Pax8 Report: AI Breaks Historical Link Between Growth and Workforce at SMBs

A new report shows that AI is enabling small and medium-sized businesses to grow faster without having to increase their workforce at the same rate. At the same time, IT partners are taking on an increasingly important role in leading companies’ AI transformation.

Pax8, the global AI and cloud marketplace for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), has released a new report that shows how artificial intelligence is changing the landscape for business growth. According to the report, AI is breaking the historical link between revenue growth and headcount, enabling smaller businesses to scale significantly faster than before.

The report, The Agentic Workforce Economy: How Digital Labor Is Reshaping SMB Growth and Redefining the Role of IT Providers, while showing that most SMEs are still in the early stages of their AI journey. While the use of AI is increasing rapidly, integration into business processes is still limited. This creates a clear need for technology partners who can help companies translate AI investments into tangible business results.

According to Pax8, the role of IT providers will therefore change from traditional systems management to increasingly being about developing, controlling and optimizing intelligent AI-driven workflows.

“AI is creating a more level playing field between small businesses and large organizations. Small and medium-sized businesses can now scale their operations with the help of intelligence at a rate we have never seen before. But that opportunity is only realized when AI is implemented, governed and operationalized properly. That is where the Managed Intelligence Provider, MIP, becomes crucial,” says Scott Chasin, CEO of Pax8.

Productivity is increasing, but many companies have not come all the way

The report shows that productivity in the United States has increased sharply since late 2022, now at its highest growth rate since the early years of the internet economy. At the same time, generative AI has spread faster than both the personal computer and the internet during the corresponding development phase.

Despite this, the effects are far from evenly distributed.

Pax8 highlights, among other things, that:

• Companies that move from basic AI use to a more integrated level can increase profitability by around 45 percent.
• Companies that fully integrate AI into their operations can then increase profitability by an additional 111 percent.
• 62 percent of SMBs surveyed believe they will not be competitive within three years without AI.
• 74 percent say AI helps them compete with significantly larger companies.

According to the report, many companies stop halfway through their AI journey and therefore never achieve the greatest business benefits.

AI increases productivity but also cyber risks

The report also points to a clear security challenge. Every AI agent and automated workflow introduced not only increases productivity but also the organization's attack surface.

Among the report's safety findings are:

• AI-powered cyberattacks increased by 89 percent in 2025.
• The average time from intrusion to attack dropped to just 29 minutes.
• 49 percent of SMBs lack AI-specific security policies.
• At the same time, 83 percent believe that AI has increased their exposure to cyber threats.

Pax8 believes that companies that treat AI productivity and cybersecurity as two separate issues risk missing the big picture.

From MSP to Managed Intelligence Provider

The report also describes how the traditional MSP model is evolving towards the Pax8 calls Managed Intelligence Provider (MIP).

A MIP is not only responsible for IT operations and infrastructure, but also helps customers develop, manage and optimize AI agents, automated workflows and intelligent business processes.

The development is driven by a rapidly growing market:

• AI-related services within managed services are growing by 59 percent per year.
• Traditional managed services are growing by approximately 13 percent during the same period.
• 84 percent of SMBs say they would be happy to hire an external technology advisor for their AI implementation.
• 70 percent believe that external technology partners are crucial to fully benefiting from AI.

Three business opportunities for MSPs

The report identifies three areas where MSPs can quickly create new revenue:

• AI governance audits, where shadow AI is identified and policy frameworks are established before security incidents occur.
• Industry-specific AI solutions, where ready-made agent-based workflows are developed for different verticals.
• Phased implementation of AI agents, where companies start with administrative and internal processes before introducing AI into mission-critical functions.

Supplementary report aimed at technology suppliers

In connection with the launch, Pax8 also presents the report From Customer Zero to Customer One: The Vendor's Playbook for the Agentic Workforce Era at Beyond 2026.

It is aimed at technology providers and describes how they should introduce and use agentic AI in their own operations before helping their customers make the corresponding journey.

Together, the two reports provide an overall picture of how the relationship between suppliers, Managed Intelligence Providers, SMBs and the Pax8 Marketplace is changing as the AI economy evolves.

The full report is available via Pax8.

About Pax8

Pax8 is a global AI and cloud marketplace for small and medium-sized businesses. The platform connects IT partners and technology providers to simplify the purchase, sale, deployment and management of cloud and AI solutions. Today, more than 47,000 IT partners and over 800,000 small and medium-sized businesses use the Pax8 platform to streamline operations, strengthen security and accelerate their AI evolution.