Every quarter, GCIT owners James and Elliot Munro join a room full of MSP owners who open their books, share their wins and failures, and push each other to run better businesses. That’s the idea behind IT Nation Evolve, and it’s one of the reasons we keep showing up.
Why does this matter for our clients? Because the ideas, benchmarks, and strategies we bring back directly shape how we deliver IT support, plan technology roadmaps, and invest in new capabilities. The Q1 2026 APAC meeting ran over three days and covered serious ground: AI-powered service delivery, a framework for delivering better and more consistent support, and a keynote from Dr Jason Fox on why smart businesses need to stop running on autopilot.
Here’s what stood out, and what it means for the businesses we support.
What Is IT Nation Evolve?
If you haven’t heard of IT Nation Evolve (formerly ConnectWise Evolve), think of it as a board of advisors made up of people who run similar businesses in different markets. Because nobody in the room competes with each other, the conversations are unusually honest.
Each group meets quarterly for two days. Members share financial performance, operational metrics, and real challenges. A facilitator keeps things focused and holds everyone accountable to the commitments they made last quarter.
The results speak for themselves. Evolve members report an average 24% improvement in EBITDA and 20% faster revenue growth compared to non-members. After 25 years and over 1,000 members globally, the program has a solid track record.
For our clients, the value is simple: we’re constantly benchmarking our service delivery, pricing, and technology investments against the best-run MSPs in the region. When a new approach works well for another provider, we hear about it quickly and can apply it to how we look after your business.
The “Automate First” Curve Jump
One of the most significant ideas from this quarter came from Service Leadership Inc (SLI), ConnectWise’s benchmarking and research division. They’ve been tracking what they call “Curve Jumps” in the MSP industry for over 20 years.
The concept is straightforward. The industry has gone through two major transitions:
- Onsite First (1995-2005): Technicians drove to your office to fix things. You waited for someone to show up.
- Remote First (2005-2024): Remote monitoring tools meant most issues could be fixed without a site visit. Faster resolution, less disruption to your day.
- Automate First (2024 onwards): AI and automation handle routine tasks before a human even needs to look at them. Issues get resolved faster, and some are prevented entirely.
Each of these transitions delivered a step change in the client experience. The move from onsite to remote meant you didn’t have to wait for a technician to drive across town. The move to automation means many problems are detected and resolved before you even notice them.
SLI announced they’re releasing an Automation Index in Q2 2026 to help MSPs benchmark how effectively they’re making this transition. For clients choosing an IT provider, this will eventually become a useful way to compare how well different MSPs are actually using the tools they claim to have.
GCIT has been investing in AI and automation for over a decade, from PowerShell scripting to Azure AI workflows. The “Automate First” framework validates the direction we’ve been heading. But more importantly for our clients, the shift means faster response times, fewer recurring issues, and a service desk that’s getting smarter with every ticket.
Dr Jason Fox: Leading Beyond the Default
Dr Jason Fox is an Australian motivational scientist, bestselling author, and self-described “wizard philosopher.” His keynote, “Leading Beyond the Default,” was one of the highlights of the community day.
His central argument: most businesses are trapped in default thinking. They keep doing what worked last year without questioning whether it still makes sense. The problem isn’t laziness. It’s that momentum itself can prevent you from adapting.
A few ideas that stuck with us:
The Progress Principle. Research from Harvard Business Review found that a clear sense of progress is the number one motivator for knowledge workers, more than recognition, incentives, or interpersonal support. That’s true for our team and for yours. When people can see how their work contributes to bigger goals, they do better work.
Rituals matter more than you think. Fox made the case that workplace rituals (the weekly morning tea, the Friday afternoon debrief) are “canaries in the coal mine” for team health. When businesses cut these in the name of efficiency, they often lose the invisible glue that holds teams together. He warned against a “relentless quest to pursue efficiency in every aspect,” citing Jevons paradox: time freed up by efficiency gains is often just swallowed by more work.
We see this at GCIT with things like our fortnightly office barbecues. They’re not a productivity hack, they just keep the team connected. A strong, happy team delivers better support. It sounds simple because it is.
The Cynefin framework. Different types of problems (clear, complicated, complex, chaotic) require different approaches. You can’t solve a complex problem with a checklist, and you shouldn’t waste creative energy on a simple one. This is something we think about constantly on the service desk. A password reset needs a fast, repeatable process. A full infrastructure redesign needs creative thinking and careful planning. Knowing the difference is what separates good IT support from great IT support.
Fox will be keynoting IT Nation Connect in August, so there’ll be another chance to hear him speak.
AI Is Already Changing How You Get Support
The Day 2 sessions included a deep dive into AI-powered service delivery, and the demonstrations showed exactly where client support is heading.
The core idea is what’s being called “Intelligent Service Delivery.” It brings together three components:
- System of record - the platform where your support tickets live
- System of action - automation tools that execute fixes
- Intelligence layer - AI that connects the two, learning from thousands of past tickets to resolve issues faster
When these three work together, the result is a noticeable difference in how quickly your issues get resolved. Instead of a ticket sitting in a queue waiting for a technician, AI can immediately classify the problem, suggest or apply a fix, and in many cases resolve it end-to-end without a human touching it.
MSPs using this approach, including GCIT, are already seeing real improvements. Some providers are closing 10-15% of tickets entirely with AI, no human intervention needed. Case studies shared at Evolve showed a 60% improvement in time to resolution across all ticket types, and customer satisfaction actually went up, not down. It turns out people care more about getting their problem fixed quickly than whether a person or an AI did it.
What does this look like in practice? Think about common issues like password resets, permission requests, VPN problems, or printer issues. AI can handle the triage instantly, and in many cases apply the fix within minutes. For more complex problems, AI prepares everything a technician needs so they can jump straight to the solution instead of spending time diagnosing.
This is exactly the direction we’re building with Azure AI at GCIT. We already use it for triage and automation, and sessions like this help us validate our approach and identify what to build next. The goal is simple: when you contact our service desk, you get a faster, smarter response every time.
A Framework for Better, More Consistent Support
One of the most practical exercises of the week was a framework for improving what the industry calls Service Gross Margin. We won’t bore you with the accounting, but here’s why it matters for clients: when an MSP runs efficiently, the service you receive is more consistent, more proactive, and better value.
The “Three E’s” framework breaks this into three areas, and each one directly affects the quality of support you receive:
Economy (getting the business model right)
- Clear, consistent agreements so you always know what’s included and there are no surprises on your invoice
- A clear line between support tickets and projects, so small issues get fixed fast and bigger work gets planned properly
- Smarter vendor management, which helps keep the cost of your IT environment competitive
Efficiency (making the service desk faster)
- Automating repetitive tasks so technicians spend their time on problems that actually need a human
- Real-time ticket tracking so nothing falls through the cracks
- Ongoing training so our team can resolve more issues on the first call
Environment (keeping your technology healthy)
- Standardised devices and infrastructure across your business, which means fewer compatibility issues and easier support
- Proactive monitoring that catches problems before they become outages
- Regular technology reviews to make sure your setup still fits how your business works
When an MSP gets these three areas right, clients notice the difference: fewer disruptions, faster fixes, and technology that just works. That’s always the goal.
ConnectWise Is Investing in Australia
The community day opened with a strategic update from ConnectWise leadership, and the message was clear: APAC is a priority.
Three developments that matter for Australian businesses:
More local support. ConnectWise is expanding its APAC presence with more resources and partner support, which means better tools and faster improvements for MSPs like GCIT.
Better integrations. The focus is on making it easier for MSPs to work across their toolset with less friction. For clients, that translates to smoother workflows and fewer manual handoffs behind the scenes.
Australian data centre. ConnectWise confirmed a new data centre will launch in APAC in the second half of 2026. For businesses dealing with data sovereignty requirements, or those who simply prefer their data stays in the region, this is a significant development.
They also announced the ZofiQ acquisition, bringing AI-driven automation capabilities into the ConnectWise ecosystem, reinforcing the “Automate First” direction.
What This Means for Our Clients
We don’t attend Evolve just for the networking (although the morning runs are a highlight). Every session feeds directly into how we run our service desk, price our agreements, and plan technology roadmaps for the businesses we support.
From this quarter, here’s what we’re putting into action:
- Faster, smarter support. The AI service delivery demos confirmed that our investment in Azure AI automation is on the right track. We’re expanding what our service desk can resolve automatically, which means shorter wait times and fewer escalations for you.
- More consistent service. The Three E’s framework gave us a practical checklist for tightening up every part of our operation. Consistent service shouldn’t depend on who picks up the phone.
- Better technology planning. Being in a room with other MSP leaders means we hear about emerging tools, risks, and opportunities before they hit the mainstream. That insight feeds directly into the recommendations we make for your business.
- Validated approach. The “Automate First” curve aligns with where GCIT has been heading for years. We’re not chasing a trend. We’ve been building toward this for over a decade.
The Bottom Line
IT Nation Evolve is one of the few industry programs where MSP owners are genuinely open about their numbers, their struggles, and their strategies. That kind of transparency is rare, and it makes everyone in the room better at what they do.
For our clients, it means GCIT is constantly pressure-testing our approach against the best in the business. We’re not guessing at what works. We’re benchmarking, learning, and implementing, and you benefit from every session.
If you want to know more about how GCIT is using AI and automation to deliver better managed IT support, or if you’re due for a technology review, get in touch. We’re always happy to chat.
