What. A. Day. Beyond EMEA 2025 kicked off with big energy, bold ideas and unforgettable breakout moments. Let’s look at the highlights.
Community Keynote
Pax8 President and Chief Commerce Officer, Nick Heddy, opened Beyond EMEA with a keynote that set the tone for the entire event, challenging partners to embrace what he called the “fierce urgency of now”. He made it clear that neither AI, nor vendors, nor product releases will “save” anyone’s business; that the only path forward is what partners choose to build. Nick spotlighted Pax8 innovations like Opportunity Explorer, Storefronts and the new Integrations Hub, along with programs such as Pax8 Academy and Guided Growth that give partners the tools and support to lead. His keynote also revealed major announcements, including Pax8’s integration into the Microsoft Marketplace and the all-new Secure Microsoft Copilot Suite, underscoring Pax8’s collaboration with Microsoft to drive transformation. Heddy closed by reminding the audience that this movement isn’t about Pax8, but about them: a global community of pioneers shaping the future of business and technology.
Visionary Keynote: The Agentic Inflection Point
Scott Chasin’s keynote at Beyond EMEA painted a vivid picture of what he called the agentic inflection point: a shift where AI, automation and intelligence redefine how business is built and scaled. He traced the path from today’s chatbots and assistants to tomorrow’s agentic workforce, where swarms of digital colleagues will collaborate in real time. Chasin emphasized that this revolution won’t be powered by apps, but by agents, and that partners must evolve into Managed Intelligence Providers (MIPs) to guide clients through this transformation. He introduced the Managed Intelligence Provider Playbook, showing how discovery, buying, building, selling and managing agents create new revenue streams and deeper client relationships.
The keynote culminated with the launch of the Pax8 Agent Store, the first marketplace designed for the SMB economy to monetize agents. Chasin closed with a rallying call: in an agent-powered world, technology alone isn’t the differentiator; trust, empathy and human connection are. And it’s this community of pioneers, he declared, that will lead the future by building it together.
Microsoft Keynote: Empowering SMBs with Agentic AI
Richard Ellis, GM, EMEA Small Medium Enterprises and Channel (SME&C), delivered Microsoft’s keynote and highlighted how agentic AI is transforming SMBs. He emphasized the global market opportunity and the vital role of partners in scaling innovation by focusing on a three-step journey: 1. Be customer one with early adoption, 2. Preparing customers for AI through secure data practices and 3. Deploying Copilot and AI agents to solve real business challenges. Their Frontier Pilot, Project Riley, engaged 43,000+ unmanaged SMB customers and delivered increased engagement among SMBs with a two-point higher response rate compared to traditional marketing outreach, a five-point higher qualification rate versus seller-led prospecting and a 4% incremental pipeline. His key takeaway: together, partners and Microsoft can lead the agentic AI era and drive new growth.
CrowdStrike Keynote: Cutting Through the AI Hype: What the Adversary Is Really Doing
In his captivating keynote, Zeki Turdei, CrowdStrike’s Field CTO Europe, cut through the hype to reveal how cyber adversaries are outpacing defenders. In fact, threat actors are ditching malware for stealthy, hands-on intrusions, exploiting gaps between security tools and weaponizing AI for everything from deepfake social engineering to rapid vulnerability exploitation. Threat organizations are smart; they are doing their research on companies and verticals to jump around and identify access across all technologies. Turdei declared: secure yourself, secure your customer, eliminate cross-domain visibility gaps, patch with the adversary in mind and know your adversary. Do as much research on them as they do on you!
Breakout Sessions
Trailblazers of Intelligence: Partner Stories from the Frontlines of AI
The session opened with Pax8 Chief Experience Officer Craig Donovan joined by Chris Pottrell of Nebula IT and Dan Mitchell of MIP Global to discuss how partners are turning AI theory into practice. Pottrell emphasized “the need for education to transform their clients from fear to fluency”, while Mitchell noted that “Agentic AI adds context”, setting his organization apart from off-the-shelf data offerings. Together, they underscored this threshold: MSPs that lean in, experiment and educate today will define leadership in the Managed Intelligence era.
From MSP to MIP: Growing Your Business with Effective Change Management
In this interactive session, Irene Casanova Canals, VP of Strategy Operations at Pax8, laid out how MSPs can transform into MIPs by embracing effective change management. She highlighted the emotional journey teams experience during transformation, emphasizing the importance of understanding human reactions when navigating change. She also introduced practical tools such as the Change Impact Assessment to help leaders manage the impact of change and guide their teams toward a future-ready business.
From Strategy to Success: 5 Proven Tips to Choose and Manage Your Marketing Agency to Deliver ROI
Yolanda Kloppers, Senior Manager of Marketing Strategy at Pax8, drew parallels between the process of selecting and managing a marketing agency and dating – emphasizing that finding the right match requires preparation, transparency and ongoing relationship check-ins. Drawing on real-world agency pitfalls, she outlined five proven tips, from crafting a standout request for proposal to mapping the customer journey and optimizing performance, that help unlock up to 300–500% return on investment (ROI) in just 12–18 months. The session urged attendees to shift from reactive support to proactive intelligence, making the strategic leap from MSP to MIP.
Managed Intelligence in Action: A Hands-on AI Lab
In this invite-only session, MSPs opened their laptops and got to work. For an hour, they were tasked with orchestrating data and an AI workflow for a hypothetical local utility company. The problem? A need to analyze customer health for the account management team. With an emphasis on agile development, partners learned how to identify the problem, hypothesize solutions, then deliver measurable results. With each partner working in an Azure Virtual Lab environment, they were encouraged to raise a hand and brainstorm with the Pax8 AI team if they stalled during the build process. This session underlines the importance of jumping in and trying AI. You will not be 100% correct with the first iteration, but through the discovery, design, build and feedback cycle you will narrow in on a successful AI solution for you and your clients.
Transformation Through Their Eyes: The Buyer’s Path to Managed Intelligence
In his session, Transformation through Their Eyes, Pax8 Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Ryan Walsh challenged partners to see the market through the lens of a rapidly changing buyer. Today’s SMBs are not impressed by tech for tech’s sake; they’re impressed by outcomes. They expect partners who understand their business, share in the risk and help them move faster. As Walsh noted, SMBs are now spending more on AI than many enterprises, becoming “giants in disguise” driving the next wave of growth. Quoting Michael Stone of Computer Aid, he underscored the urgency of adaptation: “If you slow them down, they will fire you.” Walsh reminded partners that this new generation of buyers already speaks the language of AI, but what they still need…what only partners can provide…is context and relationships.
RSF Buyer Personas: Stepping into Your Buyers’ Mindset
Limara Thorne, Strategic Consultant at Pax8 Academy, guided attendees through the Results Selling Framework (RSF), underscoring the power of buyer personas in shaping effective marketing and sales strategies. The session explored how understanding buyers’ technical and economical motivations enables marketers to tailor messaging, build trust and drive engagement. Otto Lodewijk, Founder of SuitIT, shared his business insights and offered a glimpse of what stepping into customers’ mindset looks like in action. Attendees discovered practical techniques for gathering and analyzing customer data to create detailed personas and adapt their approach for better business outcomes.
Cybersecurity Day 1 Sessions
Across three key sessions, cybersecurity experts addressed the evolving threat landscape. From Directive to Reality: NIS2 Implementation across the EU revealed that national differences make a single compliance approach impossible. In Eyes Wide Open: A Hacker’s Perspective, Pax8’s Mostyn Thomas and ethical hacker Kevin Zwaan exposed how breaches — 44% involving ransomware — are rising, urging vigilance and deep system insight. Tales from the SOC showed attackers shifting toward targeted social engineering and identity-based tactics, emphasizing defenses like conditional access, blocking legacy authentication and ongoing staff education.
Gold Sponsors Rapid Fire Pitches
Train whistles, Bad Bunny quips and password-themed costumes…the Gold sponsor pitches had it all! Laughter and energy filled the room as nine sponsors took the stage for what might just be the toughest 30 seconds in the channel: delivering their best elevator pitch to win hearts, minds and maybe a few booth visits. They brought the flair and the facts, proving no matter the industry, creativity steals the show.
Hendrika Willemse: Beyond the Ordinary
In an inspiring keynote, Hendrika Willemse spoke candidly about what true transformation takes, reminding the audience that “wanting transformation is different from transforming.” Drawing on her experience as a world champion athlete and tech leader, she showed how performance psychology can help MSPs evolve into extraordinary Managed Intelligence Providers. Transformation, she said, isn’t one heroic moment; it’s about showing up every day, even when it’s hard. Her message: balance short-term execution with long-term vision, start small and build your transformation muscle. Resilience is forged under pressure, and that’s how lasting change begins.
Where Is Beyond EMEA 2026 Headed?
Jen Bodell, CVP of Marketing, announced the location of Beyond EMEA 2026. Pax8 is raising the bar and taking this event to beautiful Copenhagen, Denmark. We can tell we chose well, because more than 250 partners have already signed up for next year. They’re obviously looking forward to enjoying a Danish…danish. Grab your spot now!
