‘We have our MSP practice, our security department and we’re creating a third department that’s comprised of content coming out of our project department that’s going to be our automation and AI division. We’re going to automate and use AI internally as well as RPA to streamline our practices within the IT business,’ says Timothy Guim, president and CEO of PCH Technologies.

Timothy Guim is placing his bets on automation and AI and believes that’s where the majority of IT spend will go this year.

“This year, there’s going to be more automation,” he told CRN. “Automation and AI, looking later in the year, is a topic where people I think will spend some more money.”

Guim, president and CEO of Sewell, N.J.-based MSP PCH Technologies, is first using AI and automation internally to streamline business operations before taking it to his customer base.

“We’ve been using automation at PCH to help some of our help-desk tasks and we’re using ChatGPT to help us develop security policies, in our marketing department, and we’re using it to develop the beginnings of social posts but not the final content,” he said.

In fact, he’s developing a whole new sector of his business dedicated to AI, automation and robotic process automation to better handle projects for customers.

“The automation and AI component is really the big push,” he said. “It’s going to allow us to use all these tools internally so we understand how they work and how they function. To have an automation department is going to allow us to scale our operations because there’s a huge shortage in cybersecurity and even help desk when it comes to talent.”

CRN spoke with Guim about his investments in AI, what he wants more of from vendors and his biggest customer challenges.

Where did your customers have the most IT spend last year, and is that changing this year?

The biggest increases last year were in cybersecurity and adding additional services there, but also there were a lot of projects that were completed in 2023. For us that was a big area, especially in the fourth quarter we had a lot of security projects as well as migrations to the cloud. This year, there’s going to be more automation. Automation and AI, looking later in the year, is a topic where people I think will spend some more money.

You mentioned AI, how are you implementing AI into your business?

We’ve been using automation at PCH to help some of our help-desk tasks and we’re using ChatGPT to help us develop security policies, in our marketing department, and we’re using it to develop the beginnings of social posts but not the final content. This year we’re developing a new arm. We have our MSP practice, our security department and we’re creating a third department that’s comprised of content coming out of our project department that’s going to be our automation and AI division. We’re going to automate and use AI internally as well as RPA [robotic process automation] to streamline our practices within the IT business.

The automation and AI component is really the big push. It’s going to allow us to use all these tools internally so we understand how they work and how they function. To have an automation department is going to allow us to scale our operations because there’s a huge shortage in cybersecurity and even help desk when it comes to talent. Since we’re using these tools internally, we’re going to look at these different verticals. How can we help all our construction clients with a particular AI challenge? How can we help our manufacturing clients with an AI challenge?

Where are you placing your bets in terms of industry trends?

I think security is still No. 1. I also think it’s the investigation of AI and how AI can be used by the SMB. A business owner has to embrace AI from the top down and use AI to change their processes. That’s a big area that I see as far as being able to provide some value.

When it comes to cybersecurity, is it still an ongoing conversation to educate your customers about cyber insurance and cyber warranty?

The big thing that we’re trying to do at PCH is 90 days before the cyber renewal we’re trying to have that discussion with our security department and insurance because people buy insurance and may not know exactly what they have. Now that we have a cyber warranty, the cyber warranty can fill the deductible of the cyber insurance policy. They may be able to increase their deductibles and have more coverage. That’s the biggest conversation we’re having with security this year—around cyber warranties and the cyber insurance and how to pair them together.

What is your customers’ biggest challenge and how are you tackling that?

I think some of the challenges that we have for our clients is trying to balance the cost of cybersecurity because there are inflationary pressures on them—and trying to make sure that they’re protected at a reasonable cost. You have to make sure you have a package that’s going to balance those items out. More business owners are understanding that cyber protections are going to cost more but it’s protecting the revenue and their revenue line. It’s a matter of explaining the rationale of why we have to increase the cyber spend, but there’s been enough experience in the SMB space where people have heard of these things actually occurring, which has made it easier for them to understand the risk.

What is your biggest challenge?

One is finding the right team members, but I have inflationary pressures as well. I have a really great team at PCH and you need to reward them year over year. It costs money to educate, it costs money for salary increases and then health insurance goes up. I have to either go back to my clients for an increase or I have to make a capital investment in IT with automation and AI. I’m looking at RPA and AI and we’re going to invest some capital to get a return on investment that will allow us to still have scale and help with inflationary pressures.

What do you want more of from your vendors?

If it’s a product, it’s something that’s built for the MSP in mind, multi-tenant and has a channel-only focus. I also look for partnerships long term with vendors and that comes down to working together as a team. I also want a good marketing program—it’s something that we lead with—and an MDF program that we can work in tandem with to lead that particular security product.

What do you want to see more of in the channel?

I would like to see more educational opportunities for MSPs. I also think, and this is totally left field here, there should be a third-party way to validate running an MSP. If you’re an electrician, you need to get an actual certification. But to be an MSP, you just open up a shop. You have access to all kinds of information for these clients, so I wish there was some type of certification where people are actually vetted as MSPs. You should have knowledge of insurance, knowledge of risk and knowledge of governance. MSPs are still a very unregulated market, and I’m not for overregulating what we’re doing but there should be at least some standards in place.