Small Businesses Driving Next AI Boom, Pax8 Execs Say

In a live fireside chat at Pax8 Beyond 2026 in Salt Lake City, Ryan Walsh, Co-Founder, Chief Strategy Officer and Channel Chief at Pax8, and Jen Bodell, Corporate Vice President of Marketing, discussed the growing role of small businesses in driving AI adoption. The session, moderated by Exec Edge Editor-in-Chief John Jannarone, emphasized that small businesses are now the primary engine for the next wave of artificial intelligence.

Details

Walsh and Bodell noted that small businesses are adopting AI at an accelerating pace, driven by the need to improve efficiency and reduce costs. They explained that Pax8, as a cloud services distribution platform, is seeing increasing demand for AI solutions from its small business customers.

Context

This discussion comes at a time when the tech sector is shifting toward generative AI, with major companies like Microsoft, Salesforce, CrowdStrike, and Palantir integrating AI into their products. However, Pax8 sees small businesses, often quicker to adapt, as potentially the first to realize tangible returns from these technologies.

What This Means for Investors

For investors, this trend points to growth opportunities in the cloud services sector targeting small businesses, especially those offering integrated AI solutions. Companies like Pax8 (private) and other cloud service providers may benefit from this rising demand.