MSPs Have Quietly Become Acting CISO for Nearly Half of Their Customers, Sophos Research Finds

IT: The $6T Market Silicon Valley Overlooks

This a16z opinion piece argues that IT and security services represent the largest market in technology—projected IT spend of $6 trillion in 2026—and yet the sector (managed service providers, or MSPs) has seen little structural innovation. The author highlights fragmentation (over 40,000 U.S. MSPs, many with fewer than 10 employees), low SMB satisfaction (only 23% satisfied), and rising costs driven by coordination overhead. The piece describes Treeline’s approach — a “Modern IT Operating System” combining software, automation and AI with selective human expertise — to standardize workflows, automate triage and resolution, enforce continuous security, and provide real-time compliance documentation. The argument is that software-and-AI-led operating models can reduce headcount-driven cost scaling and modernize mission-critical IT delivery.