Pax8 sets path for MSPs with secure AI

Cloud marketplace provider Pax8 has developed a purpose-built environment, Managed Intelligence Toolkit, to help MSPs orchestrate and manage artificial intelligence (AI) agents across their SMB customer base.

The toolkit aims to tackle the challenges of low cybersecurity awareness and limited resource allocation, which can lead to gaps in the protection of small and medium businesses (SMBs).

Built with Microsoft tech, including Copilot Studio, Azure AI Foundry, and Entra Agent ID, the vision is to turn MSPs into managed intelligence providers (MIPs), helping clients scale with digital labour and agentic automation.

Cyber security vendor Check Point has also \”significantly expanded\” its offering on the Pax8 Marketplace, making the bulk of its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered cybersecurity portfolio available to MSPs.

The expansion includes endpoint, mobile, email, SASE, and full managed defence response (MDR) capabilities, all managed via Check Point Infinity for unified security oversight.

It will be available through the Check Point Infinity Portal, which allows multi-tenancy.

Pax8\’s global partner ecosystem will have access to Check Point\’s suite of AI-powered, cloud-delivered cybersecurity technologies.

The partnership addresses the lack of awareness in the SMB space about cyber security. The rapid adoption of AI needed guidance for growth and foundational readiness, fostered by human connection in the AI age, said Pax8 global vendor strategy and operations Hayley McSpirit.

“In Australia, we know that cybersecurity is incredibly important,” she said. “Our MSPs tell us all the time that there\’s a lot of apathy in the SMB space and being able to resolve those issues with this solution set.

“Working through the platform with Check Point, with the Infinity portal and the access, is where we\’re hoping we can better serve the Australian market more effectively.” 

McSpirit told ARN, the AI wave was just hitting all of its partners at the same time and with incredible velocity.

“In Australia, I think it’s very key to continue focusing on education, focusing on the Pax8 platform in our marketplace,” she said. “[As well as] focusing on how to guide through that journey when trying to pick together what the right solutions need to be for their customers,\” she said.

“I think the Check Point opportunity here is bringing as many solutions as we can into one platform and providing access, which is just enabling ease.”

McSpirit explained this was wrapped around training and enablement, which she believed was less about focusing on product feature function and more about the fit within the partner’s current portfolio.

“I’ve heard from MSPs that this is a much more amenable way of receiving information versus, you know, there are so many products out there tackling this,” she said. “I think it’s just getting down to plain English, what [problem] is this solving?”

Providing partners with clear communication about cybersecurity helps them make confident decisions about technical adoption for customers, which is critical at a time when there’s a lot of noise and confusion around AI.

“One thing that SMBs are phenomenal at is moving quickly because of the agility of that, depending on what industry they are residing, but the agility to move,” said McSpirit.

“They can move so quickly, but then there are lots of gaps, and the enablement is where we see the biggest or the most critical.”

McSpirit explained the marketplace provider had added Pax8 Guided Growth to help MSPs navigate their growth journey with step-by-step guidance and practical support.

It’s built around three core pillars of equip, optimise and grow.

“We continue to build out curricula around the three main components are the core ones at the moment, which are security, AI, and then that infrastructure play,” she said. “These things feel like pillars that MSPs need to be successful, and we just wrap them around with enablement and community.”

Having these initiatives leads to trust from the community of MSPs, allowing Pax8 to enable them to achieve what they want, said McSpirit.

“We are doing our best, and probably could do better,” she said. “We\’re doing our best to distil down and identify those partnerships that make sense, like Check Point, like others, and Microsoft too…a big player in the AI space.

“But I think the key thing is a fine balance between having that cautious and methodical approach, while helping MSPs to meet their customers\’ needs.”