Day Three of Beyond 2026 had a different energy. The urgency from Day Two was still there, but the path forward came into focus. The infrastructure of Managed Intelligence became tangible. The breakouts got more specific. And in the end, the message was clear: becoming a Managed Intelligence Provider is a direction you build toward, one deliberate move at a time.
Here are the four ideas that defined Day Three. And be sure to check out our Beyond 2026 keynote livestreams here!
1. The MIP Infrastructure Exists. Are You Building on It?
The Day Three Innovation Keynote turned Pax8’s MIP vision into an operating model. Pax8 Chief Product Officer Libby McIlhany and Pax8 Chief Operating Officer Craig Donovan framed the shift from Customer Zero to Customer One and introduced the enablement infrastructure behind it: the MIP Program and Managed Intelligence Services (MIS). Libby then showcased the products and innovations powering the commercial engine: the Pax8 Agent Store, Agent Gateway and Together AI partnership. Together, they form a practical blueprint for a new managed services business.
In the HaloPSA Titanium Sponsor Keynote, How the World’s Best MSPs Are Automating Service to Their Customers, Halo Chief Commercial Officer Tim Barton-Wines drew on work with 2,000-plus MSPs to show how top performers shift from reactive to proactive to predictive service through three stages: stabilize and standardize, automate and optimize, then predict and prevent. The goal was simple: “fix it before they feel it.”
In Agents Are Here. Now What? A View from Pax8 Labs, Josh Dulberger made agentic AI tangible for partners at every stage of the journey. He covered what early movers are doing now and previewed tooling that could make agent deployment across a client base as simple as a single command.
In Owning the Last Mile: Where Insight Becomes Income, Pax8 Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Ryan Walsh said the opportunity is massive: a $6 trillion digital labor market is emerging, and small businesses are now outspending enterprises on IT. His message was clear: transform your own business as you help clients do the same, lead with trust and expertise, and move with intention.
What this means for your business: The Pax8 Agent Store, MIS and the MIP Program aren’t roadmap items. They’re the operational architecture of the MIP model, available now. Partners who understand what’s available and start building on top of it will have a meaningful head start over those who wait for the market to force the move.
2. Selling Managed Intelligence Requires a New Playbook
In Ask, Align, Activate: Why AI Fails Without the Right Questions, partners learned that selling AI starts with better discovery. Find the business problem first, then connect AI to outcomes that drive adoption, ROI and longer-term client value.
Trailblazers of Intelligence: Stories from the AI Frontline brought Pax8 partners to the stage to share candid stories of experimentation, failure and breakthrough. Their examples made the MIP journey feel more practical and more achievable. During the event, Craig Fulton of Lyra Technology Group said, “Personal assistant agents was something I really hadn’t thought of before. And it’s given us a lot to think about inside of our company. We’re excited to see what Pax8 is doing for that in the Agent Gateway inside the Marketplace.”
What this means for your business: An MIP that can’t sell its value is still just an MSP with better tools. These sessions gave you the frameworks, the proof points and the positioning to make the intelligence conversation one your clients actually want to have. It is also the kind of conversation that opens new revenue doors.
What this means for your business: An MIP that can’t sell its value is still just an MSP with better tools. These sessions gave you the frameworks, the proof points and the positioning to make the intelligence conversation one your clients actually want to have. It is also the kind of conversation that opens new revenue doors.
3. Security Governance Is a Core MIP Competency
In the SentinelOne Titanium Sponsor Keynote, The Other Side of the Inflection Point, Steve Stone, their Chief Customer Officer, used intrusion data and incident response insights to show what adversaries are targeting and what that means for emerging MIPs. As AI agents take on autonomous roles in client environments, the attack surface is fundamentally changing. AI-native security helps partners automate detection, cut response times and turn threat intelligence into action. Stone’s message was clear: managed security is shifting from threat response to trusted guidance that makes AI transformation safer to deliver.
AI Governance: Balancing Innovation and Risk brought together industry, legal and MSP voices to tackle compliance, ethical deployment and trust. The takeaway was simple: governance makes innovation sustainable.
Few sessions at Beyond hit as hard as When the Worst Happens: MSP Lessons from Crisis. In a conversation moderated by Jason Slagle of CNWR, panelists shared the kind of stories most leaders never say out loud, and the emotional and financial fallout from an MSP level breach. All three panelists were unflinching in talking about the PTSD that ensues and the fact that the hardest conversation isn’t with a client or an attacker, but the one with yourself. But the session didn’t end in darkness, instead the takeaway was that there is catharsis on the other side and that the more we can all offer support, the better our industry will be.
What this means for your business: In the MIP era, security competency goes beyond the tools you deploy. It is about the conversations you can lead. Governance, crisis readiness and proactive risk intelligence are what separate a trusted Managed Intelligence Provider from a vendor that simply manages security products.
4. MSP Business Value Is Built Daily, Not at Exit
From 3x to 10x: The Seven Drivers That Multiply Company Value argued that valuation is a growth strategy, not just an exit exercise. The session unpacked seven drivers that separate average firms from category leaders, with an emphasis on leadership depth and profitability.
Have You Raised Your Prices Yet? argued that pricing is one of the channel’s most underused profitability levers. The session gave partners both a framework and the confidence to act.
In Signal vs. Noise, ConnectWise’s Peter Kujawa and Pax8’s David Schafran made a data-backed case that most MSP growth plans crumble on contact with the market. And the benchmarks are sobering: bottom-quartile providers need 22% growth just to reach average. The throughline was discipline over wishful thinking; or, as the panel put it, you can argue with the data, but you do so at your own peril.
What this means for your business: The decisions you’re making right now, which clients you take on, how you price, how your team is developing, are actively shaping what your company is worth. Not someday. Now. The intentional MSPs and MIPs are already building with the end in mind. You should be, too.
A Brief Word from John Street
Pax8 Founder and Chairman John Street ended the morning session on a distinctly human note. Through his charity, Wren, Street is working to advance human primacy as culture evolves with machine intelligence — building systems that turn human creative advantage into new value across culture and commerce. In a conference built around AI transformation, it was a timely reminder of what all that transformation is ultimately for.
Vendor and Partner Awards Announced
We celebrate the partners and vendors that have excelled through their Pax8 partnership. Check out the full list of winners below.
| Award | Recipient |
|---|---|
| Partners | |
| Partner of the Year – Generalize | Sourcepass |
| Partner of the Year – Decentralized | Lyra, an Evergreen Company |
| Partner of the Year – Franchise | TeamLogic IT |
| Pax8 Champion – USA | Agilitec IT |
| Pax8 Champion – Canada | Nucleus Networks |
| Pax8 Champion – APAC | Otto IT |
| Peak Performance – USA | The 20 MSP |
| Peak Performance – EMEA | Sirrus |
| Peak Performance – APAC | Kaine Mathrick Tech |
| Peak Performance – Canada | GC Brieau |
| MVP Network and Communications – APAC | ServerToday |
| MVP Operations – APAC | Connected Platforms |
| MVP Infrastructure – APAC | Umbrellar Technology Group |
| MVP Productivity – APAC | Lucid Labs |
| MVP Security – APAC | Kaine Mathrick Tech |
| MVP Continuity – APAC | ADITS |
| MVP Network and Communications – EMEA | AixpedIT |
| MVP Continuity – EMEA | Urban Network |
| MVP Operations – EMEA | HAFN IT |
| MVP Infrastructure – EMEA | Start Tech |
| MVP Productivity – EMEA | Advania SMB |
| MVP Security – EMEA | TCC Smart IT Solutions |
| MVP Network and Communications – NAMER | Netsafe Solutions |
| MVP Operations – NAMER | Digacore |
| MVP Continuity – NAMER | FIT Technologies |
| MVP Infrastructure – NAMER | Unicorne |
| MVP Productivity – NAMER | New Charter Technologies |
| MVP Security – NAMER | TeamLogic IT |
| MIP Transformation Award | Shield Technology Partners |
| Pax8 Hall of Fame – USA | centrexIT |
| Pax8 Hall of Fame – Canada | Managepoint |
| Pax8 Hall of Fame – APAC | ADITS |
| Social Impact Award | Upic Solutions |
| Non-Profit Partnership | Betterworld Technology |
| Women In Tech Champion | Mary Summerell, Revenge Technologies |
| Vendors | |
| Vendor of the Year | Microsoft |
| Partner’s Most Valuable Vendor | Microsoft |
| Most Valuable Vendor – NAMER | Check Point |
| Most Valuable Vendor – EMEA | SentinelOne |
| Most Valuable Vendor – Communications | RingCentral |
| Most Valuable Vendor – Network | Comcast |
| Most Valuable Vendor – Continuity | Ninja One |
| Most Valuable Vendor – Operations | FlexPoint |
| Most Valuable Vendor – APAC | |
| Most Valuable Vendor – Infrastructure | Nerdio |
| Most Valuable Vendor – Productivity | Foxit |
| Most Valuable Vendor – Security | CrowdStrike |
| Social Impact Award | GTIA |
| Startup Vendor Award | Cork |
| Innovation Award | Proofpoint |
| Collaboration Award | Acronis |
| Breakthrough Vendor Award | Guardz |
Our Closing Party Was So Money
Beyond 2026 was our biggest one ever, so it only made sense that the closing party was, too. Everyone’s favorite 80s cover band, The Spazmatics, once again had the crowd rocking. And then, they made way for a special musical guest that was perfect for a conference talking about the importance of change: 50 Cent! He made us all feel like it was our birthday.
After three days of mainstage moments, deep breakouts and real community, the momentum is palpable. It’s now carried beyond the sessions and into the businesses partners are actively building. Because that’s how you move at the Speed of Ambition.
We’re already looking ahead. See you next year!
