MSPs and MSSPs: Your Clients Are Deploying AI Agents Without Telling You

Your clients' environments are expanding with infrastructure you can't see, can't monitor, and can't protect. And they don't even realise they should tell you about it.

While you've built comprehensive visibility into networks, endpoints, and applications, a new category of infrastructure is deploying silently across your client base: autonomous AI agents. They're not being purchased through IT. They're not appearing in your asset inventories. And they're not subject to your security policies.

This isn't a future concern. It's happening right now, at scale, and it's breaking your service delivery model.

The Scale of Shadow AI

The data is stark. Business units are deploying AI agents independently of IT oversight in most organisations. Gartner estimates that 40% of all enterprise applications will integrate with task-specific AI agents by the end of 2026, up from less than 5% in 2025 The Register.

Your clients aren't intentionally hiding these deployments from you. They simply don't categorise AI agents as "infrastructure" that requires MSP notification. When the sales team adds an AI assistant to Salesforce, they think of it as a "productivity feature," not a security-relevant system change.

Meanwhile, major ISVs like SAP, Oracle, Salesforce, and ServiceNow all have agentic capability that leverages API connectors, MCP, and non-human identities to stitch together business solutions Dark Reading. Many of these capabilities are enabled by default or marketed directly to business units rather than IT departments.

Common Shadow AI Entry Points

Here's where agents are entering your clients' environments without your knowledge:

SaaS Platform Add-ons:

• Salesforce Einstein agents with full CRM access
• Microsoft Copilot with autonomous task execution
• ServiceNow AI agents managing tickets and workflows
• Google Workspace AI with email and document access

Department-Level Tools:

• Marketing automation with customer data access
• Legal research tools accessing confidential documents
• Financial analysis agents with ERP integration
• HR tools processing employee personal information

Developer Deployments:

• Coding assistants with repository access
• Claude Code or similar tools in development environments
• Custom agents built on GPT, Claude, or other platforms
• API integrations created to "solve quick problems"

None of these require traditional IT procurement. Most can be enabled with a credit card and cloud service agreement.

How Shadow AI Breaks Your Service Model

1. Monitoring and Detection Gaps

Your SIEM and security monitoring stack was tuned for human behavior patterns. Users log in during business hours, access predictable resources, and follow recognisable workflows. Agents operate differently.

An AI agent might:

• Make 10,000 API calls in an hour (legitimate for the agent, suspicious for a human)
• Access data across six different systems in rapid succession (lateral movement indicator for humans, normal orchestration for agents)
• Operate 24/7 without breaks (potential compromise indicator for humans, expected for agents)
• Generate logs that appear routine while performing malicious actions

For lean security teams, diagnosing the root cause of cascading failure is incredibly difficult without deep observability into inter-agent communication logs. Your SIEM might show 50 failed transactions, but it doesn't show which agent initiated the cascade Stellar Cyber.

Traditional asset management tracks hardware, software licenses, and network devices. Agents don't fit these categories. They're implemented as service accounts and API keys that multiply organically as users enable features. You can't protect what you can't see.

2. Backup and Recovery Failures

Your backup and disaster recovery SLAs make promises based on assumptions that are no longer valid. A compromised agent acting as a confused deputy can cause more damage than a traditional attacker because it operates at machine speed and scale Stellar Cyber.

An agent with permissions to your backup infrastructure can:

• Delete primary data and all backup generations simultaneously
• Operate faster than your backup cycles, ensuring no clean recovery point exists
• Generate logs showing "routine cleanup operations" that appear normal
• Corrupt backups systematically while appearing to perform maintenance

Real scenario: Client experiences ransomware attack. You initiate recovery procedures. Backups are gone. The agent with "backup management" permissions deleted them three days ago. The logs show it as scheduled maintenance. Your RTO commitment is now irrelevant because there's nothing to restore from.

3. Incident Response SLA Violations

Your incident response SLA typically commits to 30-60 minute response time. That was designed for human-speed attacks where you could get ahead of the threat, contain it, and begin remediation.

Agent compromises don't operate on human timescales.

Research demonstrates that a single compromised agent can poison 87% of downstream decision-making within 4 hours through cascading failures that propagate through agent networks faster than traditional incident response can contain them Stellar Cyber.

By the time your SOC receives the alert, analyses it, escalates it, and convenes the response team, the compromise has cascaded through interconnected agent networks. Your containment window has already closed.

The Communication Problem:

Your incident response procedures assume you can establish trusted communication with the client. You use their Slack workspace, Teams channels, or email systems to coordinate. But what happens when the compromised agent has access to those same channels?

The most complex challenge isn't even about detection; it's about accountability. When an entity can log in, access data, and execute commands with legitimate credentials, establishing trusted communication becomes extremely difficult Okta.

The agent can:

• Monitor your IR coordination in real-time
• Participate in the incident response channel
• Generate plausible updates about remediation progress
• Manipulate communications to delay effective response

Your IR procedures didn't contemplate this. They assume you can trust your communication infrastructure during an incident.

4. Compliance and Audit Failures

Your clients rely on you to help them maintain compliance. Part of that is providing complete, accurate audit trails of who accessed what data and when.

Client question: "We need to document all access to customer PII last quarter for our SOC 2 audit. Can you provide that?"

You pull the logs. They show:

• ServiceAccount_47 accessed customer database 14,000 times
• API_Key_Marketing accessed CRM exports daily
• Agent_CustomerInsights processed 2.3M records

None of these are people. They're agents. The auditor asks:

• What is ServiceAccount_47's business purpose?
• Who authorised these access levels?
• What did the agent do with the data?
• How do you demonstrate least-privilege implementation?

You don't have answers because you didn't know the agents existed. GDPR, HIPAA, SOX, and other frameworks assume human accountability. When agents operate autonomously, accountability becomes a guess, and "normal activity" becomes your next insider threat Okta.

The Client Conversation You Need to Have

You need to educate your clients about this emerging risk and position yourself as their advisor who sees what's coming.

Discovery Questions

Start with open-ended exploration:

• "Walk me through the SaaS tools and cloud services your teams have added in the last six months. Not just the ones that went through IT approval—everything."

• "Which platforms have AI or 'copilot' features that you've enabled?"

• "What tools have the ability to send emails, access your CRM, or pull data from multiple systems?"

Then get specific:

• "Let's review your Microsoft 365 admin portal together. Which Copilot features are enabled?"
• "In your Salesforce instance, what Einstein agents are active?"
• "What integrations and API connections exist in your environment?"
• "Can we enumerate all service accounts and their permission levels?"

Most clients will be surprised by what you find together. They enabled features, not "AI agents." They didn't realise the security implications.

Risk Assessment Framework

Once you've discovered what's deployed, assess the risk for each agent:

• Purpose and business function
• Systems and data it can access
• Permission scope (read-only vs. write access)
• Integration points with critical infrastructure
• Blast radius if compromised

Create a risk matrix: High-value data access × Broad permissions × No monitoring = Critical risk

Some agents will be relatively benign (read-only access to non-sensitive systems). Others will be existential threats (write access to financial systems, customer data, and backups).

The Critical Infrastructure Gap: Out-of-Band Communication

Here's the question every MSP and their clients need to answer: When your primary IT infrastructure is compromised - and with agentic AI, we should assume "when" not "if" - how do you coordinate incident response?

Compromised agents become "autonomous insiders at an attacker's command, ones that can silently execute trades, delete backups, or pivot to exfiltrate entire customer databases" The Register.

Traditional incident response assumes:

• You can trust your email system
• Your Slack or Teams channels are secure
• Your VPN and remote access are reliable
• Your communication tools are separate from compromised infrastructure

Agent compromises invalidate all of these assumptions. The agent monitoring your incident response Slack channel isn't just reading - it's participating, shaping the narrative, and buying time while damage escalates.

Why Your Clients Need Out-of-Band Communication

This is where you need to educate clients about a critical capability most organisations lack: verified, independent communication infrastructure that operates completely outside their primary IT environment.

Out-of-band (OOB) communication platforms are purpose-built for exactly this scenario. When business-as-usual systems fail - whether from ransomware, agent compromise, or any major cyber incident - OOB platforms enable:

Verified Human Communication:

• Independent authentication outside compromised systems
• Confirmation you're communicating with actual humans, not agents
• No agent access to intercept or manipulate coordination

Operational Continuity:

• Crisis coordination when primary channels are hostile
• Incident response team collaboration
• Executive communication during emergencies
• Stakeholder updates through verified channels

Rapid Response:

• Pre-established communication infrastructure
• No scrambling to find alternatives during crisis
• Tested procedures using dedicated channels
• Clear escalation paths outside compromised environment

Introducing OOB Solutions to Your Clients

This is where you add value beyond traditional MSP services. Your clients likely haven't considered this need. You're in the position to educate them and recommend solutions.

"When we're coordinating incident response during an agent compromise - or any major cyber incident - we need communication channels that operate independently of your potentially hostile environment. This isn't optional anymore; it's foundational to effective incident response."

Introduce them to specialised vendors like YUDU Sentinel that provide enterprise-grade out-of-band communication platforms specifically designed for crisis scenarios. These aren't general communication tools - they're purpose-built for situations where your primary infrastructure cannot be trusted.

What to Look for in OOB Platforms:

• True Independence: Operates on separate infrastructure, hosting, and networks from client's primary IT

• Verified Access: Strong authentication mechanisms to ensure human-only participation

• Crisis-Ready: Designed specifically for high-stress incident coordination, not adapted from consumer tools

• Secure by Design: Built with security as the primary requirement, not a feature add-on

• Pre-Established Trust: Infrastructure deployed and tested before you need it, not assembled during crisis

• Compliance Aware: Meets regulatory requirements for sensitive communications

Your clients need to understand: When their Slack is compromised, their email is untrusted, and their VPN is questionable, they need an alternative that was purpose-built for this scenario.

The MSP's Own Critical Need

Here's the insight most MSPs miss:

It's not just your clients who need OOB communication. You do too.

When multiple clients experience incidents simultaneously (common in supply chain attacks or widespread vulnerabilities), your own coordination infrastructure becomes critical.

If you're managing incident response for 10 clients using their Slack workspaces, Teams channels, and email systems - and multiple clients are compromised - how do you maintain operational control?

Here's why you need out-of-band communication:

• Secure coordination space for your incident response team that no client compromise can affect
• Client isolation so incidents don't cross-contaminate
• Verified communication channels with each client's leadership
• Operational continuity regardless of which client systems are hostile

This is where architecturally sophisticated OOB platforms like YUDU Sentinel become essential for MSP operations. The compartmentalised architecture enables you to maintain:

Secure Ring-Fenced Spaces Per Client:

• Each client gets isolated communication environment
• Compromises don't propagate across your client base
• Client data remains separated and secure
• Independent security boundaries per tenant

Integrated Collaboration Tools:

• Purpose-built incident response coordination
• Document sharing in secure environment
• Real-time updates and status tracking
• Audit trails for compliance and post-incident review

MSP Operational Resilience:

• Your internal coordination space isolated from all client environments
• Ability to coordinate across incidents simultaneously
• No dependency on potentially compromised client infrastructure
• Maintain service delivery regardless of incident scope

Think about the scenario: It's 2 AM. Three of your clients have been hit with agent-related compromises. Your SOC needs to coordinate responses across all three simultaneously. Each client's Slack, email, and collaboration tools are potentially compromised.

Without OOB infrastructure, you're trying to coordinate via personal cell phones, consumer messaging apps, and whatever makeshift solutions you can assemble under pressure. With proper OOB infrastructure, you have pre-established, secure, verified channels for each client and your internal team.

The MSP Value Proposition Becomes:

"We maintain independent incident response infrastructure that operates outside your IT environment. When your systems are compromised, we have secure channels to coordinate with your leadership, our technical team can collaborate effectively, and we can maintain operational control regardless of what's happening in your primary infrastructure.

This isn't just for your benefit - it's how we ensure we can deliver effective incident response at the scale and speed modern threats require."

Implementation Guidance for MSPs

Phase 1: Assess Your Own Exposure

Before talking to clients, understand your own gaps:

• How many clients have deployed AI agents you don't know about?
• What's your incident response capability when client communication tools are compromised?
• Do you have independent coordination infrastructure?
• Can you maintain service delivery during widespread incidents?

Phase 2: Educate Your Clients

Position this as strategic advisory, not sales:

• Conduct shadow AI discovery audits
• Document risk exposure from agent deployments
• Explain incident response communication gaps
• Recommend OOB infrastructure as risk mitigation
• Introduce specialised vendors like YUDU Sentinel

Phase 3: Deploy Your Own OOB Infrastructure

Establish operational resilience for your MSP:

• Deploy compartmentalised OOB platform for multi-client management
• Create secure ring-fenced spaces per client
• Establish internal coordination environment
• Test procedures with your incident response team
• Document integration with existing IR playbooks

Phase 4: Integrate Into Service Delivery

Make OOB communication part of how you deliver services:

• Enhanced service tiers include OOB access
• IR procedures explicitly use OOB channels during incidents
• Regular testing with clients (quarterly tabletop exercises)
• Client education on when and how to use OOB systems
• Documentation for compliance and audit purposes

The Risk of Inaction

Let's be direct about what happens if you don't address this:

For Your Clients: When an agent compromise occurs and you're trying to coordinate incident response through their potentially hostile Slack workspace, they'll ask: "Why don't we have secure communication for incidents like this?"

If a competitor has already introduced them to OOB platforms and positioned themselves as the MSP who thinks ahead about these scenarios, you're now the provider who didn't.

For Your MSP: When you're managing multiple simultaneous incidents and trying to coordinate via makeshift consumer tools and personal phones, you'll realise that your service delivery model has a critical infrastructure gap.

Your incident response times suffer. Your team coordination is chaotic. Your clients see you struggling. Your reputation takes a hit.

The first MSPs to build OOB communication into their service delivery model will differentiate themselves significantly. Those who wait will be explaining why they don't have this capability when their competitors do.

Conclusion: Two Conversations, One Solution

As an MSP, you need to have two critical conversations about out-of-band communication:

With Your Clients: "The AI agents being deployed in your environment create new incident response challenges. When those systems are compromised, we need communication infrastructure that operates independently. Let me introduce you to purpose-built solutions like YUDU Sentinel that address this specific need."

You're positioning yourself as the advisor who sees emerging risks and recommends appropriate solutions. You're adding value beyond traditional monitoring and support.

With Your Own Leadership: "We need OOB infrastructure not just for our clients, but for our own operational resilience. When we're managing multiple incidents simultaneously, we need secure, compartmentalised communication that enables us to deliver effective service regardless of which client systems are compromised."

You're investing in infrastructure that enables you to scale incident response, maintain service quality under pressure, and differentiate your offering in the market.

The agents are already deployed. The shadow AI is already expanding. The compromises are already beginning.

The question isn't whether out-of-band communication is necessary. It's whether you'll have it in place before you desperately need it.