As enterprises accelerate AI adoption and face an increasingly complex web of cybersecurity and data protection requirements, managed service providers are finding new opportunities to expand beyond traditional IT support and into continuous compliance services.
Brian Harmison, CEO of Corsica Technologies, says customers are no longer looking for occasional audit preparation or checkbox exercises.
Instead, they want ongoing guidance on governance, security controls, and regulatory obligations—particularly as AI usage spreads across organizations faster than many leaders can keep up with.
MSPs face growing demand for always-on compliance support
For MSPs, that shift changes the role they play with customers. Compliance can no longer sit outside the core managed services relationship as occasional audit support.
“For us as MSPs, that also requires us to shift our thinking from audit support and compliance support to really providing that compliance day in and day out,” he said. “The businesses we work with are counting on that happening, whether we are [already] doing it or not.”
AI is pushing compliance conversations into the boardroom
AI has added urgency to those conversations. Harmison said most businesses now recognize that employees are already using AI tools, whether or not formal governance policies are in place.
“Every single business has someone in it that is leveraging AI,” he said. “The question is, are they leveraging it in a way that protects your business, your patients, your customers, your employees, or are they doing it… in a way that helps them get their job done, but might be exposing you to undue risk.”
That concern is especially pronounced in regulated sectors. In financial services, Harmison said some regional banks are blocking the use of AI entirely until regulators provide clearer guidance.
While they have formal guardrails in place, that isn’t necessarily slowing down AI adoption, and it certainly isn’t reducing the demand for that tooling in workplaces focused on compliance.
“We’re wired to make our lives easier, not harder, and AI is viewed now, I think, by most in the workforce, as something that makes life easier,” Harmison said. “In any business today that says AI is not being used by their employees just has their blinders on and isn’t open to reality.”
US regulatory landscape complexity creates a channel opportunity
The broader regulatory environment is also becoming harder for internal IT teams to track.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposed updates to the HIPAA Security Rule in January 2025, while the Department of Defense finalized its CMMC program rule in 2024.
Public companies are also subject to SEC cybersecurity disclosure rules that require material cyber incidents to be reported within four business days after determining materiality.
Those examples reflect the complexity that Harmison said is creating opportunities for MSPs.
“It starts to become a lot for IT teams to keep up with. And it’s a lot for an MSP to keep up with too,” he said. “It requires some focus.”
“When I think about the opportunity for MSPs, coming in with some expertise around how do we track this? How do we stay on top of these regulations in a way that lets us take that burden off of a team that needs to keep a business running? It is a really, really great opportunity,” he continued.
Compliance services create a growth opportunity for MSPs
For MSPs, the opportunity is not just selling another compliance tool, Harmison said. It requires building internal expertise and turning that knowledge into a repeatable service delivery model.
“You have to be focused on gaining some of that expertise and then really building it into your service delivery model,” Harmison said.
He argued that compliance conversations are also becoming easier as business leaders become more aware of cyber risk and the need for stronger controls. Instead of resisting measures such as MFA or vulnerability management, more customers are beginning to view them as necessary operating requirements.
The need for clean, organized data to properly integrate AI into a business is also sparking renewed interest in conversations about data loss prevention and data security, according to Harmison.
“So, it starts around data loss prevention and data protection. And we know, we hope we know, the government will be most focused on protecting individuals’ information and any of that PII, and intellectual property as well,” Harmison said. “And so those are the two areas that are really important.”
“I look at compliance as helping businesses do the right thing,” he added.
Customers look for strategic MSP advisors
That creates an opening for MSPs to become more strategic with customers, especially as AI, data protection, and regulatory requirements intersect.
Harmison said MSPs that have built true partnership relationships can move beyond ticket support and maintenance conversations into discussions about business value, governance, and risk reduction.
“An MSP should be, and typically is, much better suited than a small IT team to stay on top of compliance,” he said. “The pressures of running and growing the business are too high to combine that with the specialized knowledge that is required.”
For Harmison, the opportunity for MSPs extends beyond helping customers pass audits. As compliance obligations become more continuous and AI introduces new governance challenges, he expects organizations to rely more heavily on partners that can translate regulatory complexity into operational guidance.