‘The first step was creating a truly global [Partner Advisory Council],’ says Ola Witukiewicz, director of community engagement at Pax8. ‘The next step is expanding that community presence into more regions and creating a unified experience worldwide. We want partners everywhere to know their voice matters and that they have a direct impact on where we’re headed.’
As MSPs navigate rapid changes driven by AI, automation and evolving customer expectations, Pax8 is leaning in on listening to partners.
The Denver-based cloud marketplace provider has spent the past several months overhauling its Partner Advisory Council (PAC), transforming it from a collection of topic-specific groups into a global initiative to give MSPs a more direct voice in the company’s strategy, product development and future investments.
“We completely reimagined how the Partner Advisory Council operates,” said Ola Witukiewicz (pictured), director of community engagement, who oversees the PAC. “Historically, it was segmented into different focus areas like security, business ownership and alliances. Those conversations were valuable, but what we found was that many of those partners had expertise that extended far beyond a single category.”
The revamped council now includes about 150 partners from across North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
[Related: Pax8 On Turning AI Security Into A Leadership Opportunity For MSPs]
“We’ve intentionally brought together voices from every stage of the partner journey,” Witukiewicz told CRN. “The idea is that we want a broad range of perspectives represented because challenges and opportunities look very different depending on where a partner is in their growth.”
PAC member Sandy Mcgrath said the value of Pax8’s evolving council comes down to creating a forum where partners with different perspectives can have influence on the company’s direction.
“You’ve got partners from different regions, different sizes, different verticals and they’re all bringing completely different experiences to the conversation,” McGrath, co-founder and president of Calgary, Alberta-based managed intelligence provider MIPGlobal.ai, told CRN. “When you get all those voices together, you start getting a much more complete picture of what’s actually happening in the channel.”
He added that the council’s diversity has helped create a feedback process that feels both authentic and actionable.
“One of the things I’ve appreciated is that the feedback isn’t coming from an echo chamber,” he said. “There’s a lot of healthy disagreement, and that’s actually where some of the best conversations happen. Somebody will bring up an issue they’re dealing with, and another partner will have a completely different take on it. Those conversations help Pax8 understand what’s broadly applicable and what’s more specific to a certain segment of partners. From my perspective, that’s where the council really creates value.”
Under the new structure, the council combines virtual meetings, in-person gatherings and quarterly insight surveys that ask council members for detailed feedback on key initiatives such as AI adoption, partner enablement programs and marketplace.
And, according to Witukiewicz, increased engagement has already produced results.
“What’s exciting is that they’re not just reacting to things; we’re involving them earlier in the process,” she said. “They’re helping shape initiatives before they become final. We had a project that was headed toward a significant investment. When we brought it to the council and the response was essentially, ‘We don’t see value in this as it’s currently designed,’ instead of pushing forward anyway, we asked them to walk us through why. They gave us incredibly thoughtful feedback, and we ultimately pivoted the project. We didn’t abandon it but instead reshaped it based on what they told us would actually matter inside their businesses.”
Eric Torres, vice president of channel and community engagement at Pax8, said the PAC has become one of the company’s most important assets for connecting partner feedback to executive decision-making.
“We view ourselves as the connector,” Torres told CRN. “Our job is to take the voice of the partner community and make sure that reaches our executive team in a meaningful way.”
The PAC overhaul is just one piece of a broader strategy around education and helping MSPs prepare for the transition from managed service provider to managed intelligence provider.
The company introduced the concept of a managed intelligence provider last year at its Beyond conference, positioning AI as the next major evolution of the channel. This year, the focus shifts toward helping partners understand how to make that transition.
“We’ve spent the last year talking about the managed intelligence provider journey,” Torres said. “Now the question we’re hearing is, ‘OK, we understand the vision. How do we actually become one?’ That’s where our guided growth curriculum comes in.”
The AI-guided growth program connects Pax8’s ecosystem of public storefronts, loyalty programs and vendor partnerships into a road map, providing multiple AI pathways to meet MSPs where they are and recommending next steps based on their specific needs.
“Every partner is in a different place,” Torres said. “Some are trying to figure out how to monetize AI. Others want to know how to train engineers or how to start conversations with customers. The assessment helps identify those gaps and then connects partners with the resources, education and guidance they need.”
Looking ahead, the executives are working to grow the council as the foundation for a larger global community strategy.
“The first step was creating a truly global PAC,” Witukiewicz said. “The next step is expanding that community presence into more regions and creating a unified experience worldwide. We want partners everywhere to know their voice matters and that they have a direct impact on where we’re headed.”
