Day one of Beyond EMEA: Berlin 2024 is in the books — and it was everything we knew it would be! Here are some of the highlights:
Rob Rae and Harald Nuij kick it off
The event began with a dynamic opening from Harald Nuij, CEO of EMEA, and Rob Rae, CVP of Community and Ecosystems. Harald emphasized the power of connectivity in the channel, saying, “This event can help partners connect so that we can learn more, learn faster, and elevate the channel to the next level.”
Nick Heddy discusses the unique EMEA partnership
For the very first keynote, Pax8 President Nick Heddy discussed the rich history of Pax8 and how Beyond has evolved into an international event. He then spoke about the unique power of a community that achieves success together. He highlighted explosive growth potential and emphasized the Pax8 commitment to MSPs through cutting-edge technology, like the new data-driven Pax8 Marketplace.
Finally, he announced Pax8 Voyager Alliance, a transformative program built to elevate every partner, which will go live worldwide on November 4. This truly customizable model meets partners exactly where they are and builds momentum to take them to the next tier, delivering what they need, precisely when they need it.
Alastair Edwards, Canalys’s Chief Analyst, stepped on stage and echoed Heddy’s enthusiasm and urged attendees to embrace AI: “If you’re not using AI in your business, you may as well retire.”
Heddy summarized the Pax8 approach with a single sentiment: “Your success is our success.”
Scott Chasin reveals the future
Pax8 CEO, Scott Chasin, gave an electric keynote with a visionary look into the future. In it, he explained his approach to leadership: he seeks out future scenarios so he can ready the larger Pax8 partner community to take the lead and ultimately, win market share.
Chasin peered into his crystal ball and provided three sets of predictions for the near-term, the mid-term, and the long-term. A couple near-term examples were that AI will be an indelible component to every product MSPs sell and that we’ll see the first billion-Euro revenue MSP within the next 24 months.
He also shared a future where every SMB has an AI agent. This, he explained, could open the door for “Agent-Management-as-a-Service” as a fresh MSP opportunity. In a final prediction, Scott pictured a future where the most valuable assets would be our home, our car… and our robot. In closing, Scott built upon Heddy’s statement and underscored the Pax8 commitment to partner success with the powerful statement: “Your future is our future.”
Microsoft highlights advances in AI
Oliver Gürtler, General Manager SMC at Microsoft, started by contrasting the time it took for past technologies to reach 100 million users and AI’s exponential growth. The mobile phone? 16 years. ChatGPT? Two months.
He then highlighted several recent, real-world innovations from Microsoft AI. The first showed what’s possible with the inputs of a static picture, an audio clip, and a requested tone of voice. The output was a lifelike video that seamlessly married natural language with a reasoning engine. Next, he showed a chatbot responding to a customer service inquiry with a phone call in a completely natural, personable and effective way. This emerging technology will enable faster responses, more natural conversations and multilingual support — all integrated with Copilot Voice.
He concluded with the assurance that security around Microsoft AI is always job one and reiterated that the opportunity is yours to lead the AI transformation.
CrowdStrike asks us to rethink cybersecurity
Directly following Microsoft’s keynote, CrowdStrike‘s Daniel “DB” Bernard, Chief Business Officer, discussed the importance of how businesses need to rethink cybersecurity. He emphasized how essential security is for every business, especially given that breaches are almost inevitable—it’s not a matter of if but when. With AI enabling increasingly sophisticated attacks, he underscored the dual-edged nature of AI: immense power for good, but equally potent for malicious use. SMBs are forecasted to spend $109 billion on cybersecurity by 2026, underscoring the gravity of this challenge.
Bernard then introduced CrowdStrike’s Falcon Complete, the industry’s largest MDR solution, now available exclusively through Pax8, allowing organizations of any size to access enterprise-grade security. Built on an AI-native platform, it fuses advanced technology with top-tier threat hunters and data analysts to create generative cybersecurity. Through an iterative process, each breach informs model training, enabling better protection across the industry and ensuring partners stay one step ahead of future threats.
A session for every focus
No matter which track was most relevant for our partners, they were sure to find something that resonated with them, including Owners, Service Managers, Technical Professionals, Sales & Marketing, and Security.
In his session, “Never mind the Buzzwords: An Engineer’s Guide to AI,” Andy Readman, Data & AI Director EMEA, Pax8 Academy, started off with a stark statistic when it comes to AI — 83 million people are going to have to adapt or be replaced. After explaining the size and scope of the impending AI revolution, he challenged the audience to avoid being another statistic by enacting change at the intersection of technology and transformation. His number one takeaway? “Don’t wait for AI to become someone else’s responsibility. Embrace it. Adapt. Lead. And drive the change.” Finally, he wrapped up with a special announcement: the launch of a Data and AI Masterclass available within Pax8 Academy EMEA.
Pax8 cybersecurity experts Matt Lee and Mostyn Thomas led an interactive session that took partners through the stages of cybersecurity maturity, spanning sessions 101, 201, and 301. With a “choose-your-own-adventure” style, the panel adjusted their theoretical organization’s strategy based on audience input, providing a unique and engaging look at the evolution of cybersecurity practices. Throughout these sessions, the panel covered core elements like process implementation, strategic assessments, and best practices that MSPs can apply internally and for their clients. Attendees gained insights into the CIS Controls Framework, learned how to manage the “blast radius” of a breach, and explored effective triage techniques. This series of sessions emphasized building a robust defensive posture, equipping MSPs to both guard against threat actors and respond swiftly when cyber threats arise.
Rex Frank, VP of Pax8 Academy, presented “Elevate Your Client IQ: How to Rank Your Clients Effectively,” perhaps one of the most pragmatic sessions of the day. He clearly laid out four practical ways on how to rate your clients: Are they a good fit? Are they profitable? Are they using your technology standards/stack? And are they using service offerings? After expanding on each point, he showed attendees how to rank clients on an “A to D” scale. But he didn’t stop there. He went on to explain the best ways to service each level of client. His most salient advice was to spend 80% of your time servicing your “A” clients, inverting the tendency of spending more time servicing less profitable customers.
Paul Croker, founder of 18iT, and Daniel Skipp, PR Manager EMEA, Pax8, sat down for an enlightening session that let attendees know that sometimes it’s okay to not be okay. “From Stress to Success: A Mental Health Journey” followed Paul’s journey from overburdened and unhealthy in a former role to thriving and happy at his own MSP today. He provided some tactics he used, including the importance of being part of community, the ability to be honest with yourself about how things are progressing, and the willingness to “go out and kick leaves” (the ability to shift your focus onto something else.) He concluded with the declaration that “tech can use you or you can use technology.”
Pax8 Voyager Alliance is here!
Craig Donovan and the Pax8 Partner Experience team led an insightful townhall discussion detailing the upcoming launch of the Pax8 Voyager Alliance, scheduled for November 4. Designed to deliver partners precisely the tools, enablement, services, and support they need to drive growth, the Voyager Alliance meets partners where they are in their business journey, offering scalable resources for continued success.
An exciting takeaway from Craig’s session was the program’s iterative vision: the Voyager Alliance will continue evolving as Pax8 learns from partners’ feedback and adapts to their needs. Looking ahead to 2025, Craig highlighted that tier-specific growth tools will take center stage, saying, “What we do only works when we do it with you.” The Partner Experience team is focused on releasing new, purpose-built innovations in the new year to help partners unlock even more growth potential.
Rapid fire pitching
Eight of our Gold sponsors took turns giving their best 30-second elevator pitches on why attendees should visit their booths at the Exhibit Hall. These included Axcient, Bitdefender, Exclaimer, Keeper, opentext Cybersecurity, proofpoint, ScalePad and IAMCP, and covered a wealth of solutions and offerings for partners. When the sponsors ran over their allotted time, attendees were subjected to the best/worst of a crooning David Hasselhoff.
Mainstage panel: Shared Learning for Shared Success
The indomitable Ryan Walsh took the stage with his signature dance to an enthusiastic crowd, joined by panelists Michelle Curtis, Worldwide Distribution Leader, Global Channel Sales; Dan Sharp, Business Director at Mirus IT Solutions; and Daniel Shone, Managing Director at Apex Computing Services Ltd. They discussed the importance of testing new technologies in-house, fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce, and building partnerships based on trust and shared services. Together, these strategies help position companies as strategic advisors, embedded in their clients’ businesses to support sustained growth.
Nancy Rademaker illuminates AI
Visionary Nancy Rademaker delighted the attendees with a humorous and insightful keynote that covered everything AI from A to Z. But she focused particularly on what she called the “5 I’s” (Informed, Individualistic, Impatient, Intuitive, Influenced): the main variables to consider when thinking about people in relation to AI.
To reach target audiences, Rademaker said to follow in the footsteps of top disruptors who lead with tech first and are high touch. That means starting with the customer, not the product, being head-to-head (H2H instead of B2B or B2C) and designing with the customer in mind. In closing, she declared that thriving in the age of AI will no longer be about the survival of the fittest, but rather the survival of the fastest.
Exhibit Hall buzz
Our vendors truly energized the exhibit hall with captivating displays that kept attendees engaged. Guests enjoyed a variety of refreshments while forging connections set to propel the channel’s growth.
Day one of Beyond EMEA 2024 set the bar high, with exciting insights and innovations fueling the entire Pax8 community. For day two, attendees can look forward to even more education, impactful sessions, and powerful networking to drive their growth and success forward.
See some of the highlights from day one below!
Register for Beyond EMEA Amsterdam 2025
Whether you joined us today or missed out, next year’s Beyond EMEA in Amsterdam is set to be bigger and even better. Register now at the exclusive early-early bird rate of €99, available only through October 31!
