Gaidar Magdanurov, President at Acronis

As Digital Transformation accelerates across the Middle East, Managed Service Providers are evolving into strategic partners delivering automation, resilience and AI-driven innovation at scale. Gaidar Magdanurov, President at Acronis, tells us how AI is reshaping the MSP landscape, driving new service models, outcome-based pricing and a shift towards more intelligent, automated and value-led delivery.

The region’ s enterprises have accelerated Digital Transformation at a pace far outstripping global averages, driven by bold government visions, hyperscale cloud expansion and an increasingly sophisticated cyberthreat environment. What began as a predominantly infrastructure-focused outsourcing model has matured into a strategic, value-driven partnership, with MSPs now supporting mission-critical workloads, zero-trust architectures and 24 / 7 availability expectations across both the public and private sectors.

Today, the convergence of AI adoption, rising cybersecurity complexity and a persistent regional skills gap is amplifying demand for MSPs once again. Gulf enterprises, from financial institutions and healthcare providers to energy leaders and government entities, are seeking partners who can deliver automation, resilience, compliance and digital innovation at scale. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, both among the world’ s highest per-capita investors in AI, will act as early adopers of AI-driven MSP delivery models.

Against this backdrop, the MSP model is more relevant than ever, and 2026 is poised to become a pivotal year for how service providers operate, compete and deliver value.

AI opens a new era for MSPs

AI is already having a dramatic impact on the MSP business, and that impact will accelerate in 2026. For many MSP business owners and technicians who are already overwhelmed by customer issues and racing to close tickets swiftly, this shift can

feel difficult to grasp fully. Yet AI is already here, transforming the industry. The most productive and profitable MSPs will redesign how they operate and use AI to automate their workflows.

As this shift gathers pace, the most immediate and visible change will be the rise of AI-driven automation across day-to-day MSP operations.

The most immediate and visible change will be the rise of AI-driven automation across day-to-day MSP operations.

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