Shield Technology Partners is an AI-native IT services platform that partners with best-in-class MSP owners. Its approach brings together deep AI expertise, operational support, growth capital, and partners like Pax8 to help MSPs modernize how work gets done.
A persistent MSP pain point Shield set out to solve: license procurement and reconciliation. Teams often juggle multiple systems, compare usage to purchases, and reconcile everything by hand. This not only delays customers’ workflows but pulls engineers away from higher-priority support. To ease that bottleneck, Shield deployed ambient agents that run autonomously and integrate directly with the Pax8 Marketplace to eliminate manual procurement and reconciliation.
How Pax8 Helped
Shield’s ambient agent monitors customer environments autonomously, helping MSPs manage spend proactively instead of reacting to it. Running continuously in the background, it uses detailed Pax8 Marketplace license data to compare what is being used against what is being paid for. Each morning it scans for meaningful changes such as a new hire, a new mailbox, or an employee leaving who should be downgraded. Anything that affects licensing is captured and turned into a clear report the MSP can review or share with customers.
“Our ambient agents are able to operate across the stack, from Microsoft to our ticketing systems. Integrating with Pax8 gave us the ability to execute procurement directly, unlocking value for our MSPs and their customers,” said Daniel Gonzalez, Founding AI Lead at Shield.
When the agent finds a mismatch, such as an unused license or a new user who needs software, it can update subscriptions or procure licenses directly inside the Pax8 Marketplace. Shield co-developed runbooks that outline in simple language what the agent can automate and what requires human approval. The agent acts within strict guardrails. For example, adjusting or removing licenses is handled automatically, while purchasing new software is always flagged for an engineer to review.
To build confidence with ambient agents, Shield rolls them out in stages. MSPs begin in view-only mode, then move to one-click approvals, and eventually enable full autonomy once they trust the agent’s decisions. This gradual approach allows MSPs to evolve workflows on their own terms.
