Monday Morning Impact – June 23
Pax8 Report Examines Impact of Agentic AI
Pax8, a Denver-based cloud commerce marketplace, has released its inaugural market research report, exploring the potential impacts of Agentic AI and the democratization of enterprise-level technology on small-to-medium businesses. The company also introduced “Managed Intelligence;” its new framework intended to help various stakeholders navigate the transition into the agentic era.
“The proliferation of these AI agents will allow SMBs to compete against large enterprises and scale faster than ever,” said Scott Chasin, CEO of Pax8. “The rate at which this technology is advancing makes the next 24 to 36 months critical.”
Pax8’s research has identified four distinct levels of AI agent functionality, each representing a significant leap in autonomy and business impact. These levels include chatbots which respond to direct human prompts; assistants which decompose complex goals into actionable steps; digital labor which operate across multiple systems and tools with minimal human oversight; and the digital workforce combining coordinated systems of multiple agents working together to accomplish complex objectives at scale.
The “Agentic Inflection Point” report reveals that 54% of midsize enterprises have already deployed AI, and 83% of high-growth SMBs are actively experimenting with it. As AI capabilities mature, Pax8 predicts the rise of the “AI-Built SMB”—businesses that are AI-native from day one, embedding generative and agentic technologies into every facet of their operations. These companies automate everything from customer service to product development, favor modular, vertical solutions over legacy software suites and often scale with lean teams.
The report also predicts the rise of new pricing models based on consumption, impacts on workflow, or business outcomes such as alignment with the human equivalent they augment or replace.
Channel Impact®
MSPs and other channel partners are advised to develop the skills necessary to guide clients through automation-powered reinvention, leveraging agent marketplaces, governance frameworks, and curated solution stacks.
Cisco Makes New Moves in AI Security
Cisco has rolled out a new Hybrid Mesh Firewall and Universal Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) in a solution intended to simplify policy management, enhance visibility, and enable enterprises to scale securely without adding complexity to their security stack. In addition, the company also announced additional Splunk integrations that unify data across platforms, thereby helping security teams automate tasks and respond to threats.
“Safety and security are the defining challenges of the AI era—and agentic AI multiplies the risk, as every new agent is both a force multiplier and a fresh attack surface,” said Jeetu Patel, President and Chief Product Officer, Cisco. “At the same time, threat actors are already leveraging AI tools to launch more sophisticated attacks than ever. To help IT and security teams fight back, Cisco is reimagining how we secure networks, protect AI apps and models, manage identity, and equip security teams with the AI tools they need to meet the moment.”
Together, these solutions promise to secure user-to-application connections and back-end interactions, simplify management through Cisco’s Security Cloud Control, and enhance observability with AI-driven insights.
The Hybrid Mesh Firewall is also adding hardware as well as new enforcement points and policy management capabilities in Security Cloud Control. New Splunk integrations include threat detection, investigation, and response capabilities.
Channel Impact®
Partner focus on network security has become more critical, as enterprises navigate increasingly complex environments characterized by a growing number of applications, a highly-distributed and mobile workforce, and sophisticated AI-driven threats.
Intelisys Realigns its Channel Offerings
Intelisys has a ScanSource-owned technology services distributor, has announced the expansion and realignment of its partner support and enablement resources, integrating its Partner Success team and core partner operations into a single unit.
The integration includes bringing together essential resources that partners utilize daily, such as ordering, quoting, commissions and their supporting platforms, under a single, structure. By streamlining processes such as quote-to-cash and automating key workflows, Intelisys hopes to reduce operational complexity.
As part of the new partner success structure, Katherine White has been appointed Senior Vice President of Partner Success. In this role, White will drive the vision, planning and execution of the Intelisys partner support and operations strategies.
“The appointment of Katherine in this new role and the strategic integration of our resources reflects our commitment to empowering our partners to focus on what matters most—driving scalable growth,” said Intelisys President Ken Mills. “We’re doubling down on empowering our sales partners by investing in the tools, support, and innovation they need to succeed, and by centralizing essential operations into a streamlined organization.”
White joined ScanSource in 2021 as Vice President of Business Strategy. Most recently, White served as Vice President of Channel Exchange, managing the company’s Channel Exchange platform, which is geared toward helping partners to accelerate procurement, meet customer needs and expand into new services areas.
Sales responsibilities for Channel Exchange will move under the leadership of Eddie Acosta, Senior Vice President of Sales, while operations will remain under White’s leadership. Additionally, Tracy Hali, Vice President of Partner Success; Melissa Parmley, Senior Director of Commissions Operations; and Jeremy Wilcox, Vice President of RPM Operations will report to White.
Channel Impact®
This strategic shift is designed to help partners go deeper in the technologies they sell and deliver more impactful solutions to their customers.
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