New AI risk framework — built with leading MSPs, cybersecurity experts, and re/insurers and brokers — enters pilot as carriers move toward affirmative AI coverage for small and mid-market businesses

ATLANTA, GA, September 9, 2026 — SPECTRA, the cyber risk management platform behind the first and only robust certification of cyber resilience for Managed Service Providers (MSPs), today announced an AI risk framework of 20 AI deployment controls, giving MSPs, their small and mid-market business customers, and the insurers who cover them a common standard of insurability for the deployment of AI.

Over the last 12 months, the MSP industry has moved quickly from viewing AI as transformative for the channel and its customers to focusing on safe, scalable deployment that generates recurring revenue for MSPs. AI was the single most prominent topic at Pax8 Beyond, GTIA ChannelCon, CRN XChange and other major channel events this summer. SPECTRA expects the shift to create an opportunity for MSPs on the scale of the cloud migration that reshaped the channel two decades ago.

Operating where managed cybersecurity and insurance converge, SPECTRA has seen MSPs of all sizes accelerate their go-to-market for deploying and securing AI as customers rush adoption into their operations.

At the same time, insurers have grown increasingly cautious about which AI-related exposures should be covered and which should be excluded.

A recent report from At-Bay Insurance found that agentic AI creates new risk implications across multiple lines of insurance, including:

• General Liability, where property damage and bodily injury are typically covered but policies are silent on AI-related claims
• Professional Liability, where policies are often similarly silent on AI-driven failures
• Cyber, where policies should be reviewed for business interruption tied to AI service availability. The same is true for privacy breaches where the AI solution is the vector for the breach.
• Copyright and IP infringement coverage, where it is often unclear whether infringement arising from AI-generated content is covered

While it remains unclear how responsibility will ultimately be divided between MSPs and their customers, MSPs are positioned to play a significant role in mitigating emerging AI risk for small and mid-market businesses.

To give MSPs, businesses and insurers a common framework for mitigating that risk, SPECTRA has identified 20 AI deployment controls across eight domains that businesses are asking their MSPs to manage on their behalf.

The framework was developed with input from SPECTRA's cybersecurity advisors, leading MSPs with established AI practices, and cyber re/insurers and brokers. It is now in pilot, with a number of MSPs progressing toward certification.

SPECTRA is also working with insurers to define their requirements across security controls, the data needed to evidence them, and the affirmative AI coverage carriers are prepared to offer subject to inspection of those controls.

“As AI reaches every facet of our lives, guardrails, security and financial resilience are becoming a priority for AI vendors, MSPs, businesses and insurers alike,” said Edouard von Herberstein, Founder and CEO of SPECTRA. “There are a number of precautions that can be put in place to protect the millions of small businesses relying on MSPs to safely benefit from the Intelligence Revolution. This is the first robust attempt to give MSPs a framework to deliver insurable AI.”

“As AI adoption accelerates, the market is craving evidence of effective controls at the point of deployment, backed by real data,” said Gage Caligaris, Founder and CEO of Ledgebrook, a leading commercial insurance platform. “That evidence is what moves the industry from broad assumptions to genuinely intelligent risk analysis, pricing and underwriting. At Ledgebrook, we insure tens of thousands of businesses across the country, and the better the visibility we have into how AI is deployed and governed, the more precisely we can assess and price that exposure. SPECTRA is leading the charge in setting that standard, and this framework is a meaningful step forward for the market.”

About SPECTRA

Founded in 2022, SPECTRA is the cyber risk management platform delivering the first and only robust certification of cyber resilience to leading Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and their millions of small and mid-market business customers. SPECTRA helps MSPs differentiate through its certification and through its partnerships with the largest insurance brokers and carriers, who recognize and reward its certificates of resilience — unlocking broader insurance coverage and lower premiums for businesses whose cybersecurity is managed and governed in accordance with its frameworks. Learn more at www.spectracyber.com.

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