Role: CEO, Digital Origin
What’s been your business high point of the last 12 months?
Our standout achievement has been launching our AI and automation product set and successfully embedding it into both our internal operations and client offerings. We’ve moved beyond theory into real-world impact, automating service desk workflows, improving response times, and enhancing customer experience at scale. Importantly, it’s also opened up new higher-margin revenue streams, positioning us as more than a traditional MSP.
Name one thing your company is looking to achieve in 2026
In 2026, we want to fully commercialise AI and automation as a core pillar of our proposition, not just an add-on. That means standardising offerings, driving adoption across our entire client base, and making it a key growth and margin lever. The goal is to be seen by clients as an AI-enabled services partner, not just an infrastructure provider. This also focuses on becoming more outcomes led and driving partnership through these client successes.
What keeps you awake at night as a partner leader?
Execution risk as we scale is the biggest concern, particularly maintaining service quality while growing at pace. It only takes a handful of poor enterprise experiences to damage reputation and stall growth momentum. Alongside that, I’m constantly focused on ensuring we don’t dilute margin chasing the wrong revenue.
Is AI being over-hyped?
AI is over-hyped in terms of speed of adoption, but under-estimated in terms of long-term impact. Most businesses are still experimenting, whereas we’re already seeing tangible efficiency gains and commercial opportunities through automation-led delivery. The real differentiator will be those who operationalise AI, not just talk about it.
AI is currently being over‑hyped as vendors push adoption and usage, particularly into the SMB market where the narrative is often ahead of the commercial reality. In practice, few organisations are fully accounting for the medium‑term cost implications, including tokenisation-based pricing models, the ongoing escalation in underlying compute and hardware costs, and the cumulative impact this has on total cost of ownership.
There is also an under-discussed flexibility risk: businesses are being encouraged to embed AI deeply into operations before fully understanding whether they retain the ability to revert to human-led delivery models if outcomes fall short or economics shift.
While there are genuine efficiency gains and opportunities emerging, the current market messaging tends to prioritise rapid adoption over measured, financially disciplined implementation. The real differentiator will not be who adopts AI fastest, but who does so with a clear view of cost, control, and long-term operational resilience.
What’s been your most successful internal AI project to date, and why?
Our most successful project has been AI-driven service desk automation, particularly around ticket triage, knowledge surfacing, and first-line response generation. It’s reduced resolution times, improved consistency, and allowed us to scale without linear headcount growth. The key success factor was aligning it tightly with our existing tooling and processes rather than treating it as a separate initiative.
Can you share a surprising prediction about how the UK IT channel will evolve over the next 5 years?
The mid-market MSP space will consolidate aggressively, but not everyone will benefit from it. Many smaller providers will struggle to remain relevant as clients demand broader capability across IT, cyber, and connectivity from a single partner. The surprising part is that valuation gaps between “platform MSPs” and traditional resellers will widen dramatically.
The mid-market MSP space should see consolidation over the next five years, but the benefits will be unevenly distributed. Many smaller providers will struggle to remain relevant as clients increasingly demand integrated capability across IT, cyber, and connectivity from a single partner. The more surprising outcome is that valuation gaps between “platform MSPs” and traditional resellers will widen significantly, reflecting the premium placed on scalable, multi-service delivery models.
At the same time, the rise of AI-led service delivery is likely to create a structural skills gap across the industry. As level-one support and routine queries become increasingly automated, the traditional entry points into the sector will narrow. This risks widening the gap between junior and experienced engineers, as businesses shift their hiring focus towards more technically capable resources from the outset. Over time, this could constrain talent pipelines andi ncrease wage inflation for skilled staff, creating a longer-term challenge for the channel that sits alongside consolidation.
Which tech gizmo (hardware or software) could you not function without?
Microsoft 365 is foundational – it underpins how we operate, collaborate, and serve clients. Beyond that, our PSA/RMM stack is the engine of the business; without it, we lose operational control overnight. Increasingly, AI-enabled tooling layered on top of both is becoming just as critical.
Which three famous people, dead or alive, would you invite to a dinner party?
I’d invite Satya Nadella for his perspective on platform transformation and culture. Steve Jobs, to challenge thinking around product simplicity and customer experience. And Winston Churchill, for leadership insight under pressure and long-term strategic thinking.
If you had a warning label, what would it say?
“Relentlessly focused on outcomes, low tolerance for inefficiency.”
I’m very commercial in my thinking and will prioritise decisions that drive measurable impact. That can be uncomfortable, but it ensures the business moves forward at pace.
Which tech figurehead has impressed you the most this year, and why?
Satya Nadella continues to stand out for how he’s positioned Microsoft at the centre of the AI ecosystem. He’s managed to combine innovation with commercial execution at global scale. From a channel perspective, that clarity of direction creates real opportunity for MSPs like us.
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