PRESS RELEASE
Grand Rapids-based managed IT provider recognized for turning AI education into a client growth engine — not just a service offering
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Oct. 7, 2026 — Real IT Solutions, Inc. has been named a finalist for the 2026 AI-Powered Award, presented by MSP Titans of the Industry to managed service providers “leveraging AI and automation to revolutionize their MSP” and deliver smarter outcomes for clients. CEO Matt Kahle was named among the finalists in a field that included MSPs from across the country.
This marks the third consecutive year Real IT Solutions has been named a Titans finalist — the company was previously recognized in the Manufacturing and Midwest categories in prior years — but the first time it has been a finalist in the AI category, which Kahle noted is new to the Titans program this year.
Unlike many MSPs adding AI as a line item, Real IT built its AI practice around a standing community: the West Michigan AI Navigators, a group founded and led by Chief AI Officer Donald McArthur that brings local business leaders together to work through what AI actually means for their operations — not the hype version. That community feeds directly into Real IT’s bi-monthly Lunch & Learn series, where McArthur teaches the proprietary frameworks his team built to make AI adoption practical rather than theoretical: CRAFTED, a structured approach to prompt engineering; Hand It Off or Hold On, a decision framework for what to automate versus keep human; the Five Hidden Costs of AI Adoption; and Assess-Deploy-Sustain, a phased model for rolling AI into an organization without disrupting it.
“We didn’t want to be another MSP that slaps ‘AI-powered’ on a service page,” said Matt Kahle, CEO of Real IT Solutions. “Donald built a real community around this because business owners in West Michigan needed somewhere to ask honest questions about AI without a sales pitch attached. Being named a finalist three years running — and now for the first time in AI — tells us that approach, teach first, sell second, is exactly right.”
Real IT Solutions has built its reputation locally on a “Thrilled Today or You Don’t Pay” guarantee and its RealCare™ IT Department model, a four-pillar approach — Automated, Proactive, Reactive, Strategic — that the company applies across managed IT, cybersecurity, and now AI advisory services. The company’s AI Business Optimization practice, which includes the AI Navigators community and Lunch & Learn series, sits within that Strategic pillar.
“This nomination is really a signal to our clients,” Kahle added. “It says the hours Donald and the team put into building these frameworks, running these sessions, and showing up for this community every other month — it’s working, and it’s being noticed outside West Michigan too.”
Finalists were selected through a competitive review examining business growth, client outcomes, innovation, and overall impact in the MSP industry. Winners will be announced at the 2026 MSP Titans of the Industry Awards on December 9, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
For more information about Real IT Solutions, or to join an upcoming West Michigan AI Navigators Lunch & Learn, visit realitsolutions.com.