GTIA launches the Managed Intelligence Alliance: 9 founding members set out to standardize AI delivery through the IT channel

• Who: the Global Technology Industry Association (GTIA), a vendor-neutral 501(c)(6) nonprofit representing nearly 4,000 channel companies; charter member Pax8 with Rob Rae (Pax8 CVP of Community and Ecosystems) as chair.
• What: the Managed Intelligence Alliance, a vendor-neutral program for secure, repeatable AI delivery through the IT channel, launched October 19, 2026 (announced from Copenhagen; previewed at ChannelCon 2026).
• Founders: 9 founding party members — CrowdStrike, Cynet, F1 Information Technologies, Lyra, Microsoft, New Charter, NinjaOne, Rev.io and Sourcepass.
• The gap: 97% of MSPs say they use AI internally, but only 20% have real governance and 25% a formal revenue strategy (GTIA ChannelCon 2026 research).
• The work: four priorities — open specifications, capability standards, accreditation programs (built with the Consortium for Responsible IT Services), and research/intelligence — published openly and free.
• Next step: open to channel organizations meeting membership requirements; details at gtia.org/alliance.

An alliance for the AI last mile

The Global Technology Industry Association (GTIA) today launched the Managed Intelligence Alliance, a vendor-neutral program designed to help IT service providers deliver artificial intelligence to small and medium-sized businesses securely, responsibly and at scale. The launch was announced October 19, 2026 from Copenhagen, Denmark, via GlobeNewswire.

Pax8 is the alliance's charter member, with its corporate vice president of community and ecosystems Rob Rae serving as chair (Rae is also a member of GTIA's board of directors). Nine founding party members signed on at launch: CrowdStrike, Cynet, F1 Information Technologies, Lyra, Microsoft, New Charter, NinjaOne, Rev.io and Sourcepass. The program was previewed at ChannelCon 2026.

The gap: 97% use AI, 20% govern it

The alliance targets a well-documented channel gap. At ChannelCon 2026, GTIA CEO Dan Wensley shared research showing that 97% of MSPs already claim to use AI internally — but only 20% have real governance around it, and just 25% have turned it into a formal revenue-driving strategy, as Redmond Channel Partner reported.

For many SMBs, AI adoption will run through the IT providers they already trust — the "last mile" of the AI economy. That makes managed service providers the control plane for AI governance, not just a sales channel: they decide which data AI touches, what permissions it has, and whether deployments meet compliance. GTIA's argument is that the channel can either standardize that responsibility now, or let customers' shadow AI spread without it.

Four workstreams, open and free

The alliance will organize its work into four priorities:

• Open Specifications — frameworks and protocols improving consistency in how data moves across the managed-intelligence ecosystem.
• Capability Standards — baseline requirements for delivering managed intelligence through the channel.
• Accreditation Programs — vendor-neutral validation of provider and vendor capabilities, developed with the Consortium for Responsible IT Services.
• Research and Intelligence — market research, technical analysis and policy guidance for a fast-moving market.

GTIA will publish the standards and accreditation frameworks openly and at no cost, extending the work beyond members. Day-to-day operations are led by Carlo Tortora Brayda, recruited as GTIA's vice president of industry standards and the alliance's director, with priorities set by an executive council.

Why GTIA, not Pax8

The "managed intelligence" framing originated at Pax8 — the cloud marketplace rolled out its own Managed Intelligence Provider Program and agent store, and coined much of the vocabulary. But Pax8 deliberately handed the alliance to a neutral third party. "As awesome as I think my organization is, we're not neutral," Rae said at ChannelCon, as Channel Dive reported. "We have MSPs that do not and will never use us. This idea is bigger than us. It's bigger than Pax8."

"AI is creating an enormous opportunity for the channel, but trust must come first," said Wensley in the announcement. "The industry needs common standards and practical guidance that providers can use." Nick Heddy, Pax8's president and chief commerce officer, added that small businesses need practical, secure ways to put AI to work — "supported by implementation expertise, strong governance and trusted advisors" — so innovation becomes real business outcomes rather than pilot projects.

What happens next

The alliance is open to organizations across the channel ecosystem that share its mission and meet membership requirements, with working groups to be formed from participating members. Details on participation, working groups and initial priorities are at gtia.org/alliance. Given the channel's reach — GTIA represents hundreds of thousands of professionals across nearly 4,000 ITSPs, vendors and distributors, with the ASCII Group now part of the association — the alliance's open, free standards could quickly become the default vocabulary for how managed AI is sold, governed and delivered.