Ep. 130: AI Readiness Starts Before AI: Identity, Endpoints, and Security First

AI readiness doesn't start with AI; it starts with the infrastructure most organizations overlook. In this episode of #shifthappens, Lior Bela, Business Director for Microsoft Intune, breaks down what it actually takes to prepare managed service providers (MSPs) and their customers for AI adoption, and why skipping the foundation creates more risk than it solves. Lior explains why cloud-native environments are the prerequisite, not the afterthought, for AI success — comparing the journey to paving a road before driving a car on it. He discusses how legacy tooling and on-prem comfort create a growth ceiling, why AI agents should be governed with the same guardrails as employees, and what happens when organizations fail to offer sanctioned AI tools: shadow AI fills the gap. The conversation also covers the three-tier path to AI maturity, from baseline alignment to assisted automation to full autonomy, and why building trust in AI follows the same arc as trusting a driverless car. Lior closes with a practical 30-day action plan any MSP can follow: learn, experiment in a sandbox, and deploy on low-risk, high-impact processes.