We’re at the edge of a new era. The rules of business and technology are changing with the advent of agentic AI. As a managed service provider (MSP), you need to be ready for this change.
Agentic AI can help your small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) benefit from a fleet of assistants that work 24/7 and faster than any human being could. But just like human employees, AI agents need to be built, trained, purchased and deployed in the right way. Learning the steps to a successful agentic AI deployment can help you move from being an MSP that only provides solutions to existing challenges to being a Managed Intelligence Provider (MIP) that helps clients be proactive and reach new levels of productivity.
Let’s break it down.
The Rise of Agents
It may take some time to wrap your head around the concept of agents and digital labor. Don’t think of it as a replacement for human labor; it’s actually a new class of workers. These are autonomous software agents that can make human workers’ jobs more efficient by executing tasks on their own.
Think invoice processing, customer support, logistics optimization — work that your average employee doesn’t necessarily want to do, but needs to (and, more importantly, work that gets in the way of higher-level initiatives). Tasks like this can be completed by swarms of intelligent agents working in tandem.
These systems can be defined in four stages:
- Chatbots: Basic Q&A and task execution on platforms like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot
- Assistants: Multi-step workflows with contextual reasoning
- Agentic Labor: End-to-end process automation with minimal human oversight
- Agentic Workforce: Swarms of agents collaborating in real time to solve complex challenges
Each level unlocks new autonomy — and new value. In fact, businesses adopting agentic labor could see up to 90% automation of workflows by year three and 40% reductions in operational costs. For SMBs, especially, those numbers can be transformative.
And forget the myth that SMBs are slow to adopt new tech; the data tells a different story. According to Salesforce, 75% of SMBs are already experimenting with AI, and high-growth SMBs are pushing that number to 83%.
Becoming a Managed Intelligence Provider
Given this level of AI adoption across SMBs, the natural evolution of MSPs is to become a Managed Intelligence Provider (MIP). MIPs design agent-driven workflows, integrate autonomous tools and deliver measurable outcomes for SMBs eager to scale without adding headcount.
This shift helps you move further away from reactive support and toward strategic enablement. By guiding clients through agent adoption and managing AI performance at scale, you position yourself as the architect of their intelligent future.
Ready to make the leap? We’ve got five plays that outline how to discover, sell, buy, build and manage agents for maximum impact.
5 Plays to Agentic Liftoff
We’ve laid out these plays in the Managed Intelligence Provider Playbook, a Pax8 report designed to help you build a business geared toward this new era of autonomous AI.
1. Discover: Surface the Debt, Find the Opportunity
Every SMB carries hidden inefficiencies, like manual workflows and redundant steps that lead to unnecessarily high costs. The Discover play is where you uncover these inefficiencies and make a plan.
Start with an AI Readiness Assessment, where you find the places automation and agents already exist, and a Business Vision Workshop to map processes, identify pain points and prioritize high-impact outcomes. The goal isn’t to sell technology right off the bat, but rather to show where AI can deliver measurable ROI. Begin with one “quick win” use case, like reducing ticket resolution time or accelerating quote-to-cash, to build trust and momentum.
2. Sell: Turn Insight into Influence
As a wise person once said, “the proof is in the pudding.” Selling in the agentic era means shifting from features to outcomes.
Frame every conversation around measurable impact, such as cost savings, faster onboarding or higher conversion rates. For instance, say, “This agent reduces ticket resolution time by 40%, freeing your staff for other work.”
Use proof points, pilot programs and transparent dashboards to demonstrate value. Outcome-based pricing models (per workflow, per action or per result) can help your clients make a realistic budget while making ROI tangible. This is where you position yourself as a strategic partner, not just a tech provider.
3. Buy: Curate Proven Agents and Workflows
Speed matters. Instead of reinventing the wheel, source pre-vetted agents from trusted marketplaces like the Pax8 Agent Store, available widely in 2026.
Bundle these agents with contextual services like compliance, UX tuning and vertical configurations. You can use low-code deployment frameworks for rapid activation and consider building private storefronts to lock in client trust. Monetization comes through resale margins, deployment fees and subscription plans for ongoing orchestration.
4. Build: Create Custom Agents and IP
Prebuilt agents deliver quick wins, but differentiation comes from building. That’s when custom agents come in.
With low-code tools, MIPs can design their own agents, stack multi-agent workflows and embed governance from day one. Think horizontal agents for scale (e.g., scheduling, compliance) and vertical agents for depth (e.g., patient intake, predictive inventory). Package these solutions for marketplaces and monetize through recurring licensing, outcome-based pricing and managed orchestration services.
5. Manage: Orchestrate and Optimize Intelligence
Deployment is just the beginning. Agents require continuous oversight for issues such as model retraining, bias audits, uptime monitoring and integration checks.
Layer in compliance automation and security frameworks to protect client trust. Offer optimization as a subscription, complete with performance dashboards and quarterly “growth maps” that recommend the next agent. This is where short-term wins build long-term relationships — and more recurring revenue.
The Time to Act Is Now
The agentic economy is accelerating, and your clients will soon come to expect you to be able to guide them through it. By following these five plays, you can build on those trusted relationships and your existing expertise to become the MIP you were always meant to be.
Focus on developing strategic consulting skills, vertical fluency and outcome-based pricing models that give AI measurable business impact. Pax8 is building the infrastructure to help you make it happen with the Pax8 Agent Store.
The next 18 months will define who captures this opportunity. Grab the brass ring. Get the Managed Intelligence Playbook and start strategizing for an agentic future.
