Data Security: The Next Frontier of Managed Services Opportunity in the Age of AI

According to Canalys, investment in cybersecurity has outpaced the broader tech market since 2022, with total spending on cybersecurity coming in at $18.6 billion in 2023 alone. As AI adoption continues to kick into gear in 2024 and 2025, cybersecurity − and in particular data security − will become an increasingly critical piece of the AI adoption puzzle, since a growing number of organizations have begun to recognize the need to secure and optimize their data in order to achieve secure, sustainable success with AI. 

So, Why Are Data Security and Information Management Necessary for AI Success? 

According to Gartner, generative AI has passed what it calls the peak of inflated expectations — an early phase in the cycle of technology adoption where excitement about a new technology outpaces or exceeds its actual, still-unrealized effects. After the “peak,” Gartner tells us, comes the dramatically named “trough of disillusionment,” where technology users realize that they may have set unrealistic expectations around the timing and impact of the new technology.  

Today, with 80% of companies having increased their AI investments in 2024, per the AI and Information Management Report, I argue that we’ve now emerged from “trough” of disillusionment and entered a new phase of adoption, one in which early adopters of AI and the public in general have gained a better understanding of the limits and practical uses of the new technology, as well as practical barriers to adoption. As we exit the “trough” and start to think more practically about AI implementation, one thing has become clear: Data security and strong information management are critical to AI success. In fact, Gartner estimates that 30% of generative AI projects will be abandoned in 2025 due to “poor data quality” and “inadequate risk controls,” which illustrates this problem perfectly.  

When excitement about AI first started to build, the technology almost seemed like magic. But today, years after the release of ChatGPT kicked-off a tidal wave of public excitement, organizations have realized that AI success isn’t a magical phenomenon. Instead, it’s the product of careful planning and enablement, with deliberate data security and information management controls being a necessary part of that puzzle. 

Opportunity Abounds for Solution Providers and Adopters Alike 

According to McKinsey, AI is projected to eventually add $4.4 trillion a year to the global economy. With data security now a crucial piece of the AI adoption puzzle, solution providers need to act quickly to grasp the scope and scale of this opportunity so that they can fill this need in the market.  

By providing services and software to enhance data security and information management around AI, technology vendors, managed service providers (MSPs), value added resellers (VARs) and others can help their customers boost profits while also growing their business substantially. It’s not a zero-sum game, in other words. This is an emerging need in the market, and vendors and solution providers − in particular MSPs and channel partners − have a historic opportunity to capitalize on that need in a way that benefits them and their customers simultaneously, in similar ways.  

According to Research and Markets, a market intelligence consultancy, the total market for MSPs is projected to reach $520 billion by 2032 — that’s more than double the total value of that market for 2023. That’s a staggering level of growth, and while much of the story surrounding AI remains to be written, a substantial portion of that growth is expected to be related to AI and data security. In other words, the opportunity for MSPs and solution providers in particular is massive, and the time to act is now.  

As AI adoption continues to increase, the emphasis on data security and information management will become increasingly pivotal. Organizations and technology and solution providers must work together to meet these needs in order to ensure sustainable and secure AI success. With the market for MSPs projected to experience exponential growth, there is a significant opportunity for solution providers to meet the rising demand for robust data security solutions.