25 Essential Thought Leaders in IT Consulting Services

Last updated: June 2026

As of June 2026, the 25 most influential thought leaders in IT consulting and managed services span daily podcast hosts analysing MSP economics, channel analysts tracking a $6 trillion global technology market, community builders running communities of thousands of MSP owners, and digital transformation consultants challenging the assumptions that most organisations bring to technology change.

As of June 2026, the global technology consulting market is on track to exceed $400 billion in revenue for the first time, driven by a surge in organisations upgrading their technology infrastructure and increasing their reliance on consultants. The managed services segment alone is projected to grow more than 12 percent annually through 2028, with small and medium-sized businesses expected to channel more than $90 billion in new IT services spending through the coming years. That growth is not happening in a vacuum. It is being shaped by a relatively small community of practitioners, analysts, channel experts, and educators who are actively building the frameworks, communities, and ideas that the rest of the industry learns from.

The people on this list are those voices. They are not the brand names of the largest global firms. They are the independent analysts, MSP founders, community builders, channel strategists, and digital transformation thinkers who are posting, publishing, speaking, and building in public right now. Some run their own consulting practices. Some have built communities of thousands of MSP owners. Some are the analysts that major vendors pay close attention to when making product decisions. All of them are actively shaping the conversation about what IT consulting and managed services look like in practice.

Rather than recycling the same handful of names that appear on every technology consulting list, this directory surfaces the leaders who genuinely deserve to be just as well known. If you work in IT consulting or managed services, these are the voices worth following in 2026. If you lead a technology team or run an IT services business, these are the people thinking hardest about the problems you face. To bring a leadership facilitation or Working Genius workshop to your IT consulting leadership team, reach out to Jonno White, author of Step Up or Step Out (10,000+ copies sold) and Certified Working Genius Facilitator, at jonno@consultclarity.org.

Why IT Consulting and Managed Services Thought Leadership Matters

The shift from break-fix IT support to strategic managed services is one of the most consequential transformations in the technology industry. It changes the economic model, the client relationship, the skill set required, and the leadership challenges that IT business owners face. According to research on the managed services sector, 52 percent of MSPs identify hiring as their primary struggle, while organisations across the sector are simultaneously navigating AI adoption, cybersecurity complexity, and shifting client expectations.

Thought leadership matters in this environment because the pace of change is too fast for any single operator to keep up alone. The leaders on this list are doing the work of translating that complexity into frameworks, community knowledge, content, and analysis that the broader industry can use. They are asking the right questions about pricing, AI adoption, channel strategy, and business model evolution at a moment when those questions have significant consequences. Following the right voices is not passive consumption. It is a form of competitive intelligence.

Organisations that build their leadership teams to act decisively on market signals and develop clear communication internally tend to navigate transformation more successfully than those that do not. For IT consulting and managed services leadership teams working on alignment, communication, and decision-making under complexity, Jonno White works with technology organisations globally on exactly those challenges. Email jonno@consultclarity.org. International travel is often far more affordable than organisations expect.

How This List Was Compiled

Each person on this list was selected based on a documented, fact-checked contribution to the IT consulting and managed services field, from active LinkedIn thought leadership and published work to community building, industry analysis, and recognised expertise in managed services practice. The selection prioritised people who are actively building ideas in public as of 2026, with a particular focus on mid-tier creators whose content is genuinely shaping how the industry thinks and operates.

MSP Business Strategy, Growth and Operations

These are the practitioners and educators who have built the frameworks, books, communities, and resources that managed service providers turn to when they are trying to grow, price, hire, and run their businesses more effectively. Many of them have built and sold their own MSPs before shifting into education, community building, and consulting work for the broader industry.

1. Dave Sobel

MSP Radio

Dave Sobel is the host of Business of Tech, a daily news and analysis podcast covering the business of IT services, and the owner of MSP Radio, the media and education platform he has built into one of the most listened-to sources of industry intelligence for managed service providers. He brings a practitioner's perspective to his analysis, having owned and operated an IT solution provider for more than a decade, acquiring other firms and ultimately being acquired. MSP Radio expanded in January 2026 with Sobel's acquisition of Small Biz Thoughts and IT Service Provider University from Karl W. Palachuk, uniting the two most trusted names in the managed services education space under one platform.

His daily podcast covers cybersecurity developments, AI for MSPs, vendor strategy, and managed services operations with a sharp analytical focus on why trends actually matter for the businesses running the services. His question for every story, "why do we care?", captures his approach precisely: he filters the news for business impact rather than hype, making Business of Tech one of the most practically useful daily resources for MSP owners and IT services leaders anywhere in the world.

2. Erick Simpson

Channel Mastered

Erick Simpson is the founder and CEO of Channel Mastered and MSP Mastered, and the creator of the MSP Mastered business improvement and transformation methodology, a framework used by more than 30,000 IT solution providers worldwide. He built and sold one of the first pure-play MSPs in the industry before transitioning into education, consulting, and channel strategy. His four bestselling books, including The Guide to a Successful Managed Services Practice, which remains one of the foundational texts on the managed services business model, have helped hundreds of consulting and coaching engagements with IT businesses of every size.

Simpson's current work focuses on helping MSPs grow their Microsoft recurring revenue, navigate AI adoption, and develop the business systems required to operate profitably at scale. He has been named one of seven thought leaders defining the MSP market by Channel Futures and recognised on Jay McBain's 100 Most Visible Channel Leaders list. His webinars, workshops, and keynote appearances at industry events make him one of the most sought-after educators in the managed services space in 2026.

3. Karl W. Palachuk

Small Biz Thoughts / MSP Radio

Karl W. Palachuk is the author of 20 books on managed services, small business IT consulting, and the business of running an IT services firm, making him one of the most prolific writers in the profession's history. He spent decades as an active MSP owner in Sacramento before selling his businesses and founding Small Biz Thoughts, which became one of the most trusted education and community platforms for IT professionals. In January 2026, he transitioned Small Biz Thoughts and IT Service Provider University to Dave Sobel's MSP Radio, entering a two-year advisory and instructor role to ensure continuity while focusing his own energy on writing, mentoring, and content creation.

His contribution to the managed services profession is foundational. His frameworks for service agreement design, pricing, and business systems have shaped how a generation of MSP owners think about structuring their practices. As a strategic advisor within the combined MSP Radio platform, he continues to provide coaching, write for the community, and contribute to the education programmes he helped establish over more than two decades.

4. James Kernan

Kernan Consulting

James Kernan is the founder and CEO of Kernan Consulting and the host of the SMB Community Podcast, a weekly show dedicated to the success of IT professionals in the small and medium business market. With more than 25 years in the technology industry and sales teams that have generated over a billion dollars in technology goods and services, he brings a deep commercial background to his work helping IT companies grow. CRN Magazine named him a rising star executive to watch for his track record in building and scaling IT organisations.

Kernan's thought leadership centres on the commercial and leadership dimensions of running an IT consulting business: how to attract clients, build sales cultures, create peer accountability, and scale sustainably. His Millionaire Mastermind Peer Group programme brings together IT business owners at growth inflection points. In January 2026, he facilitated the acquisition of Small Biz Thoughts by MSP Radio, demonstrating the trusted advisor role he occupies within the MSP leadership community.

5. Amy Babinchak

Harbor Computer Services / National Society of IT Service Providers

Amy Babinchak is the owner of three IT-related businesses: Harbor Computer Services, Third Tier, and Sell My MSP, and is a member of the leadership of the National Society of IT Service Providers. With more than two decades in the small and medium business IT field, she combines hands-on MSP operations with thought leadership on Microsoft security, networking, and the business of running an IT firm. She is a Microsoft MVP and has been recognised on the ChannelPro SMB 150 and Top 100 IT Professionals lists across multiple years.

Her contribution to the community is characterised by technical depth and practitioner credibility. Where many voices in the managed services space focus on marketing and growth, Babinchak goes deep on the technical and regulatory dimensions of running a compliant, security-focused MSP. Her active participation in the SMB Community Podcast alongside James Kernan and Karl Palachuk makes her one of the most consistent voices in the IT professional community's weekly conversation.

6. Paco Lebron

ProdigyTeks / MSP Unplugged

Paco Lebron is the Managing Partner and Co-Founder of ProdigyTeks, an IT services business, and the co-host of MSP Unplugged, one of the longest-running and most candid podcasts in the managed services community. With more than 275 episodes and a decade of consistent publishing, MSP Unplugged digs into the operational realities of running an IT business, from choosing the right security stack to pricing strategies and the psychology of scaling.

Lebron's perspective is grounded in active MSP ownership. He is not speaking theoretically about managed services but from inside a running business, and that practitioner credibility gives his content a directness that resonates with the hundreds of MSP owners who listen regularly. His community work extends to peer accountability networks for IT business owners navigating growth.

7. Taher Hamid

MSP Camp

Taher Hamid is the founder and Camp Leader of MSP Camp, a marketing education and services platform specifically designed for managed service providers. He built a seven-figure MSP before transitioning to helping other IT business owners develop the marketing clarity and systems they need to grow. His core argument, that content is the only way MSPs can establish themselves as the credible, trusted local or national voice in their market, underpins everything MSP Camp produces.

Hamid's thought leadership focuses on the practical mechanics of MSP marketing: how to attract qualified clients, differentiate from competitors, and build a public voice that converts into pipeline. His prediction for 2026, that MSPs who use AI as a scaffold to show more of themselves rather than as a shortcut to generic content will win the marketing battle, has resonated with practitioners navigating a content landscape flooded with AI-generated material. MSP Camp's podcast, resources, and coaching programmes make him one of the most practically useful voices in managed services marketing.

IT Channel Analysis and Research

These are the analysts and researchers who produce the data, frameworks, and market intelligence that both IT vendors and MSPs rely on to understand where the industry is going. Their work shapes product decisions, channel programme design, and strategic planning across the global technology industry.

8. Jay McBain

Omdia

Jay McBain is the Chief Analyst for Channels, Partnerships and Ecosystems at Omdia, where he produces market research and analysis on the global technology channel. He coined the phrase "the decade of ecosystems" and has spent three decades tracking how technology goes to market through partners, distributors, and service providers. His data on the global IT market, which reached $6.07 trillion in 2026 with partners delivering more than 66 percent of it, is among the most cited in the channel industry. Before joining Omdia, McBain served as Chief Analyst at Canalys and before that as Principal Analyst at Forrester, giving him an unusually long track record of independent market analysis on channels and partnerships.

McBain posts prolifically on LinkedIn, sharing research findings, trend analysis, and provocative framing on where the technology channel is headed. His work in 2025 and 2026 has focused on the structural transformation of the channel as AI disrupts traditional managed services models and platform businesses emerge as the dominant force in go-to-market strategy. He is consistently one of the most engaged and shared voices in the global channel conversation, with vendors, distributors, and MSP leaders following his analysis closely.

9. Tiffani Bova

The Futurum Group

Tiffani Bova is the Chief Strategy and Research Officer at The Futurum Group and one of the most widely recognised analysts in the technology channel and professional services space. Ranked in the Thinkers50 Top 50 Business Thinkers for six consecutive years, she brings a rare combination of analyst depth and commercial experience to her thought leadership. She is the sole author of two Wall Street Journal bestsellers, GrowthIQ and The Experience Mindset, both focused on what drives sustainable growth in complex, competitive markets. Before joining The Futurum Group, she spent years as Salesforce's Growth and Innovation Evangelist, and before that as a Distinguished Analyst at Gartner.

Her current research at The Futurum Group covers the evolving relationship between global systems integrators, managed service providers, and enterprise technology vendors. Her 2026 analysis of the "orchestration era," in which AI is collapsing the traditional consulting pyramid and forcing vendors to redesign their partner programmes around outcomes rather than hours, has influenced how channel leaders think about the future of their businesses. She is one of the most sought-after keynote speakers in the global technology channel.

MSP Community Building and Education

These leaders have built the communities, events, podcasts, and educational platforms that connect IT business owners around the world and accelerate the spread of best practice across the managed services profession.

10. Nigel Moore

The Tech Tribe

Nigel Moore is the founder and CEO of The Tech Tribe, one of the largest MSP membership communities in the world with more than 3,500 connected members across North America, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. He built and sold a successful MSP in Australia before creating The Tech Tribe as the resource and community he wished had existed when he was running his own business. The Tribe provides a private community forum, a library of templates and resources, and regular masterclasses on the full spectrum of MSP operations, from pricing and sales to hiring and technology stack decisions.

Moore's contribution extends beyond The Tech Tribe itself. He is the co-founder of ScaleCon, an annual conference focused on MSP growth, profitability, and sustainable business building, with the 2026 edition taking place in San Diego. His willingness to engage honestly with the real challenges of MSP ownership, including the psychological dimension of running a service business, has made him one of the most trusted community voices in the global managed services space. Around 82 percent of Tech Tribe members are based outside Australia, reflecting the global reach of his work.

11. Ian Luckett

The MSP Growth Hub

Ian Luckett is the founder of The MSP Growth Hub, a UK-based business growth coaching and consultancy practice focused exclusively on IT and managed services businesses. With more than 20 years of corporate leadership experience, including leading a team of 65 building the Virgin Media network in the south-east of England, he made the transition to business coaching in 2017 and subsequently narrowed his focus to the technology sector. His 92-day business transformation programme has helped IT business owners across the UK become more profitable and reclaim time from their businesses.

Luckett is a regular speaker at managed services industry events, including the MSP Show in May 2026, where he delivered a seminar on building high-performing technical teams. His podcast, The IT Experts Podcast, covers the strategies and mindsets required to scale an IT business, with guests from across the MSP community. His dual background in corporate leadership and IT services coaching gives him a practical perspective on the management and team-building dimensions of running a growing technology business.

12. Fiona Challis

AI Enabled Growth

Fiona Challis is the founder of AI Enabled Growth, a consultancy focused on helping managed service providers translate AI capability into measurable business results. She has built a reputation as one of the UK's leading voices on MSP sales transformation and, more recently, on the specific challenge of helping IT businesses adopt AI in ways that improve their operations and client value proposition without losing the human-centred relationship that differentiates strong MSPs. Her speaking and workshop delivery spans the UK managed services circuit.

Her work in 2026 has focused specifically on the MSP AI adoption challenge: how to move beyond the excitement and into the practical, systematic embedding of AI tools into service delivery workflows. She attended Pax8 Beyond 2026 in Salt Lake City, the MSP industry's annual technology showcase, where she has been a visible participant in the conversation about what AI-enabled managed services actually look like in practice. Her LinkedIn content combines the strategic framing of AI adoption with the operational honesty of a practitioner who works with real MSP businesses every week.

13. Chris Tate

Tate Talks / MSP Confidential

Chris Tate is the host of Tate Talks and MSP Confidential, two of the managed services community's most respected podcast platforms. His candid, practitioner-focused interview style has made him a trusted voice for MSP owners who want honest, unfiltered perspective on the challenges of running an IT services business. His podcast episodes consistently cover pricing, team culture, cybersecurity sales, and the operational realities of scaling a managed services practice, with guests who include both community veterans and emerging voices in the industry.

Tate's value to the MSP conversation is partly editorial: his willingness to ask direct questions about what does and does not work in practice cuts through the polished vendor-sponsored content that dominates much of the managed services media landscape. His episode with Richard Tubb, recorded in November 2025 as Tubb stepped back from the industry, is one of the most candid and personal conversations in the managed services podcast catalogue, covering mental health, AI disruption, and what it means to lead an IT business sustainably.

IT Channel Marketing and Revenue Growth

These voices focus on the commercial and marketing dimensions of IT consulting and managed services, helping IT businesses attract clients, build recurring revenue, and develop the sales systems that drive sustainable growth.

14. Kathryn Rose

channelWise

Kathryn Rose is the founder and CEO of channelWise and getWise, globally recognised expert marketplaces that connect managed service providers with on-demand coaching from senior practitioners across marketing, sales, operations, and business development. She is also the co-founder of the Channel Marketing Association, a professional body supporting marketing professionals working in the technology channel. Recognised as a Forbes Next 1000 innovator and a recipient of the Women in Tech Global Ally Award and multiple Alliance of Channel Women awards, she is one of the most decorated community builders in the technology channel.

Her work at channelWise addresses one of the persistent challenges in managed services: the difficulty that IT business owners face in finding credible, experienced advisors who understand the specific economics and client dynamics of the MSP model. By creating a marketplace of vetted channel coaches, she has made expert advice accessible to businesses that would otherwise have no clear path to it. Her LinkedIn content covers channel strategy, women's leadership in technology, and the specific commercial challenges facing managed services and IT consulting businesses in 2026.

15. Megan Killion

MKC Agency

Megan Killion is the Chief Consultant at MKC Agency and one of the most results-focused voices in MSP marketing. Her 30-60-90 day growth framework has helped managed service providers double and triple their revenue, contributing to more than $550 million in pipeline generated throughout her career. Her MSP Confidential podcast episodes are among the most practically dense pieces of content on the mechanics of MSP revenue generation, covering topics from building a marketing strategy to the economics of bought versus built marketing functions.

Her perspective on 2026 is distinctive: she argues that the most successful MSPs will shift from service-centric to client-outcome-centric models, aligning every service and process to the specific business results the client is trying to achieve. This framing, which draws on deep commercial experience with IT businesses of every size, positions her as a useful counterweight to the technology-first thinking that dominates much of the managed services conversation. Her work with IT service companies on revenue strategy makes her one of the more commercially credentialed voices in the space.

16. Jason Howells

Barracuda Networks

Jason Howells is the Vice President, Channel International at Barracuda Networks, where he leads the company's global channel strategy across international markets. Named a CRN EMEA 2026 Channel Leader, Howells represents Barracuda's voice in the international channel and is a regular speaker and contributor to the European managed services community. Barracuda Networks is one of the IT industry's most active contributors to managed services education and community engagement, producing the annual Evolving Landscape of the MSP report and sponsoring Global MSP Day, an international event bringing together IT service providers for networking, education, and peer conversation.

His perspective bridges the vendor and practitioner sides of the managed services conversation, giving him insight into both what technology vendors are trying to help MSPs solve and what the MSP community across Europe actually needs from its vendor partners. His community engagement makes him a visible and accessible contributor to the European IT consulting and managed services discourse at a time when EMEA is one of the fastest-growing managed services markets globally.

17. Helen Yu

Tigon Advisory Corp

Helen Yu is the founder and CEO of Tigon Advisory Corp, a digital transformation strategy firm, and one of the most active voices at the intersection of AI, cybersecurity, IoT, and customer experience in the technology consulting community. She is a certified cybersecurity expert and a champion of women and minorities in technology, with a YouTube series, CXO Spice, that features senior technology leaders discussing how they make innovation happen in real organisations. Her LinkedIn content combines strategic frameworks on AI and cybersecurity with practical guidance for technology consultants navigating digital transformation engagements.

Yu's contribution to the IT consulting conversation is her focus on the customer experience dimension of digital transformation: the argument that technology consulting engagements succeed or fail based not primarily on technical execution but on how well the consulting team understands and serves the client's actual operational and commercial needs. Her work across AI, cybersecurity, and IoT positions her at the intersection of the most consequential consulting opportunities in the current technology market.

18. Dina Moskowitz

PartnerOptimizer

Dina Moskowitz is the CEO and founder of PartnerOptimizer, a data intelligence platform that helps technology vendors identify, recruit, and activate the right channel partners. Her work sits at the boundary between IT channel strategy and data analytics, applying machine learning to the longstanding problem of channel partner identification and segmentation. Named one of Women in Cloud's Top 100 Women B2B Tech Founders in 2024, she brings a data-driven lens to the question of how technology vendors find and grow their MSP partner ecosystems.

Her thought leadership on the IT channel focuses on the data-driven evolution of channel programme design: how vendors move beyond gut feel and relationship-based recruitment toward evidence-based partner identification. This analytical angle distinguishes her from the more qualitative voices that dominate much of the channel conversation, and her practical experience running a platform used by major technology vendors gives her perspective on what channel executives are actually trying to solve.

19. Michelle Ragusa-McBain

Corero Network Security

Michelle Ragusa-McBain is the Global Channel Chief and Vice President of Channel Sales at Corero Network Security, appointed in January 2026 to lead global channel strategy and accelerate partner-led growth at the DDoS protection company. She brings more than 20 years of channel and cybersecurity leadership experience, with prior senior roles at Cisco, SonicWall, and CompuCom. Her honours include CRN Top 10 Channel Chiefs, Channel Partners Magazine's 50 Most Influential Global Channel Influencers, Channel Futures' Top 20 Cybersecurity Leaders, and CompTIA's Woman of the Year.

As one of the most senior women in global IT channel leadership, her voice on diversity and inclusion in the technology industry carries particular weight. Her appointment at Corero reinforces a partner-first go-to-market direction that reflects broader trends in how cybersecurity and managed services vendors are engaging with the channel. She serves with leading industry organisations including GTIA and is Board Member Emeritus of CRN Women of the Channel.

20. Laurie McCabe

SMB Group

Laurie McCabe is the co-founder of SMB Group, an independent research and analyst firm focused on technology adoption, strategy, and deployment in small and medium-sized businesses and the managed services providers that serve them. For more than two decades, SMB Group has produced primary research on how SMBs evaluate, adopt, and use technology, making it one of the most authoritative independent sources of insight on the actual behaviour of managed services customers. Her reports on SMB technology spending, cloud adoption, and AI readiness are widely referenced across the IT services industry.

McCabe's perspective is valuable precisely because it is client-side rather than vendor-side: her research speaks to what SMBs actually want from their IT services providers, not what vendors hope they want. For managed service providers trying to understand their clients' decision-making, her work provides an evidence base that is genuinely useful. Her independent analyst status also means her findings are not shaped by vendor relationships, which makes them more credible to IT business owners evaluating their go-to-market positioning.

Digital Transformation and IT Consulting Strategy

These voices are shaping how organisations and technology consultants think about digital transformation, cloud strategy, and the broader evolution of the IT consulting profession.

21. Jason Bloomberg

Intellyx

Jason Bloomberg is the founder and President of Intellyx, an independent analyst and consulting firm focused on digital transformation, cloud-native architecture, and enterprise technology strategy. He is the sole author of multiple books including The Agile Architecture Revolution and Low Code or Code, and a Forbes contributor whose columns on cloud, agile transformation, and enterprise technology are widely read by senior IT leaders. His distinctive perspective is his focus on the architectural and organisational implications of digital transformation rather than just the technology itself.

Bloomberg has been consistently ranked among the top global thought leaders in cloud computing and digital transformation on Thinkers360, and his work at Intellyx includes analyst-for-hire engagements, briefings with technology vendors, and public commentary on the enterprise technology landscape. His argument that successful digital transformation requires changes to organisational structure, decision rights, and engineering culture, not just technology stacks, has influenced how both IT consulting firms and their clients frame transformation projects.

22. Tom Goodwin

Independent

Tom Goodwin is a digital transformation consultant, sole author of Digital Darwinism: Survival of the Fittest in the Age of Business Disruption, and one of the most widely shared voices on the gap between what organisations say they are doing with digital transformation and what is actually happening. He spent years as Head of Futures and Insight at Publicis Groupe before establishing his own consultancy, and he hosts the Euronews business television show The Edge. His LinkedIn presence is exceptional: his posts challenge digital transformation orthodoxy with a directness and wit that generates significant engagement across the global business and technology community.

Goodwin's contribution to the IT consulting conversation is his persistent questioning of received wisdom about digital transformation. He is sceptical of the hype, precise about what the data actually shows, and willing to name the gap between transformation ambition and operational reality. For IT consultants navigating client conversations about digital change, his framing of why transformation efforts fail is practically useful as well as intellectually provocative.

23. Inbal Rodnay

Smaartt Digital Consulting

Inbal Rodnay is an AI adoption consultant and educator who has spoken to more than 30,000 professionals across Australia and New Zealand since 2017, specialising in the practical application of AI within professional services and IT consulting firms. She is the author of AI Magic: 6 Steps to AI Mastery in Your Firm, an Amazon number one bestseller, and holds a LinkedIn Top Voice in AI designation. She co-designed the CA ANZ Certificate in AI Fluency with Deloitte's Centre for the Edge, placing her at the leading edge of professional AI capability development in the Asia-Pacific region.

Her contribution to the IT consulting conversation is specifically about AI adoption in professional services: how consulting and technology service firms move from AI experimentation to systematic, embedded AI capability that changes how they deliver and price their work. Her background in working with accounting firms, legal practices, and IT services companies gives her a cross-professional perspective on the adoption challenge that is more nuanced than most purely technology-focused AI commentary.

IT Business Growth, Sales and Systems

24. Gary Pica

TruMethods

Gary Pica is the founder and President of TruMethods, a training, peer, and accountability firm that has helped hundreds of IT solution providers reach their full potential as MSPs. He has built two top-performing MSPs and has spent more than two decades teaching other IT business owners the business systems and leadership disciplines that underpin sustainable managed services growth. Named one of ChannelPro's 20 industry visionaries and MSPmentor's most influential leaders, he is recognised as one of the go-to experts on MSP profitability and operational efficiency.

Pica's thought leadership in 2026 focuses on the gap between MSP growth ambition and operational reality: his argument that most MSPs fail to scale not because of market conditions but because of unresolved operational debt, from poorly defined service delivery processes to unclear team accountability structures, has resonated across the community. His LinkedIn posts, coaching programmes, and peer group facilitation make him one of the more disciplined and consistent voices on the business of running a managed services practice.

25. Sandy Carter

Unstoppable Domains

Sandy Carter is the Chief Business Officer at Unstoppable Domains, where she focuses on ecosystem development, partnerships, and go-to-market strategy in the Web3 and blockchain technology space. She has spent decades in technology leadership at companies including IBM and Amazon Web Services, where she led partner and ecosystem programmes at significant scale. Her background spans cloud computing, AI, and enterprise technology, and her LinkedIn thought leadership covers the intersection of emerging technology and commercial strategy for technology businesses of all sizes.

Carter is one of the most connected ecosystem builders in the technology industry, with a network spanning vendors, MSPs, distributors, and enterprise technology leaders across multiple verticals. Her advocacy for women in technology leadership and her visible public voice on emerging technology adoption make her a distinctive presence in the IT consulting and channel community. Named an Adweek AI Trailblazer and a Forbes contributor, she bridges the established technology channel world and the emerging AI and Web3 ecosystem.

Notable Voices We Almost Included

The discipline of any thought leader directory is what it leaves out. Paul Green, who spent more than a decade as one of the UK's most recognised MSP marketing educators, stepped away from active LinkedIn engagement in October 2025 to focus on his next chapter. Richard Tubb, whose Tubblog became one of the most trusted resources in the global managed services community across nearly two decades, published his final content in September 2025 and has transitioned to advisory and non-executive work. Both left behind a body of work, including Tubb's IT Business Owner's Survival Guide and multiple books by Green, that remains highly relevant for any IT business owner building their practice. Their contributions to the MSP profession are too significant to pass over without acknowledgement, even though both are transitioning out of the active publishing role that shaped their influence.

The global nature of the IT consulting market also means this directory necessarily underrepresents the significant communities of IT service providers and consultants across India, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, where the managed services model is developing rapidly but where the thought leadership ecosystem operates differently to the English-language online community captured here.

Common Mistakes in Following IT Consulting Thought Leaders

The most common error IT business owners make when engaging with thought leadership is consuming it passively. Following 25 voices on LinkedIn and reading the occasional post produces awareness but rarely produces change. The leaders on this list are most useful when you engage with their specific arguments, apply their frameworks to your own business, and track whether the results they predict materialise in your context.

The second error is treating all thought leadership as equally applicable to your situation. Dave Sobel's analysis of enterprise MSP profitability economics is highly relevant to a business running a mature managed services practice but much less relevant to a solo IT consultant just beginning to build recurring revenue. Understanding whose perspective applies to your current stage is as important as understanding the content itself.

The third error is mistaking activity for quality. Some of the most valuable thought leaders on this list, including analysts like Laurie McCabe and Jason Bloomberg, produce less content than the daily podcast hosts and LinkedIn creators, but their research is more methodologically rigorous and more durably useful for strategic decisions. A mix of high-frequency practitioners and lower-frequency researchers gives you the best of both: operational currency and analytical depth.

The fourth error is following only voices that agree with your current worldview. The IT consulting and managed services community has genuine debates about pricing strategy, service model design, AI adoption speed, and channel programme structure. Engaging with voices that challenge your assumptions makes you a better strategic thinker. Seek out the people who make you uncomfortable as well as the ones who validate what you already believe.

For leadership teams wanting to build the communication, accountability, and alignment capabilities that underpin strong IT consulting execution, Jonno White facilitates Working Genius workshops, DISC assessments, and executive offsites for technology organisations globally. Email jonno@consultclarity.org.

Implementation Guide: How to Build a Thought Leadership Practice Around These Voices

The most practical starting point is to choose three to five voices from different categories in this directory and commit to engaging with their content daily for 90 days. Not just reading or listening, but taking one idea from each week's content and applying it to a specific decision in your business. After 90 days, evaluate which voices are producing the most useful insights for your current situation and adjust your reading accordingly.

For MSP owners focused on business growth and operations, the daily podcast format of Business of Tech from Dave Sobel combined with the practical MSP community resources from The Tech Tribe and MSP Mastered gives you a high-frequency market intelligence feed plus a structured resource library. For channel executives and vendor-side leaders, Jay McBain's Omdia research and Tiffani Bova's Futurum Group analysis provide the data-driven market intelligence that makes strategic planning decisions more defensible.

For IT consultants building their own thought leadership practice, the community builders on this list, Kathryn Rose through channelWise, Nigel Moore through The Tech Tribe, and Fiona Challis through her AI workshop and consulting work, provide both frameworks and network entry points. Getting involved in a peer community, whether as a learner or an occasional contributor, accelerates your exposure to the range of problems that IT businesses are navigating and sharpens your own thinking in ways that solo content consumption does not.

For leadership teams inside larger IT consulting organisations, the enterprise-facing voices including Tiffani Bova on growth strategy, Jason Bloomberg on transformation architecture, Tom Goodwin on digital orthodoxy, and Inbal Rodnay on AI adoption provide the strategic framing that senior technology consultants need to advise clients effectively.

The edge computing market is projected to grow from $168 billion in 2025 to $249 billion by 2030, and MSPs are increasingly being asked to manage distributed edge infrastructure alongside traditional network and cloud environments. Following thought leaders who are thinking about the technology horizon, as well as the business model horizon, gives you the broadest useful view of where the profession is going. Whether virtual or face to face, reach out to jonno@consultclarity.org to discuss how Jonno White can support your technology leadership team's development.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between IT consulting and managed services?

IT consulting typically involves advising organisations on technology strategy, architecture, or implementation on a project basis, with the consultant delivering recommendations or completing specific engagements. Managed services involves an ongoing contractual relationship in which the provider manages and maintains a client's technology infrastructure, often for a predictable monthly fee. In practice, many technology businesses offer both: consulting engagements that lead into managed service relationships, and managed service relationships that create consulting opportunities. The voices on this list span both models.

How do I choose which IT consulting thought leaders to follow?

Match your selection to your current role and business stage. If you run or work inside an MSP, start with the community practitioners: Dave Sobel, Erick Simpson, Nigel Moore, and the podcast hosts provide immediate operational relevance. If you work on the vendor or channel side of the technology industry, Jay McBain, Tiffani Bova, and Kathryn Rose provide channel-specific analytical and strategic depth. If you are a digital transformation consultant or enterprise IT leader, Jason Bloomberg, Tom Goodwin, and Inbal Rodnay address the strategic and organisational questions that matter most at that level.

Are there thought leaders in IT consulting focused on specific regions?

Yes. Nigel Moore and Inbal Rodnay are Australia-based voices with significant global reach. Ian Luckett, Fiona Challis, Jason Howells, and Chris Tate are UK-based practitioners with deep engagement in the European managed services community. The majority of voices with the largest English-language audiences are based in the US, which reflects the concentration of the MSP and IT channel community, but the global dimension is growing rapidly.

What role does AI play in IT consulting and managed services in 2026?

AI is reshaping every dimension of the profession simultaneously. On the MSP side, it is creating both an opportunity and a threat: an opportunity to offer AI-enabled services that reduce client costs and improve outcomes, and a threat to existing service line revenue as AI automates tasks that MSPs previously charged for. Dave Sobel tracks the daily operational implications. Fiona Challis and Inbal Rodnay work specifically on the adoption challenge. Jay McBain and Tiffani Bova analyse the structural implications for channel programme design and go-to-market strategy. Tom Goodwin provides the sceptical check on transformation hype.

Final Thoughts

The IT consulting and managed services profession is at an inflection point in 2026. The market is growing faster than it has in years, AI is reshaping the economics of service delivery, and the talent, pricing, and client relationship challenges are intensifying simultaneously. Navigating that complexity well requires more than technical expertise. It requires strategic clarity, strong leadership, and the ability to learn from the people who are thinking hardest about what the profession is becoming.

The 25 leaders in this directory are doing that thinking in public. They are posting the analysis, building the communities, running the podcasts, and publishing the research that the rest of the industry draws on. Following them consistently, engaging with their arguments seriously, and applying their frameworks honestly to your own situation is one of the highest-leverage things an IT consulting or managed services leader can do in 2026.

Organisations whose IT consulting leadership teams want to develop stronger alignment, communication, and decision-making capability can book Jonno White, Certified Working Genius Facilitator and author of Step Up or Step Out (10,000+ copies sold), to facilitate a workshop or executive offsite. Host of The Leadership Conversations Podcast (240+ episodes, listeners in 150+ countries) and founder of The 7 Questions Movement (6,000+ leaders), Jonno works with technology organisations globally. International travel is often far more affordable than clients expect. Email jonno@consultclarity.org.

About the Author

Jonno White is a Certified Working Genius Facilitator, author of Step Up or Step Out, and leadership consultant who has worked with schools, corporates, and nonprofits around the world. His book Step Up or Step Out has sold over 10,000 copies globally, and his podcast The Leadership Conversations has featured 240+ episodes reaching listeners in 150+ countries. Jonno founded The 7 Questions Movement with 6,000+ participating leaders and achieved a 93.75% satisfaction rating for his Working Genius masterclass at the ASBA 2025 National Conference. Based in Brisbane, Australia, Jonno works globally and regularly travels for speaking and facilitation engagements. Organisations consistently find that international travel is far more affordable than expected. To book Jonno for your next keynote, workshop, or facilitation session, email jonno@consultclarity.org.

Sources

Global IT consulting market figures: Gartner and IDC, as reported by Road to Offer (2026). Global tech consulting market: Source Global Research, as reported by Dave Sobel / Business of Tech. Managed services growth projections: DeskDay Managed Service Provider Trends Report (March 2026). Hiring challenges statistic: DeskDay MSP Trends 2026. Edge computing market projection: DeskDay MSP Trends 2026. Global IT market and partner delivery share: Jay McBain / Omdia (June 2026). Global system integration market: Jay McBain / Omdia (June 2026). Tiffani Bova Thinkers50 ranking and book titles: tiffanibova.com. Erick Simpson 30,000+ providers: ericksimpson.com. Karl Palachuk 20 books: smbcommunitypodcast.com. MSP Radio / Small Biz Thoughts acquisition: blog.smallbizthoughts.com (January 2026). Inbal Rodnay 30,000+ professionals: consultclarity.org (2026). Tom Goodwin Digital Darwinism: allwehaveisnow.co. Jason Howells CRN EMEA 2026 Channel Leader: barracuda.com (March 2026). Michelle Ragusa-McBain appointment: corero.com (January 2026). Dina Moskowitz Women in Cloud Top 100: partneroptimizer.com (2024).

Next Read

The IT consulting and managed services conversation does not exist in isolation from the broader technology leadership field. For the voices shaping how organisations think about their technology strategy and leadership more broadly, explore the directory of thought leaders in IT leadership at consultclarity.org. You may also find value in exploring thought leaders in consulting, cloud computing thought leaders, and DevOps thought leaders globally.