The impact of AI on the MSP business model

Today, I liken the impact of AI for MSPs to the scene inside the garbage crusher in the original Star Wars movie. On one side is the impact AI is having on the existing MSP model around configurations and maintenance and on the other is the challenge of how to provide new AI services to customers.

The starting point is to examine the current MSP business model which is largely based on a reactive approach, that is, get paid for fixing issues after they occur. The managed service that most MSP’s sell is a kind of insurance policy. This means the client agrees to pay a regularly fee per month and for that the MSP will ensure they are available to resolve issues that occur during that time period at no additional cost to the customer. The incentive then for the MSP is to thus reduce the chances of problems occurring by configuring systems to be as reliable as possible. However, no matter how much this is done things will still go wrong and require a reactive approach to resolution.

Enter AI. It is clear that AI is become more and more integrated into services sold to the customer. One simple example is Microsoft Security Copilot. This service can look across all the security signals in an environment and assist with investigations and incident response. We are beginning to see Microsoft Security Copilot being extended from a stand alone chat style interface to direct integration with Intune. This means that it can report and troubleshoot on policies used throughout Intune. At the moment this integration is largely just reporting but that ability to actually make changes and configure Intune directly cannot be far away. AI will soon be able to do the job of the MSP with Intune I would suggest.

Likewise, Security Copilot is also available in Defender XDR and Entra ID. I’m sure it won’t be long before it appears in places like Exchange Online and SharePoint Online as well as across the whole Microsoft 365 administration portals. In fact, that capability is already in preview (Copilot in Microsoft 365 admin centers). It won’t be long before it is available for every tenant. The Microsoft 365 administration portals used to be the sole purview of the MSP. No longer, AI will take up a lot of the load and probably allow customers to do most of the administration tasks that an MSP does today such as resetting accounts, creating users, assigning licenses, etc.

AI is really good a evaluating data and them coming to a decision about what option is best in a given circumstance. It is in fact probably going to be able to better evaluate the security of a customers environment and determine what settings should be enabled or disabled to provide this. What it will soon be able to do is actually take those recommended actions. In a world where AI is automatically handling the administration of a Microsoft 365 environment, what now is the role of an MSP, given the AI is largely doing what they used to do for a fee?

How will AI mitigate those challenging errors that also occur for users that you can’t plan for you may ask? Take a look at this example from the keynote at the last Microsoft Build conference :

https://youtu.be/8OviTSFqucI?si=j0oI1kbmbRgrvaSe&t=1260

(at time stamp 21:00 if needed)

It shows Copilot playing Minecraft by reacting to what is on the screen directly. Now extend that concept to desktop support where the AI is constantly watching and can interact directly with a user if an error appears. It may also get to the stage where the AI takes care of the error immediately without an interaction from the customer or MSP. AI today has the capability to see and talk based on its environment. As this matures I surely see it challenging the traditional help desk concept, especially for MSPs. Still not convinced? Take a look at this video of ChatGPT 4o interacting with data on the screen:

https://www.youtube.com/live/DQacCB9tDaw?si=j-KvPcNJwypvk1U9&t=1105

( at time stamp 18:34 if needed)

and remember that was back in May 2024! The capabilities have only increased since then (hello Sora)!

Can AI do every maintenance role that an MSP can do for their customers today? Not yet, but I very confident that it will do more and more over time (aka the walls are definitely coming in thanks to AI).

If AI is reducing the maintenance side of the MSP managed service model, where is the opportunity selling AI services to customers? When a customer wants Microsoft 365 Copilot, they simply buy a license and assign it to a user. That’s it! Microsoft 365 Copilot will automatically appear for the user as an icon that will open Copilot Bizchat so they now have an AI agent they can generate answers from. Microsoft 365 Copilot will automatically appear in all their desktop apps as well such as Word, Excel, Teams, and so on without the need for further configuration. Microsoft 365 Copilot will also automatically appear in SharePoint and Onedrive. The list goes on, Forms, Loop, etc, etc all without ANY further configuration.

As for AI training tools, they are already available such as Prompt Coach and are free. There is also the Copilot Prompt Gallery that the user has access to, again for free. There are also services like the Microsoft Copilot Academy available for free and integrated into the Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription. The list of free embedded training material is extensive. This is going to challenge an MSP to provide provide something that is better than what is already available and how will an MSP be able to charge a fee for that when quality embedded training is already available for free?

Once Microsoft 365 Coplot is in place I can’t see how it will need any maintenance. It doesn’t need password resets, it doesn’t need delivery troubleshooting, it doesn’t need to restored, it will just work. It won’t break or required support as other services MSPs supported did. In a world where services don’t require a managed maintenance service, how does the tradition MSP revenue model apply?

It is important to remember that Microsoft 365 Copilot doesn’t have any settings, such as for security. It relies on existing services like Entra ID, SharePoint permissions, DLP policies, Data Labelling and so on. These security settings really should already be in place prior to Microsoft 365 Copilot being enabled and once configured they largely won’t require any form on ongoing maintenance. As I have also suggested previously, I think the AI itself will play a bigger and bigger role in evaluating and acting to ensure Microsoft 365 environments remain constantly secure. Once again, the need to ongoing maintenance is reduced or eliminated which means another hit to the MSP business model.

The direction that most vendors like Microsoft are encouraging MSPs to move to is around building ‘apps’ or ‘agents’ for their customers to solve business challenges. The challenge there for MSPs, as I have called out before, is that fact that the majority are not skilled or experienced in the ‘creator’ model we see today. That model means taking tools such a Copilot Studio to create these ‘agents’. The big change to the MSP business model is thus a shift from reactive to proactive. Unfortunately, I just do not see any evidence of MSPs in general understanding or embracing this as part of their business. Most continue to place their faith in the old reactive business model, which introduces huge risks for their business. The biggest of these is that it allows an ‘AI aware’ provider to solve customer challenges with agents and then potentially scoop up the best of the business from the customer.

These are the reasons why I see most traditional (infrastructure focused) MSPs being stuck in the proverbial Star Wars compactor. Moving to an AI business model is a huge change in approach and it can certainly be done but I am not seeing it being embraced. To me, it harkens back to the early days of the cloud but I feel the AI transformation will have a far greater impact on MSPs of today than the cloud ever did. It is not too late to include a true focus on delivering AI effectively to customers while also using AI to minimise tenant maintenance costs but any effective strategy cannot be grounded in the status quo. You can’t expect to continue to apply the same old MSP business model and expect to be successful. The AI model is different. The AI model is proactive. The AI model is about code.

The walls are closing in from both sides on the traditional MSP business model from what I see and there is precious little time to escape. Much like in the Star Wars movie, the saviours to the compactor conundrum will be the bots (R2-D2 and C3PO in the movie), but not unless you invoke them.

Need to Know podcast–Episode 337

Welcome to 2025. Thanks so much for listening. A couple of ‘summary’ or ‘annual’ blog posts that are worth taking a look at. I also do some annual posts on my blog around what I used over the previous year if you wanted to know. I also share how I capture and work with information on a daily and the tools I use to achieve this. Let me know what works for you.

Brought to you by www.ciaopspatron.com

You can listen directly to this episode at:

https://ciaops.podbean.com/e/tools-of-the-workday/

Subscribe via iTunes at:

https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/ciaops-need-to-know-podcasts/id406891445?mt=2

or Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/7ejj00cOuw8977GnnE2lPb

Don’t forget to give the show a rating as well as send me any feedback or suggestions you may have for the show.

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The missed SMB AI opportunity

This is a follow to my article:

Talent versus Skill

As we now approach the 12 month anniversary of when Microsoft 365 Coplot was available widely in SMB (16 January 2024), I thought I’d reflect on what I see in the market.

It is my experience that only now, 12 months after the release of Microsoft 365 Copilot, are the most progressive resellers and MSPs orientating themselves to understand and make AI part of their business and what they offer to their customers. This means even the most progressive are already at least 12 months behind.

As I have said previously, I see the reaction to Ai from SMB IT Professionals and MSPs much like what happened with the move to the cloud. In short, that cynicism at best and denial at worst, seems to have again reappeared.

If you simply look at the business opportunity presented by AI it is hard for me to grasp why more IT Professionals and MSPs are not taking advantage of this unique opportunity for their business.

Most commentators agree that AI is one of the fastest adopted technologies in history and is now widely in use by individuals and business, because it part it is so easy to use. This explosive growth and penetration represents business opportunity that many IT Professionals and MSPs are well positioned to take advantage of, yet there seems to a hesitancy like there was moving to the cloud.

In fact, I see the IT Professional and MSP adoption curve with AI trending more and more away from adoption and integration into their businesses. To be brutally honest, the peak in that Reseller adoption curve, in my books, is at least 3 – 5 years behind already.

Thus, the adoption gap continues to increase. So too the opportunity.

Alternatively, if you look at the customer trends, you find they are adopting AI much faster and looking to integrate into their business to remain competitive. The net result is that customers and their IT providers are trending in opposite directions when it comes to adopting AI from what I see.

Any new technology requires re-tooling and an investment in knowledge. Both of these don’t magically just appear inside a business or an individual, they require a dedicated approach to integrating these as well as some work. From what I see, customers are prepared to do this work because they see the business benefits but most IT Providers don’t. To me, that represents a huge risk that many incumbent IT providers wil miss out on the opportunity that the AI wave presents. The worst case scenario is that customers will ‘do it themselves’ with any need of an IT Provider.

At its core I believe the mismatch I’m seeing is the result of the incumbent MSP model being ‘reactive’. That is, waiting until something breaks and then fix it. It is like the fire brigade that waits until the bell rings and then goes to put out the fire. I think we are shifting to work where more consideration has to be given to a proactive approach to solving business needs before they arise rather than waiting for them to happen and reacting. To many technology providers AI represents something that will ‘break’ the status quo and that is not something they desire.

A reactive business I would suggest is not appropriate in the age of AI. Why? Because Ai doesn’t break, doesn’t need configuring, doesn’t require on going maintenance, password resets, etc. The age of AI is all about software and creators not mechanics as most IT Providers are. The reality now is that you don’t need to be an ‘expert’ in your field, even when it comes technology. Many people, when augmented with Ai can perform a lot more tasks and topics than they ever could. The agent that I have built with Copilot Studio and publish into Teams to answer technical questions continues to amaze me daily with the quality of answers while reducing my need to do that manually. Why hasn’t every MSP implemented something like that in their business already? The tools are there to get more value from the knowledge in their business, make their lives easier and business more profitable.

Another factor I see is one of demographics. Most small MSPs are run by what you might euphemistically call ‘industry veterans’, meaning they have been doing what they do for a long time. This ‘time in business’ tends towards an inertia and a hesitancy to embrace or enthusiastically embrace change. The pace of technology change is increasing, not decreasing and that requires adaptation to the ever changing environment. This will always be challenging when the trend is to inertia.

A common approach with many SMB IT Providers is their belief that they have to do it all. Whether than belief comes from a desire for revenue or fear of competition, it is not something that is really possible in today’s diverse environment. Like ever other business, an IT provider runs a BUSINESS and the primary goal of any business is to make a profit to provide the freedom to grow, enjoy, help others, etc. Any business needs to make business decisions about what they do to generate revenue in their business. Sometimes, these business decisions are not easy. Generally, these decisions will also involve some form of risk. But, they need to be made for the business to succeed.

The simplest metric for making these decisions is profit. Will this decision generate my business more profit than this decision? Is the question du jour. This undoubtably means leaving somethings on the tables as well as abandoning others as time changes. To wit:

“You can’t do today’s job with yesterday’s methods and be in business tomorrow” – George W. Bush

The position that any business (or individual) is in today is a product of the choices they have made over time. Future success, thus, will also be a product of choices made now and into the future. All decisions come with a cost, the best choice for a business is the one which has the least risk and most profit opportunity?

Over many years, and having been through a few new technology cycles, I have learned that sometimes you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink. Sometimes, inertia is too powerful and change doesn’t happen no matter how much you try. A better use of effort is with those that want the opportunity change brings. The good news for those select few is that, thanks to inertia, your competition is much smaller than it probably is in existing business models.

I am not suggesting that you throw the baby out with the bathwater here when it comes to AI and wholesale abandon business models that are currently profitable. What I am suggesting is to look to the future and see where the ‘ball is going’ and be there to meet it. Today, that only takes a small investment but overtime that investment will become larger and larger just to get onboard. As have highlighted with something like Bitcoin, a small investment early would today reap substantial rewards. You would never go all in, but a few hundred dollars back in the early days when most people scoffed at blockchain technology would certain see you having the last laugh now.

This AI stuff is, by all accounts, moving faster than any previous technology, which means the risks of getting left behind are much greater. It seems clear that Ai is going to have a major impact in all businesses, including small business. All businesses are looking to skilled providers to assist them with understanding and adopting AI. The good news I see for the very few SMB IT providers who ‘get’ Ai and integrating it into their business, is that there little competition now and into the foreseeable future. In an environment with increasing demand your chances of profitability are extremely high. It just takes a small amount of effort to overcome the effects of inertia and ride the coat tails of what certainly will be the next great wave in technology.

My Tech Books – 2025

Tech is as much a lifestyle choice these days as it is a career. The geeks and nerds have risen to rule the world. Don’t believe me? Ask Bill Gates and Elon Musk! Sometimes it is good to step back and take a wide look at how technology has changed the world we live in – for better and worse.

To see my list from last year visit – My Tech Books 2024

My selections below, both fiction and non fiction, I have found to be enjoyable and thought provoking in many different ways and I recommend them to everyone who is interested in tech.

Mentions from 2024

AI Snake Oil. What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What it Can’t and How to Tell the Difference – Arvind Narayanan

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution – Steven Levy

You can follow all the books, tech, business, non-fiction, etc that I read over at Goodreads. You can view my activity here:

https://www.goodreads.com/director_cia

1. Daemon – Daniel Suarez [Fiction]

A glimpse into the future of where drones and augmented reality may take us. That may not necessarily be a good place either.

2. Freedom TM – Daniel Suarez [Fiction]

A follow up to Daemon. What happens when technology dominates the world? Who benefits?

3. Ready Player One – Ernest Cline [Fiction]

Much like the Matrix. What is life like if you live inside the machine? You can be just about anyone you choose. I also love this book for all the retro technology that was part of my life. TRS-80 anyone? This book has become so popular that there is now a movie. Believe me, the book is better.

4. Sandworm: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin’s Most Dangerous Hackers – Andy Greenberg [Non-Fiction]

This is a great book if you are interested in IT security. It is also a very current book which makes it even more engrossing. It is easy to read and quite comprehensive in its approach, not only dealing with the technology of security attack but also the geopolitical reasons and consequences.

It reveals that shadow world of nation state cyber attacks and illustrates how they are happening today and likely to increase in the future. The connected world of the Internet has brought us many benefits but it is now increasing risks as our dependencies increase to the point that there are few manual backups that don’t depend on technology.

I think this book is a real glimpse into the future and what we may be in store for in the even of rising global conflicts. If you like tech, you’ll love this!

5. Future Crimes: Inside the Digital Underground and the Battle for our Connected World – Marc Goodman [Non-fiction]

Technology will ultimately doom us all I believe because we are building our world on stuff that unfortunately places a low regard for security and privacy. This book will show you why that is a road to ruination.

6. Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World’s First Digital Weapon – Kim Zetter [Non-Fiction]

If you don’t believe cyber warfare is real then read this book to understand how software is now a weapon as potentially devastating as any nuclear device.

7. Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly about Security in an Uncertain World – Bruce Schneier [Non-Fiction]

Security is important but it is important in context. We need to be rational when we consider our security not emotional. A great level headed approach to how we need to be secure.

8. American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt or the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road – Nick Bilton [Non-Fiction]

An amazingly detailed book on the rise and fall of Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the Silk Road web site. In here are asked to think about whether technology plays something more than a neutral role in today’s world.

9. The Coming Wave. Technology, Power and the Twenty-first Century’s Greatest Dilemma – Mustafa Suleyman [Non-Fiction]

A well balanced book on both the pros and cons of artificial intelligence (AI). The future is not going to be all roses unless we stop and think about what we are creating with Ai and what we need to do now to prevent it causing untold harm.

10. This how they tell me the world ends: The cyberweapons arms race – Nicole Perlroth [Non-Fiction]

Highlights the challenges that society has created, mainly from its’ own doing and questions of how we go about fixing this so we don’t end causing infinite harm to both intended targets and unintended victims.

My podcasts 2025

desk-music-headphones-earphones

You can find the previous year’s selection here:

My podcasts 2024

I do spend a lot of time listening to podcasts, generally in between things, like travelling. However, there is a limit to how many you can consume in a week and that’s why I need to be very discerning about what I listen to.

Regulars

These podcasts are ones that I generally won’t miss an episode of.

Windows Weekly

The latest Microsoft news with some fun and entertainment along the way. Paul Thurrott’s musing make this podcast alone something worth listening to. I still miss Mary Jo Foley I will admit and the show just isn’t as good or enjoyable. I still have no interest in the whiskey part of this show, which I now just fast forward through. I still also find that the show is more ‘ranty’ than informational which can get a bit much at times.

The Tim Ferriss Show

Some really great advice, business insights and strategy. Also lots of life lessons that I have found work really well for me. A weekly must listen for me. Some, I do skip through and some can be quite tough to get through because they are so long, but a worthwhile investment of my time. I am finding these shows are getting longer and longer making them hard to squeeze in but I do try and listen to them all.

Hardcore History

These tend to be quite long, like reading a book, but a very good and very interesting. Luckily, they are not that frequent, so it can make a nice change from all the tech stuff. There hasn’t been much content here of late which is disappointing. If you love history and an interesting story, then this is the podcast for you.

The Intrazone

All the latest news and information about SharePoint, OneDrive for Business, Teams and more directly from Microsoft. Pretty short, which makes it easy to consume. Can try a bit hard to be ‘funky’ at times but good way to stay up to date with the Microsoft collaboration news.

Sync Up

A podcast focused on the Microsoft files experience around OneDrive from Microsoft. More content has dropped but they seems to spend so much time at the beginning of the ‘learning’ about the guests and what do they like etc. I’d really prefer they just get into the content. I’m here for that not, not to take a deep dive into the personalities.

Darknet Diaries

Really well produced cybersecurity focused podcast. Has a nice variety of topics and the content is good and well researched. If you enjoy the security side of IT you’ll love these episodes. Seems to me that Jack has run out of content for these for the time being. recent episode have deviated away from main theme in my opinion. Less regular episodes and the topics are becoming broader, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but the context has changed.

No such podcast

Giving this a go as it is officially from the US National Security Agency (NSA). Has had some interesting topics but doesn’t provide much actionable knowledge down at the SMB level but I am still finding it enjoyable.

Microsoft Threat Intelligence Podcast

Has some interesting content but tried to be a too ‘whacky, zany and trendy’ at times. Rather high level security information but give good information on the whole threat landscape and interestin personalities and technologies there. Generally around 20 minutes at double speed, so easily digestible.

Once off podcasts

Think of these more of a book you’d read or a TV show you’d watch.

The Lazarus Heist

Another well produced podcast from the BBC that follows the trails of and attempt to steal and launder billions of dollars. Apparently, additional episodes are coming later this year. If you like Darknet Diaries, you’ll like this.

I churn through these mostly at 2x speed to allow me to get through as much content as possible. I do have a few other podcasts on my current podcasting app. I am always on the lookout for good podcasts business, technology, history, whatever. So if you can recommend something you like, I’m all ears. These days, if you have a topic of interested, you’ll find many podcasts you can listen to. Don’t be shy to try them and throw away ones that don’t suit you until you find what you like.

I’ve found that many podcasts have disappeared over the last year and I have been more judicious on what I spend my time listening to. It has to provide valuable information or be enjoyable to listen to and I have become much stricter on those criteria. I have a tried quite a few new podcast in the last year but none of them really stood up to my requirements.

Finally, of course, there is my own podcasting effort:

Need to Know podcast

which covers the Microsoft Cloud (typically Microsoft 365 and Azure) as well as business topics. I encourage you to have a listen and me know what you think. 2025 will be the fifteenth year that it has been available.

Hopefully, there is something of interest to you in what I listen to. Feel free to let me know as well as any recommendations you may have, as I said, I’m all ears! All of these I listen to directly on Spotify these days.

My Tech Videos 2025

My list for last year:

My tech videos – 2024

Documentaries

Blackberry – Official trailer

Power On: The story of Xbox

Easy to Learn, Hard to Master: The Fate of Atari

Zero Days

The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin

Movies

My Business Books – 2025

Check out my recommendations from last year:

My Business Books – 2024

Honourable mentions that I read last year:

– Slow Productivity – Carl Newport

You can follow all the books I read and want to read over at Goodreads where I have an account. You can also view my activity via:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/708903-robert?shelf=read

Here’s my current top business books in order:

1. The Art of War – Sun Tzu

The all time classic on strategy. As relevant today as it ever was. A very short read but very deep.

2. The Millionaire Fastlane – M.J. DeMarco

I love the brutal honesty of this book. It doesn’t mince words about what it takes to shift from a pay check to actually living the life you want.

3. The Tipping Point – Malcolm Gladwell

The world is all about not what you know but who you know. This book explains exactly how this works and how to use it to your advantage. A lot of Gladwell’s writing have been called into question of late. Even so, putting aside the example he uses, I think the concept surfaced have great merit.

4. The Four Hour Work Week – Tim Ferriss

Many people believe this book is about shirking responsibility. It is in fact a blueprint for how to free up your time to do things you want and enjoy. It will challenge the way you look at your career. This book has become some what dated so ensure you get the latest revised edition. Again, I would suggest you read this and consider the 30,000 foot view of challenging many people pre-conceived concepts about career. The ability to do anything, anywhere these days has never been truer.

5. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth – T. Harv Eker

The successful are defined by a different mindset. This mindset can be learned. It can be trained. This is a great book to show you how to do just that.

6. Talent is over rated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everyone Else – Geoff Colvin

Demonstrates that the best comes from implementing a system. Having a system allows you to focus on the right thing and do that work that is required. If you want to take yourself to an elite level, beyond just good, then read this book.

7. Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even If You Hate Marketing and Selling – Michael Port, Tim Sanders

You can’t survive in business without a steady flow of customers. Selling to people is the wrong approach, you instead need to attract them to your business. This book helps you achieve exactly that.

8. Profit First: A Simple System To Transform Any Business From A Cash-Eating Monster To A Money-Making Machine – Mike Michalowicz

Business is about making a profit. This then gives you the freedom to do what you want with that profit. This book helps you focus on profit and setting up systems to make the most of the profit you generate.

9. Barking Up the Wrong Tree – Eric Barker

Conventional wisdom does not always apply and in some case can actually be detrimental. Challenging what is taken for granted should be in the play book of everyone who wants to achieve at the highest level. Important lessons can be learned in the strangest places and form the strangest people. Have an open mind and you might be surprised at what you have believed to be bad in fact turns out to get just what you need.

10. Unbeatable Mind: Forge Resiliency and Mental Toughness to Succeed at an Elite Level – Mark Divine

Another mindset book. Business is not always going to be easy or take the intended route. This is when you need to have the determination to see your plans through to success. This book shows you how to develop the mental toughness to make this happen.

11. Mastery – Robert Green

Excellent read with lots of great strategies to take away. Excellence is not a talent it is a skill. That means that it takes hard work to achieve, but hard work is available to everyone, yet few choose the path. There is no secret to Excellence, it is something only time and effort will reward you with and iof you choose that path you’ll be one of the few.

12. Tools of Titans – Tim Ferriss

There are few books that take the learnings for so many exceptional people and puts them at your fingertips. This is one such book that packs a lot of business and life learnings between the covers.

13. Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape our Decisions – Dan Ariley

Although we like to think logic and rationality rule our world emotion is by far the more powerful influence. Understand this in the context of business and you are well on your way to understanding why people make the decisions they do and how to best profit from them.

14. Extreme Ownership – Jocko Willink and Lief Babin

Moving beyond blame is tough. This book illustrates the ownership of the problem and the environment is a key to success in the military or in business. It is a path few will elect to take voluntarily, however more may do so after reading this.

15. Peak Performance: Elevate your game, avoid burnout and thrive with the science of success – Brad Stulberg

Success is largely about developing a winning system. This book show you how to approach that pragmatically. If you want to see results use this book to help you build the system.

16. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking – Malcolm Gladwell

The older you get the more experience you get. This experience is aggregated in your ‘gut feel’. Trusting your ‘gut’ may not appear rational but this book will help you understand why it is in fact your best option in many cases. Again, take Gladwell’s examples with a grain of salt but the message is still relevant.

17. The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play – Neil A. Fiore

Plenty of great productivity learnings in here that help you take action. It shows you how to focus on the right stuff in the right priority. Even if you are not a major procrastinator there is plenty in this book that you can take away.

18. The One Thing – Gary Keller

Multi-tasking is a myth. Focus is the key to success to bringing all your resources to bear in unison makes a hell of a lot of difference. Most people can’t do it, so those that can stand a much greater chance of success.

19. Deep Work – Cal Newport

Distractions are wasted energy and time that you’ll never get back. You’d be amazed at how distracting the modern world is. If you can minimise these distractions you can focus more and be far more productive.

20. The E-Myth – Michael Gerber

The classic on ‘procedurising’ your business and creating a structure that doesn’t need you to survive. The simple secrets inside this book can transform any business from hardship to joy.

Let me know what you think. Do these work for you? What’s your top business reads? I’d love to hear.

Some other business books that I read that may be worth considering:

– The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-first Century’s Greatest Dilemma – Mustafa Suleyman

– AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference – Arvind Narayanan

My Business Apps 2025

pexels-mohi-syed-50614

I remain a low volume mobile app user. I much prefer to access corporate data on a large screen with a full size keyboard I very selectively install apps on my device to try and keep them to a minimum. My limited use of apps on mobile devices is largely explained by ergonomic. Less is definitely more for me.

To see what I was using at the beginning of last year check out the article:

My Apps – 2024

My daily driver when it comes to a phone is an iPhone 12 Pro Max currently but I also have a Surface Duo 2 as a backup. The other device that I use apps on is my iPad mini.

My most used business apps on mobile devices over the last year were:

Outlook – for email access across multiple Microsoft 365 accounts secured via Intune.

Spotify on iOS to listen to all my podcasts.

Lastpass password manager and authenticator for general password management.

Microsoft Authenticator – I use this for a number of select web sites as well as Microsoft 365.

I have Microsoft Defender protecting all my devices including those running iOS and Android.

Car Play – Connects to my daily drive to provide the ability to listen to podcasts as well as use Waze for navigation.

OneNote – is a must on every device I own. Syncs all my notes to every device. Allows me to not only truly have my information everywhere I am but also capture information quickly and easily.

OneDrive – This mobile app now not only allows me to manage my Microsoft 365 files but it also incorporates the more advanced Office Lens technology that scans and uploads, documents, whiteboards, etc.

Tripview – One of the few apps that I have happily paid for. I use this to let me know the Sydney train schedule to help me get around when I need to negotiate the ‘real world’. Although not much travel is happening at the moment, this app is super handy for negotiating local public transport.

Qantas – Given the amount of interstate travel I generally do having all my business flight information is handy. It also has my boarding pass so I can remove the need for paper.

Audible – This app allows me to listen to my audio books where ever I am.

Amazon Kindle – If I don’t have access to my Kindle then I can still read my books. In my case that will most likely be on my iPad. I also use the Kindle app on the iPad when the ebook has a lot of images that sometime don’t display well or are too small for the Kindle device.

Of course I have all the social media apps, such as X, and Linkedin on my devices, although I will say that I’m not a big users of these apps at all. They are used occasionally but I really limit my usage of these apps which I find very distracting.

I also have all the Microsoft/Office 365 apps. The ones I use the most are probably To-Do, Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams, although Word and Excel also get used regularly. Just about every Microsoft Office 365 service has an app that you should have on your mobile device. On my Duo 2 I am also using Edge as the primary browser along with the new Edge Insider. I also have the Brave browser on my devices as I no longer use Chrome at all.

I’ve also added the Intune app to all my devices so they can be better managed.

I use the Signal messaging app for private conversations and groups that I am part of.

Some occasional ones I use include:

– Get Pocket

– Duolingo

– Uber

– Amazon music

I use the normal personal apps for things like Internet banking and so on.

One my iPad, which also serves as a personal entertainment device, I have the streaming services Youtube, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. I also try apps regularly just to see what they do and whether they can benefit me. However, most don’t and summarily removed.

I will generally also update the apps on my mobile devices manually, so if there issues for some reason I know what has happened recently.

The above are my used apps across my various mobile devices. My aim to try and keep the apps standard across all the devices and as few as possible. I try and standardise on the Microsoft apps on all platforms and use these as much as possible. I certainly use a wide variety of apps on my devices by prefer the desktop versions if available.