Many MSPs are still trying to figure out how to turn artificial intelligence into a profitable service. Pax8’s message to those providers: You don’t have to build everything yourself. But you do need to start talking to your customers about it right away.
Since Pax8 introduce its managed intelligence provider concept encouraging MSPs to embrace a future as managed intelligence providers (MIPs), the company is refining its approach. The emphasis is expanding beyond building AI agents to helping partners buy, broker and manage them. The opportunity lies in helping small and midsized businesses (SMBs) solve problems, improve efficiency and achieve measurable returns on their AI investments.
In interviews with ChannelPro, Pax8’s Rob Rae, corporate vice president of community and partner experience, and Chance Weaver, global vice president of AI adoption, discussed how the channel’s AI journey is evolving and what MSPs need to do to remain competitive.
Not every MSP needs to become an AI developer
When Pax8 first began promoting the agentic MSP concept, much of the conversation centered on MSPs developing and selling their own AI agents. That thinking has evolved.
Rae recalled watching an MSP demonstrate several agents he had built to help his business prospect for new customers. The demonstration generated considerable interest, but not necessarily the response Rae expected. Rather than asking how to build similar tools, most MSPs wanted to buy them.
“It’s easier just to buy it and sell it, so we’re leaning into that from a couple different aspects,” Rae told ChannelPro. “This is all just kind of formulating these days as to what percentage is that going to be. Why would I build something that I’ve seen somebody else build already?”
That realization helped shape Pax8’s Agent Store, which gives partners a way to purchase agents rather than develop every solution themselves.
For smaller MSPs with limited resources, buying agents or partnering with AI-native companies could make these services more accessible, Weaver said. But MSPs must also move beyond basic AI enablement to deliver solutions that address customer needs, he added.
“What 95% of MSPs are doing is they’re saying, ‘I can help you with AI,’ but they’re only providing enablement and governance service. They’re not really getting to the point where they’re talking about the problem and building something to solve it or partnering with someone who can build and solve that problem.”
Pair AI governance with business improvements
AI governance and security are important starting points. But MSPs must go further, helping customers solve business problems and achieve measurable results rather than simply selling AI technology.
Chance Weaver
“The client will know the ROI,” Weaver explained. “The MSP needs to help the client really think about the business problem. Go in and identify, does the process need to be fixed to actually apply technology to it?”
He pointed to partners using AI-powered discovery tools to identify business challenges and prepare for customer meetings. However, the solution might not require AI. Traditional automation or business intelligence tools may be more appropriate, Weaver noted.
In a real-world example, Rae described how one MSP progressed from building agents for internal prospecting to identifying operational gaps within customers’ businesses and proposing AI solutions before customers asked for them. That evolution illustrates how MSPs can move from reactive technical support to proactive business advisers.
Industry specialization can help, Rae said, but AI-powered research tools also can help generalist MSPs better understand their customers’ industries.
Start the AI conversation before customers go elsewhere
Although some MSPs have moved quickly into AI services, others remain hesitant. Pricing, compliance, security and uncertainty about customer demand all create obstacles.
Rae acknowledged those concerns but warned that waiting for perfect answers could cost MSPs valuable opportunities. Every MSP should discuss AI with every customer, even if neither party is ready to implement a solution. MSPs can start with trusted customers, even if that means acknowledging they’re still learning and exploring potential AI opportunities together.
Rob Rae
“What we want is — and every MSP will agree with me on this — if my client is thinking about AI, I want them to call me first,” Rae said. “Even though I may not have a solution or an answer, I will go find it.”
One practical starting point is an AI acceptable-use policy. Pax8 has developed a policy-building wizard that MSPs can use with customers to establish expectations around AI usage. The tool offers a way to begin discussing security, data protection and employee behavior without requiring an immediate technology investment.
These discussions also can expose shadow AI, where employees use tools without their employer’s knowledge or approval. That unauthorized use can create security risks, even when employees have good intentions.
Build an ecosystem, not another silo
Pax8 also is watching the evolution of integrated technology platforms that allow products from different vendors to share information and automate workflows.
Rae described how AI could connect a professional services automation (PSA) system with backup software to help troubleshoot problems before a technician intervenes. The challenge is making those capabilities work across competing vendors rather than locking MSPs into one provider.
“It’s more of an interesting way where everything’s hooked in, single bill,” Rae noted. “A lot of consolidation can happen from a platform perspective without being tagged to one particular vendor.”
Preparing for an AI-driven future
Pax8’s next phase of AI development could become clearer Oct. 18-20 in Copenhagen, Denmark when the company is expected to reveal additional capabilities at its Beyond EMEA event. Both Rae and Weaver expressed enthusiasm about what’s coming and how it could help partners advance their AI services.
For MSPs, preparing for that future starts with four steps:
- Understand your customers’ needs.
- Experiment with AI internally.
- Establish appropriate safeguards.
- Develop partnerships that fill capability gaps.
Ultimately, those efforts depend on MSPs changing how they engage with customers.
“Learn how to have that conversation. It’s the conversation that MSPs have always wanted to have,” Weaver said. “Now it becomes critical for the future and how they’re going to interact with their clients.”
Anjali Fluker is managing editor of The ChannelPro Network, where she covers news, trends and best practices for the MSP community. She specializes in telling the stories that matter to IT providers serving the SMB market. When she’s not reporting, writing or editing, she’s connecting with channel pros at industry events across the country.
Images: AI generated by Copilot, Anjali Fluker/ChannelPro, Pax8
