AI PRACTICE READINESS CHECKLIST
Six checks. Answer them honestly. If you fail two or more, you are not blocked, you just know what to fix first instead of spending money on the wrong thing.
01Your clients are already asking
Two or more clients have asked you an AI question in the last quarter and you answered for free.
Nobody has asked. Building an offering ahead of demand means guessing at what you are selling.
02You have a builder who is not you
One existing employee, technical or ops, who can spend four to six hours a week on this and will still be there in six months.
The only candidate is you, or someone you think is leaving. Capability that lives in the owner is not capability.
03You know what you are already spending on AI
You could produce a list today of every AI tool and AI feature you pay for, with costs and owners.
You are not sure. That is normal, and it is the first thing to fix. You cannot price an offering when you do not know your own baseline.
04You have a written AI policy
There is a document that says what data can go into which tools, and your team has read it.
Your techs are pasting client data into chat windows and nobody has said otherwise. This is the highest-risk gap on this list.
05Your PSA and RMM have usable data
Tickets are categorized consistently enough that you could pull a report and believe it.
Categorization is inconsistent and documentation is thin. Not a disqualifier, but it changes what you can automate first and it will surface early.
06You are not selling the business in the next two years
You plan to still own this MSP in 2029. A practice takes six months to build and longer to compound.
You are heading for an exit. Spend the money on clean financials and transferable operations instead.
HOW TO READ YOUR ANSWERS
Five or six ready. You are ready to build. The constraint is sequencing, not capability.
Three or four ready. Build, but expect the first month to be spent closing the gaps. That is normal and it is where most owners start.
Two or fewer. Fix the fundamentals first. Usually that means the policy and the spend inventory, both of which you can do yourself in a few weeks.
WANT THIS SCORED?
Same six questions, scored, with a written read on where you stand and what to do first.
Ready to start? See the AI Practice Build engagement or read how to build an AI practice inside your MSP.