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30-Day Fast StartMSP Programme · Action guide

From reading this to billing
your first AI engagement in 30 days.

This isn't a roadmap. It's a day-by-day schedule. Every task is specific, time-boxed, and leads directly to the next one. Credentials, client conversations, first proposal, first delivery — done.

Day 1–2
First credential
Day 8–10
Client emails sent
Day 15–20
Proposal closed
Day 21–30
First delivery done
Day 1–2
Phase: Certify

Get your foundation credential

Outcome
You now have a foundation-level AI credential. You understand what AI agents are, how the PSF works, and what safe deployment looks like.
💡 Tip
Don't skip the study guide to go straight to the exam. The concepts come up in client conversations constantly — knowing them well is the product.
Day 3–5
Phase: Certify

Get your deployment credential

Outcome
You're now qualified to lead M365 Copilot and AI agent deployments. This is the credential clients will care about when they ask 'do you know what you're doing?'
💡 Tip
If you have someone in the team better suited to governance/audit, have them do CAIA at the same time in parallel. By day 5 you have two credentials covering deployment and audit.
Day 6–7
Phase: Prepare

Brief your team and build the internal pitch

Run a 60-minute team briefing: what the PAI programme is, what credentials you now have, what services you'll offer
1 hr
Identify 5–10 existing clients who are most likely to be receptive to AI conversations (size, sector, tech-forward culture)
30 min
Outcome
Your team is aligned, your pricing is set, and you have a short list of target clients. You're ready to have conversations.
💡 Tip
The 5–10 clients you identify should be your best relationships — not your biggest clients, but the ones who trust you most. AI conversations work on trust first.
Day 8–10
Phase: Sell

Send the client awareness email

Send to your 5–10 priority clients — personalise the subject line and opening line for each one
1 hr
Set a reminder to follow up with non-respondents in 5 days
5 min
Outcome
Your pipeline has been seeded. Expect 20–40% open rates and 2–5 expressions of interest from a 10-person send.
💡 Tip
Don't send to your whole client list at once. The first 10 are your test — you'll refine the message based on the conversations before going broader.
Day 11–14
Phase: Sell

Run discovery calls

For each call: understand their current AI footprint, identify pressure points, assess readiness, leave with a clear next step
30 min/call
After each call: send a 3-line follow-up email with what you discussed and your recommendation
10 min/call
Qualify: which clients are ready for a paid assessment now vs which need more education first?
30 min
Outcome
You've had real conversations and you know exactly which clients will convert. Expect 1–3 clients ready to move to a paid engagement from 5–8 calls.
💡 Tip
The discovery call isn't a sales call. Ask questions, listen, reflect back. The most important question: 'What's the biggest thing slowing your business down right now?' AI solves operational problems — find those first.
Day 15–20
Phase: Bill

Propose and close your first paid engagement

Use the PAI proposal template for an AI Readiness Assessment — customise scope based on discovery call
1–2 hrs
Send proposal. Suggested price: $4,500–$7,500 depending on client size and complexity
15 min
Follow up with a call within 48 hours to walk through the proposal — don't wait for a written response
30 min
On acceptance: issue invoice, book assessment date, send client pre-work questionnaire (from the PAI assessment toolkit)
30 min
Outcome
First paid engagement confirmed. You've gone from zero to billing in under three weeks.
💡 Tip
The proposal should be one page of scope + one page of deliverables + one page of about-you. If it's longer than three pages, cut it. Clarity closes faster than comprehensiveness.
Day 21–30
Phase: Deliver

Deliver the assessment and propose phase 2

Outcome
First engagement delivered. Phase 2 proposed in the same meeting. CAI application submitted. You are now an AI-credentialed MSP with a live client engagement.
💡 Tip
Never leave an assessment readout without a next step in the room. The client is most engaged and most trusting immediately after receiving value. Phase 2 conversations close at 3× the rate if you have them that day.

When clients push back

Every objection has a good answer. These aren't scripts — they're the honest responses that actually work, based on how real client conversations go.

"We tried Copilot and it didn't work."
Most Copilot deployments that 'don't work' weren't deployed — they were switched on. There's a significant difference between enabling a licence and running a proper deployment: tenant readiness, data governance, user training, scoped knowledge sources. What you experienced is exactly why we got certified — we now know what a proper deployment looks like. That's what we'd do for you.
"We're not ready for AI yet."
You might be more ready than you think — or there might be a specific gap we can address. That's exactly what the Readiness Assessment tells you. It's not a commitment to deploy anything. It's a clear picture of where you are. Most clients find they're 60–70% ready, and the gaps are fixable. Would it be worth an hour to find out?
"We don't want Microsoft listening to everything."
That's a legitimate concern and it's worth being precise about. Microsoft's commercial data protection commitments mean your data is not used to train the models. Copilot data isn't shared with Microsoft to improve Copilot for other customers. The data governance controls are real — and configuring them correctly is part of our deployment methodology. We can walk you through exactly what the settings are.
"Our staff will be resistant."
Resistance is usually about fear of replacement, not the technology itself. The framing that works: 'This is not replacing anyone. This is removing the parts of your job you hate — writing the same email for the tenth time, finding the document that's buried in a SharePoint folder, summarising the meeting you half-attended.' We have a staff literacy workshop that addresses this directly. It changes the conversation.
"The ROI isn't clear."
Let's make it clear. The Readiness Assessment includes a time-saving calculation — we map the highest-volume repetitive tasks in the business and calculate time saved per user per week. Most businesses find 45–90 minutes per person per day at full deployment. At 50 staff, that's 37–75 person-hours per day. We put a number on it. Then you decide if the investment makes sense.
"We want to wait until the technology matures."
I understand that instinct. But the technology is mature enough for production deployment today — the PSF exists precisely because real systems are running in production now. The risk of waiting is that your competitors build the capability while you're watching. The governance frameworks are ready. The deployment playbooks exist. The question is whether you want to be first in your market or catching up.
Start with AIDA
The 4-hour foundation exam. Do it today.
Go →
Client comms kit
The exact emails and templates to send to clients.
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M365 Playbook
The deployment methodology you'll use to deliver.
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Full MSP Programme
Service catalogue, revenue model, partner kit.
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