your tech stack without human escalation.
With rising SLA pressure and mounting ticket volumes, automation that thinks and acts on your behalf can give you a real competitive edge. This is especially true in Europe, where localized, context-aware responses are important.
2. AI Agents Can Work Across All the Channels, All the Time
MSPs of all sizes are increasingly expected to provide around-the-clock service, especially when it comes to cybersecurity. Customers also want to reach you via whatever platform or medium suits them in their moment of need—be it chat, email, or phone call.
AI agents can be truly multimodal, connecting the dots and switching between communication channels as necessary.
Need a quick fix? Just call your friendly MSP agent, describe the issue, and you may have a solution in seconds.
But what if the problem needs escalating?
3. AI Agents Integrate with Human Experts
The hand-off from a help-bot to a real person is often clunky and nearly always one-way. AI agents are a different breed: they can work much more seamlessly with their human counterparts. They may directly escalate an issue, or they might contact a supervisor in the background to check something, while continuing to manage the interaction.
Modern agentic platforms don’t just hand off a problem when they hit a wall. They elevate with full context, propose resolutions, and can even draft the first message for your human tech to review and send. The client experiences continuity, not chaos.
For MSPs, this is especially powerful in tightly regulated sectors like finance or healthcare, where auditability and service transparency are hard requirements.
4. Agentic AI Can Connect the Whole Organization
MSPs need to think bigger and more broadly—not just in how they use AI agents within their businesses, but in understanding how the enterprise IT landscape is going to transform. Forget siloed systems and multiple platforms: AI agents can create a seamless experience, for both internal and external users.
This is not a “someday” scenario.
This is now.
Solution providers are scrambling for market share and offering end-to-end service management platforms. For example, Universal Agent from Atomic work claims to automate routine IT tasks, unify internal workflows, and deliver instant, contextual ITSM and ESM across Slack, Teams, and the browser.
“Whether it’s fixing your Mac issues, creating a purchase order, or researching a sales prospect—it works across your business apps, understands intent, and gets work done,” said Aparna Chugh, Head of Product at Atomicwork.
Sounds cool, right? And new services like this will undoubtedly expand the remit for MSPs.
5. If AI Agents Support Your People, Their Service Will Improve
Agentic AI may be a double-edged sword for MSP staff. Will it take their jobs, or will the support needed for clients’ AI systems create more work? Time will tell, but one thing is sure: spending your days resetting passwords is no one’s idea of fun. Hand that off to an always-eager AI agent, and everyone benefits.
“It frees human agents to focus on high-value tasks by automating routine inquiries, enhancing the speed and quality of service,” said Philipp Heltewig, CEO & Co-Founder of Cognigy, an agentic AI provider that reduced time on hold for its contact center customers by 2 billion minutes in 2024.
Human agents can use their time where it is needed most, whether that’s focusing on VIP users or the training that keeps them on top of evolving tech.
6. It’s Dangerous to Run Before You Can Walk
AI agents will be transformative for MSPs, and the time to engage is now. But tread carefully.
“If this is your first kind of foray into AI, don’t go too far into customer-facing applications until you’re comfortable that it will do the job,” advised tech analyst Jon Arnold.
Start with internal processes, and if things don’t go smoothly, the impact on customer trust will be minimized. Only roll out externally-facing agents when you are confident that customer trust is not at risk.
7. Agentic AI Creates Great Data and Personalization Feedback Loops
Agentic customer service isn’t just reactive—it learns. Systems that track client preferences, ticket history, infrastructure topology, and even personality cues (yes, really) can now tailor every interaction.
We’re seeing MSPs build dynamic service experiences based on individual client personas. Got a DevOps-heavy client who hates waiting on replies? Route them to a low-latency, API-based assistant. Have a traditional business that values voice calls? Use agents to prep the context before the line even rings.
And—as is the case with modern AI—the more you use it, the smarter it gets. The data generated with every interaction doesn’t just train the system: it also creates analytics and insight that can be used to drive strategy. Now that’s cool.
What Next?
The tipping point for MSPs’ use of agentic AI is coming: that moment when it goes from industry buzz to customer expectation. Register now for MSP GLOBAL and make sure you’re up to speed with the latest solutions and use cases that deliver real value to your customers and powerful ROI for your company.
