Pax8 launches AI tools for small business partners

Pax8 has launched 8os and 8bot for its small business channel partners and their customers. The products are designed to manage AI use across small and medium-sized businesses.

8os is an operating system for what Pax8 describes as an agentic workforce, while 8bot is a managed AI coworker for employees at client businesses. Both run on Pax8's existing commerce, identity and billing infrastructure, which already serves more than 47,000 IT providers and 800,000 SMBs worldwide.

The launch comes as small businesses increase their use of AI tools but often lack formal oversight. Pax8's SMB AI Pulse Reports found that 90% of SMBs are using or experimenting with AI, yet only 23% have a documented AI use policy.

According to the same research, nearly half of SMBs have found some form of unsanctioned "shadow AI" in their business. It also found that 71% of SMBs using AI have built at least one AI solution, but only 31% of those use a formal review or approval process.

Pax8 is positioning 8os as a control layer for partners that manage technology for smaller businesses. The platform is designed to bring different AI agents, models, tools and providers into a single environment under partner oversight, while tracking usage and cost by user and customer.

The launch also supports a broader category Pax8 is promoting for channel firms. It calls these providers managed intelligence providers, or MIPs, to reflect a shift from traditional IT management towards AI governance, deployment and support.

Under this model, partners would use 8os to deploy and oversee AI services across multiple customers, with billing handled through Pax8's platform. Hard caps on usage are intended to limit unexpected costs, while client-specific memory and context are meant to make AI outputs more relevant over time.

8bot is the end-user product in that structure. Pax8 describes it as a packaged AI coworker that partners can roll out to their clients' employees as a managed service, with governance and support handled through 8os.

It is intended to help staff handle routine work and to give partners a standardised product that does not require a custom build for each customer. That could matter for smaller channel firms that want to offer AI services without the complexity of developing their own tools.

Research cited by Pax8 suggests small businesses are open to outside help. It found that 84% of small business leaders would trust an external technology adviser to help implement AI, while 70% said they need outside partners to realise the technology's full value.

Channel shift

The launch reflects a wider change in how channel businesses are positioning themselves as AI moves from experimentation into day-to-day operations. Rather than selling a single software product, providers are increasingly packaging governance, deployment, support and billing into recurring services.

For Pax8, which built its business around cloud distribution and partner marketplaces, the move extends its role deeper into customer operations. Instead of simply enabling partners to procure and manage software subscriptions, it is trying to give them a framework for controlling a growing mix of AI systems inside client organisations.

That may appeal to providers dealing with fragmented customer environments, especially where staff are already using AI tools outside formal procurement channels. The central issue is not just whether businesses adopt AI, but whether they can monitor what those systems are doing, who is using them and how much they cost.

Scott Chasin, Chief Executive Officer at Pax8, made that case when announcing the products.

"AI is becoming a worker, and that changes what small businesses need from their technology partners," said Chasin. "The agentic workforce will be diverse. It will span different agents, models, tools, and providers, and all that intelligence has to be governed, managed, and turned into real business outcomes. That's what we built 8os and 8bot to do. 8os gives our partners the operating system to manage that complexity across every customer, while 8bot gives them a managed AI coworker they can deploy, support, and monetize. Together, they make managed intelligence repeatable and scalable. This is the next chapter of the small business economy, and our partners are built to lead it."

Partner model

Pax8 said it built both products with channel partners in mind, particularly those that do not want to create bespoke AI deployments for each client. The approach is designed to let partners offer AI as a managed recurring service rather than as a one-off consulting project.

Libby McIlhany, Chief Product Officer at Pax8, said that goal shaped the design.

"Our partners have told us they want to deliver AI value without building a custom solution for every client," said McIlhany. "We built 8os and 8bot with the partner experience in mind, giving them an effective way to manage and govern the AI running inside their customers' businesses and a pre-packaged AI coworker that's easy to deploy. Through these solutions, they can deliver measurable outcomes to SMBs globally and turn AI into a managed recurring service at scale."

Pax8 has started offering limited early access to 8os and 8bot.