To be listed in this index, an MSP must meet at least one of the following: Qualifying on one is enough. Most listed MSPs meet several, and the pages below set out how each is read, what evidence the index accepts, and where operations most often overstate the claim.
The seven criteria
- Product-led salesMost MSPs are sold, not bought. A product-led MSP inverts that, and the inversion shows up in the contract long before it shows up in the marketing.
- Automated onboardingOnboarding is the most labour-intensive month of an MSP relationship and the one clients judge hardest. It is also the easiest place to see whether the automation is real.
- AI-first ticketingThis criterion is about order of operations, not outcomes. Whatever the channel, the first thing that touches the ticket is an agent.
- AI ticket resolutionClosing five per cent of tickets with AI is an improvement. Closing most of the Tier 1 volume is a different business model. This criterion is about which one you are running.
- AI-maintained documentationEvery MSP has documentation. The question this criterion asks is whether it describes the environment as it is today, and what keeps it that way.
- Margin and headcountAn MSP where the numbers are indistinguishable from a conventional shop is a conventional shop with better marketing.
- Client transparencyDisclosure is now the criterion with a regulatory floor underneath it, and the floor is lower than what a client will actually ask for.
Where the criteria came from
They are the operating characteristics that separate an MSP built around AI agents from one that has bought AI tooling. The full definition, what this index is not, and how submissions are reviewed sit on What is an AI-Native MSP?. The commercial argument behind them is set out in Automation Arbitrage.