If you’ve been anywhere near LinkedIn or your inbox lately, you’ve seen it, the wave of AI-generated content flooding the marketing world. Everyone’s using AI tools to churn out blogs, social posts, and emails at lightning speed.
But here’s the catch: speed isn’t the same as connection.
As I shared recently on Paul Green’s MSP Marketing Podcast, too many Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are using AI the wrong way: as a replacement for human creativity, instead of a tool to enhance it. That’s like expecting a robot to charm your clients over coffee.
Be Iron Man, Not the Terminator
When it comes to AI, I like to say: Use AI like Iron Man, not like the Terminator.
The Terminator acts on a single mission: “Write my website copy” or “Generate 10 LinkedIn posts.” It’s efficient, but mindless. The result? Bland, robotic marketing that sounds like everyone else.
Iron Man, on the other hand, is human first. Tony Stark uses AI (Jarvis) to amplify his strengths: his wit, his intelligence, his creativity. AI gives him superhuman capabilities, not a replacement for his personality.
That’s exactly how your MSP should use AI:
-As a co-pilot, not a substitute.
-To scale your ideas, not erase your voice.
The Real Superpower: Storytelling That Connects
Here’s the truth: humans don’t buy from data, they buy from stories.
Your prospects aren’t just looking for another “24/7 support provider.” They want to know why you care, how you help, and what makes you different. That’s where storytelling comes in.
The MSPs winning new business today are those who can tell emotionally intelligent stories about real client challenges and the impact they create.
AI can help you organize those stories, polish your copy, and find patterns, but you must bring the empathy, humor, and lived experience.
“Trust is slow. AI is fast. Use AI to amplify your story, not to automate your relationships.”
Context Is Everything: Engineering Better AI Prompts
One of the biggest lessons I shared on the show is something I call context engineering.
When most people ask AI for content, they start small: “Write a blog post about cybersecurity.”
But that’s like trying to bake a cake with one ingredient.
Instead, start with rich human conversations, interviews with your founders, top salespeople, or happy clients. Feed that insight into AI and then ask it to summarize, repurpose, or reframe the story.
AI trained on great context will give you great content.
If you start with noise, you’ll just get a louder echo of that noise, what I call “AI slop.”
How to Apply This in Your MSP
Here are three practical ways to apply this approach in your own marketing:
- Record real conversations, client reviews, team meetings, or founder interviews.
Upload those transcripts into your AI tool and ask: “What themes or quotes here would resonate with prospects?” - Refine, don’t replace.
Use AI to brainstorm and edit, but always bring your unique point of view. Let it support your expertise, not substitute for it. - Build a “context layer.”
At Avenue9, we help MSPs create custom GPTs trained on their brand voice, stories, and client success data. That way, your AI outputs sound like you, not like ChatGPT wrote them.
The Future of Human-First AI Marketing
AI is here to stay. But the MSPs who’ll thrive are those who remember what it means to connect as humans first.
When you combine AI’s speed with human empathy, storytelling, and strategy, you don’t just save time, you multiply trust, clarity, and conversion.
So, before you hit “generate,” ask yourself:
“Am I using AI like Iron Man or like the Terminator?”
Want Help Building Your Human-First AI Marketing Engine?
At Avenue9, we help MSPs and B2B companies turn their authentic stories into scalable marketing systems, powered by AI, guided by human insight.
If you’re ready to build your own Iron Man suit,
Connect with me on LinkedIn or visit avenue9.com to learn more.
