At Kaseya Connect 2026, ESET’s Cameron Tousley spoke with ChannelPro about how MSPs are evolving beyond traditional IT support into more intelligence-driven security organizations. As AI reshapes the cybersecurity landscape, channel pros need more than tools. They need actionable threat intelligence, contextual reporting, and AI capabilities they can operationalize.
In this Q&A, we cover ESET’s expanding intelligence capabilities, the rise of Agentic AI, and how partners can use threat data to differentiate themselves with customers.
The transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
ESET recently announced several updates. Which ones are most important for partners?
Cloud workload protection was just added to our platform. So if an ESET partner has cloud workloads on one or all of the three major vendors, AWS, Google Cloud Platform, and Azure, they’re protected. I think that really adds a lot of value for our MSP partners. We can help them support all kinds of environments. Large, small, cloud, on-prem, in this case, cloud workloads, which are becoming increasingly popular.
Another thing is ESET Threat Intelligence. We had some additions and enhancements to that platform. Not sure if everyone knows, but we tout ourselves as a research company. We’re global, with good reach. That has helped us offer threat intelligence as a service, because why not? We have all of this very valuable data.
I think the big differentiator for ESET here is that because we have such a wide reach in a lot of the hot areas, we’re able to cultivate that very qualitative data for the people that need to consume it.
Cameron Tousley, pictured left.
How is that threat intelligence reporting made available?
We do it in a variety of ways. We do it in feeds, we also do it in reports, and then now we’ve just added e-crime to our reports. And that can actually be a standalone. The feeds are really helpful for your tools, so you can automate. Your firewall can now see malicious websites and domains. It’s very efficient at helping you block faster and reduce time.
I think with the e-crime report, it’s a really interesting offer. We are tracking the malware publishers, essentially the malware-as-a-service groups, and building contextual reports.
How about a level down? The people who are buying the malware and creating the exploits are called affiliates. We’re tracking affiliate groups, seeing like what their tactics are and their behavior patterns. When a similar threat comes in, how did it operate? Did it move laterally, vertically? Did it infect somewhere? These guys are really creative in creating zero-day exploits.
What can MSPs do with that data?
With our ability to track at that level, it’s opening up a whole new conversation for MSPs and MSSPs talking with their end customers. It gives SOC analysts something to chew on that’s substantial. They’re able to look at the data and make predictions. It simply makes security postures better.
It fuels new conversations with the C-level. Business owners want to hear, ‘This is what we’re seeing and it’s coming from this group. They’ve come out with an exploit. But don’t worry, we were able to block it from our clients.’ It adds so much value to a QBR conversation.
When people say, ‘Hey, how do you differentiate your MSP?’ We’re putting the ability for them to differentiate themselves in their hands.
Agentic AI is the hot topic at Kaseya Connect. In ESET’s view, is that the future?
Absolutely. I think Kaseya did a nice job explaining how agentic AI is now part of their product set. Agentic AI is already firmly baked into the DNA of our products. ESET AI Advisor is our agentic helper. It starts with our ESET Protect Security Console, our cloud management system, and flows into products like our XDR.
Let’s say you’re an MSSP and you’re managing your own XDR. You’re augmenting that with our SOC (Security Operations Center). You have tools serving up a lot of information that’s very hard to parse through. I think our AI Advisor is going to be something that they can really use going forward.
It takes complex data sets and recommends not only the strategy and the playbook for executing the remediation, but also critically important, high-level data. Like, what happened, what was the exploit path, what devices did it affect, and what users were impacted.
It can take the steps on your behalf as well. We’re continuously building on that front because we want to make the user’s job easier. Humans are still there for validation and can get involved if they want. But our systems are designed to be pretty autonomous.
What should MSPs be focusing on to prepare for what’s coming next?
AI-based attacks. They’re going to get more and more complex. MSPs need to get a lot deeper on that topic.
Successful MSPs are pouring time into understanding their XDR, the thing that’s going to investigate, remediate, and uncover attacks. We talk with a lot of MSPs who ask, ‘Hey, what makes your XDR better?’ But in some cases, they don’t know what they want the tool to do. That’s okay, it takes time, and they’re managing a lot.
But also investing time in understanding the AI capabilities that the vendor offers is needed. It’s important to understand if the tool is going to take full action or if it is going to recommend things. When it makes recommendations, what’s the workflow?
You need a playbook on what the vendor solution does, but also get the playbook on what you, the MSP, should do. Just get curious, because the AI is going to suggest so much, but those should be a lot of things that you’ve already done.
Last, continuously harden your environment, close any potential gaps, and make the tough decision. Even if AI seems incredible, you might have to say, ‘Okay, I’m not implementing this technology yet — now’s the time.’
Jonathan Browning is executive director of content and engagement for The ChannelPro Network. He has been a leader in the IT channel for close to a decade. He’s an avid fan and early adopter of technology. He believes that the Managed Services industry is the most important driver of economic growth and human innovation in today’s world.
Images: Andrey Popov— stock.adobe.com, Jonathan Browning/ChannelPro
