Podcasts
In The Channel
Podcasts

The Buzz: AI job cuts top 100,000 for the year, Keeper Security targets phishing at the credential level, and Pia brings zero-touch service desk to Microsoft Teams

More than 100,000 tech jobs have been eliminated industry-wide in the first four months of 2026, with AI cited as a direct cause in nearly half of the cuts. Keeper Security launches real-time phishing defence at the point of credential entry. And Pia’s new Teams-native application brings zero-touch ticket resolution to MSP service desks.

In The Channel

Not a concept, not a pilot: GTIA’s Innovate Awards are looking for AI that’s earning its keep

The inaugural GTIA Innovate Awards aren’t looking for AI pitches or proof-of-concepts. They’re looking for IT service providers who have deployed AI in production and can prove it’s generating revenue or saving money. In a channel where 98% claim to use AI but few have a formal strategy, the bar is both a competition requirement and a mirror.

Podcasts

The Buzz: Canadian cyberattacks surge, Microsoft’s AI bundle overhaul lands Friday, and OpenAI goes channel

New CDW Canada and IDC research finds Canadian enterprise cyberattacks jumped 80 percent in the past year, with cloud infection rates at a record high. Microsoft drops new agentic AI-powered 365 bundles on Thursday, May 1. And OpenAI makes a major channel hire, signalling a shift toward building a real partner program.

Channel Programs

Cisco 360, three months in: Canadian partners are responding better than expected

Cisco Canada’s VP of Partner Organization and SMB Sales takes stock of the first quarter of the new Cisco 360 Partner Program – including the partner feedback that caught her off guard, what “Preferred” means now that Gold is gone, and why Canadian partners should start building their adopt-and-renew practices before the incentive structure forces them to.

Podcasts

The Buzz: Acronis launches GenAI Protection, Everpure CEO warns of sustained RAMageddon pricing, and Cisco’s quantum networking milestone

Acronis launches GenAI Protection, giving MSPs a billable way to govern shadow AI across client environments. Everpure CEO Charles Giancarlo publishes an open letter warning of 70-percent average price increases driven by AI-fuelled semiconductor demand – with multi-year disruption likely. And Cisco announces a working Universal Quantum Switch prototype that routes quantum information between incompatible systems without destroying it. Three stories worth your attention to close the week.

In The Channel
In The Channel

AI thinks, automation acts: Rewst founder Aharon Chernin on building the automated MSP

In The Channel

Jennifer Roy on culture, scale, and what PE really looks like from inside a Canadian MSP

Jennifer Roy didn’t know what half the acronyms in the job description meant when she applied for her first role in managed services. Fifteen years later, she’s CEO of Nucleus Networks, operating across five Canadian cities, and one of the more candid voices in the Canadian channel on what people-first leadership actually costs you.