Core Technology Systems CCO talks AI, expansion and M&A

Rye Austin expounds on the London MSP’s reasoning for delaying an acquisition and turning in-house for security

With a bold acquisition strategy and rapidly expanding revenue, Core Technology Systems has had a transformative 2025.

Rye Austin, chief commercial officer of the business sat down with CRN around our Fastest-Growing MSPs report published earlier this year, to talk about the biggest growth areas for the business.

“Growth [has been] driven largely by workplace and AI, especially Microsoft, new logo wins as well as significant growth from existing accounts, including those acquired through M&A.”

The business bought out Scottish MSP Velocity IT in 2024 in an effort to boost its services offer and in-house skills.

Alongside this acquisition, the London-HQ MSP has specifically boosted its engagements with customers between 250-1,000 users, through a mix of both partner-referred and direct engagements, according to Austin.

And while the new growth has been impressive, there is also a long tail of consultancy projects which has given Core an uplift throughout fiscal 2025.

“We’ve seen strong consultancy growth this year, driven by delayed 2024 projects being greenlit, creating a surge in demand,” Austin explains.

“Overall, we expect growth this year between 15 and 20 per cent.”

The CCO sees generative AI and specifically Microsoft’s embrace of it as the biggest trend to hit the industry in years, with clients’ desire to understand “the practical implications” driving significant customer engagement.

“Our sales strategy now heavily incorporates AI readiness assessments, awareness workshops, and business case development, positioning us to capitalise on this demand over the next 12 months,” says Austin.

Core is also not leaving money on the table when it comes to agentic AI, with the firm actively working on launching new services in the space within months.

Reinvesting in-house resources into security

Core’s focus in the coming year will remain around modern workplace, Copilot, RPA, and automation, the partner firm’s existing growth drivers, but the business will use the existing momentum to also launch new security services and managed service lines.

To support this growth, Core has increased its staff count over the past 12 months, growing from just over 100 heads to 120.

Management considered several approaches to tackle the cyber expansion, with an acquisition of a security specialist being on the table at one point.

“[We] recently explored purchasing a managed security specialist but chose instead to build this capability in-house, Austin explains.

“Following 2–3 years of active acquisitions, we have now fully integrated systems, unified brands and completed post-acquisition consolidation.

“We engaged actively with several potential targets, but no deals are expected in the next few months.

“We are monitoring interest rates for potential M&A activity in 2026.”

Asked about market consolidation more broadly, Austin strikes a balanced note.

“Consolidation makes sense. While Core operates on a smaller scale than the major players, M&A is a proven growth accelerator, and valuation multiples increase with scale and maturity,” he says.

“Organic growth remains central to our strategy, with M&A used selectively to accelerate capability and market position.”