Pax8 Exec: AI-Guided Growth Program Helps MSPs ‘Grow In The Way That Matters Most To Them’

“MSPs aren’t one-size-fits-all. They’re ‘unique snowflakes,’ as we say. This is a living framework. New tools, new vendors—we can drop them into the existing path. That adaptability is critical,” Lane Brannan, Pax8’s executive vice president and general manager, Americas, tells CRN.

Pax8’s myriad AI-focused moves this month are a testament to its commitment to partner growth in the fast-moving world of AI and automation.

With a new AI-guided growth program, public storefronts, a partner feedback model and more, the Denver-based cloud marketplace is putting partners first and helping them scale, all with AI at the forefront.

“We’ve already seen real success with our guided growth model in cybersecurity,” Lane Brannan, executive and general manager of Americas at Pax8, told CRN. “And now with AI exploding week by week, the timing was right. MSPs are looking for structure, guidance and support to navigate AI adoption, and that’s exactly what this delivers.”

The AI-guided growth program, a flagship announcement at the company’s Beyond conference earlier this month, ties together Pax8’s expanding portfolio of public storefronts, loyalty tiers and vendor partnerships into a unified growth framework. According to Brannan, the approach is intentionally flexible, offering multiple AI journeys tailored to the varied needs of MSPs, from early adopters to vertical specialists.

“MSPs aren’t one-size-fits-all. They’re ‘unique snowflakes,’ as we say,” he said. “This is a living framework. New tools, new vendors—we can drop them into the existing path. That adaptability is critical.”

With core partners like Microsoft already on board, Pax8 says its real value lies in curating vendor offerings and turning market noise into outcomes. For Brannan, it’s not just about AI tools, it’s about what MSPs can do with them.

“Some MSPs are wondering if they should use AI to optimize their service desk or their marketing,” he said. “This isn’t just a tool anymore. It’s an outcome-based solution. That means learning to talk ROI, process transformation, business value.

“It’s all about helping partners grow in the way that matters most to them,” he added.

Looking ahead, Pax8’s priorities in North America are clear: support the fastest-growing MSPs, deepen vertical expertise and lead the AI revolution with a marketplace and agentic ecosystem built for the future.

“This isn’t a trend,” he said. “It’s a tectonic shift. And we’re investing so MSPs don’t just survive it, they lead it.”

CRN sat down with Brannan to further discuss the AI-guided growth program, how it connects to its public storefronts and loyalty initiatives, and what it all signals about the future of managed services.

What prompted Pax8 to develop the AI-guided growth program right now?

We’ve already seen real success with our guided growth model in cybersecurity for MSPs. That structure, breaking complex challenges into journeys with signposts like assessment, enablement and execution, has worked. And now with AI exploding week by week, the timing was right. MSPs are looking for structure, guidance and support to navigate AI adoption, and that’s what guided growth delivers. The key insight is MSPs aren’t one-size-fits-all. They’re ‘unique snowflakes,’ as we say. So we’re designing multiple AI journeys to fit different business models, tech maturity levels and vertical focuses. More importantly, it’s a living framework, and we’re building it to accommodate rapid innovation. New AI tools? New vendor offerings? We can drop them into the existing path.

Are you working with any AI vendors to shape the program?

Absolutely. Microsoft is a cornerstone partner, and we’re proud of that. But we’re not stopping there. Pax8’s value to MSPs has always been our ability to vet vendors, simplify the landscape and offer the best-fit solutions. That same vendor diligence is being applied to the AI space. We want to give MSPs real choices, based on trust, fit and outcomes, not just logos.

What outcomes should MSPs expect from the AI-guided growth journey?

It really depends on where they’re starting. Early on, we help MSPs assess themselves: What’s their AI maturity, what tools are in place, how are they using AI internally? That’s where they start by improving their own operations. Then the journey expands into how they can take AI solutions to their customers. As they progress, MSPs pick tools and implement solutions; that’s where we see tangible metrics. We’ll see adoption rates of tools like Copilot, vertical penetration and monetized agents in our marketplace. It’s like a sales funnel. You measure conversion and progress every step of the way. And because AI evolves so fast, our framework evolves with it.

When you talk to MSPs about AI today, what’s their biggest struggle?

In a word, everything. They're trying to figure out how to start, what to prioritize, how to sell it and how to price it. Some are asking, ‘Do we use AI to optimize our service desk? Or our marketing?’ Others are wrestling with sales. This isn’t just a tool anymore; it’s an outcome-based solution. That means they have to learn to talk ROI, process transformation and business value. It’s a different kind of selling. And pricing? It’s all over the place. Nobody has it figured out yet. That’s part of what our guided growth program helps with, making sense of all this, step by step.

I want to touch on public storefronts. Can MSPs customize them?

Yes, and not just in basic ways. They can build storefronts for different verticals like health care, legal, manufacturing… you name it, geographic targeting too. You can align the stack, the branding, even the purchasing experience based on the customer’s profile or tech savviness. And while public storefronts don’t include pricing or logins, they’re all about top-of-funnel. They drive demand and educate prospects before they enter the secure buying environment.

So how do public storefronts help MSPs grow?

They’re digital assets, period. It’s a scalable way for MSPs to showcase their offerings, reduce reliance on individual sales interactions, and broaden their reach. They can map marketing campaigns directly to these storefronts, drive traffic and use them to generate demand. It’s growth through exposure and engagement, not just direct sales.

You’ve restructured the partner experience team under Rob Rae. How will that change things?

Rob Rae [corporate vice president of community and partner experience] brings what we call the ‘Rob Rae effect.’ Beyond being a channel legend, he knows the MSP world intimately. He’s built community before, he listens relentlessly and now he’s going to be applying that to the full partner experience strategically and tactically. He’s also launching a formal Partner Voice program where MSPs can opt in to be surveyed regularly and give feedback that actually drives changes. We’re not just collecting data; we’re building closed-loop systems where that feedback turns into new programs, improvements and, ultimately, outcomes for the MSPs.

How is that feedback loop made actionable?

Think of it like this: Our guided growth program is built from partner input. The Voyager Alliance loyalty program? Same thing. When we get consistent signals from partners—what’s working, what’s missing, we bake that into programs that can scale. Whether it’s rewards, training or tooling, the feedback doesn’t just sit in a report. It shapes what we do.

Speaking of Voyager Alliance, how did partner feedback shape the new loyalty program?

The program is designed around tiers and segmentation so we can give the right incentives and benefits to partners based on their size, growth trajectory and business type. For example, a Galactic Tier partner operates like an entirely different business than a solo MSP, and our rewards reflect that. We’ve also made the rewards more flexible. You can reinvest points, not just get discounts. Want to use points to get a pro services engagement that helps you deliver more to a customer? That’s on the table. It’s all about helping partners grow in the way that matters most to them

Finally, what are Pax8’s top strategic priorities in North America for the next 12 to 24 months?

We’ve got a few key ones. We will continue to serve and scale with top-tier MSPs, those platform-level, franchise-model providers. They’re growing fast and we want to grow with them. Second, we’re pushing deeper into vertical solutions. MSPs need tailored stacks and messaging for health care, finance, legal and more. Our storefronts and guided programs will reflect that. Third, maturing our AI marketplace and agentic ecosystem. This isn’t a trend; it’s a tectonic shift. We’re investing in the infrastructure, education and enablement to make sure MSPs don’t just survive it; they lead it. And of course, everything is underpinned by listening through our partner voice program, community and field engagement. That’s how we stay close to the MSP pulse.