Information about both products is current as of .
Skillset is an agentic service management platform, and Console describes itself as an AI-native platform for IT service management. They solve the same problem the same way: agents in Slack and Microsoft Teams pick up the requests employees send, resolve what policy allows, and put everything on one ticket. If you run Console today, Skillset will feel familiar.
The difference is what the agent works from. Console works from playbooks: automated workflows for requests, with its deepest features around access. Skillset works from one knowledge base: every answer and every action follows the same written policy your technicians use, shows its source, and lands on one ticket. The knowledge base comes built in, with everything you need to keep it right.
What the acquisition means if you’re on Console
Console has been part of Palo Alto Networks since September 1, 2026. Palo Alto says it will integrate Console into Cortex, its security operations platform. As of , we couldn’t find a published roadmap for Console’s IT service management customers. If you’re on Console, ask your account team what the plan is for your contract, and get it in writing. The rest of this post is for teams who want a second option ready, whatever that answer turns out to be. Moving is smaller than it sounds, and the next section walks through it.
Moving from Console to Skillset
Most of what you built in Console has a direct equivalent, and the parts that don’t are called out. The move is fast: channels, help desk and identity connect on day one, most teams are running in draft mode within 48 hours, and the knowledge base fills out over the first two weeks with your dedicated engineer.
- Playbooks become articles. Each Console playbook maps to a procedure or policy article in the Skillset knowledge base. Import what you have as Markdown or from Notion. If the docs are thin, onboarding includes a ticket diagnostic and an initial knowledge base built with your team by a dedicated engineer.
- Inbox becomes your queue. Use Skillset’s own queue, or keep Jira Service Management, Zendesk, Zoho Desk, ServiceDesk Plus or Linear as the system of record with two-way sync. History stays where it is.
- Access policies become approval rules. Write who approves what in the knowledge base, and the agent asks that person and grants through your identity provider. Scheduled access reviews and self-expiring access don’t carry over yet. Skillset is building both; until then, keep that in your identity provider.
- Slack and Teams carry over as they are. Add Skillset to the same channels and choose which route to IT. Employees change nothing. Google Chat isn’t supported.
- Start in drafts. The agent’s replies begin as drafts that technicians check and send, so you can judge the quality on real tickets before anything goes to employees on its own, then switch procedures to autonomous as trust builds.
Skillset vs Console at a glance
| Feature | Skillset | Console |
|---|---|---|
| Where employees ask | Slack, Microsoft Teams, email, web chat and forms | Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, email |
| Ticketing | Built-in queue, or two-way sync with your help desk | Built-in AI service desk (Inbox) with priorities and SLA timers |
| How answers are made | Drafted from your knowledge base, with the source attached | Resolved from existing knowledge, access policies and playbooks |
| Knowledge base | Built in, with reviewed changes and a public help center | Works from your existing knowledge sources, no knowledge base of its own |
| Access and approvals | Approval rules written in your knowledge base, granted through your identity provider | Policy-based approvals, time-bound access that revokes itself, access reviews |
| Integrations | Native connectors for help desk, identity, devices and docs, plus custom builds | 600+ listed integrations |
| Security | SOC 2, HIPAA and GDPR compliant | SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA |
| Pricing | Per employee with a monthly minimum, all AI usage included | Tailored to each organization |
Where Skillset goes further
- One knowledge base runs everything. Answers, approval rules, procedures and the public help center come from the same articles. There is no second system to keep in sync.
- The agent works like an additional employee. It reads what your team wrote, acts within it, shows its sources, and hands over when something isn’t documented, instead of improvising.
- Your technicians stay visible. They reply in the employee’s thread under their own name, with the agent’s draft and context already there.
- Your help desk stays. Two-way sync with Jira Service Management, Zendesk, Zoho Desk, ServiceDesk Plus and Linear means no migration of history.
- Integrations are built around your stack. Native connectors for the common systems, custom builds for the rest, including internal tools.
- All AI usage is included. Per-employee pricing with no per-resolution or token fees, so the agent goes on every ticket.
How each one works
Console builds around playbooks. Its agents run natural-language playbooks (Console lists more than 30), background agents look for gaps to fix, and a context graph links users, systems, policies and tickets. Console says it can automate 75% or more of service requests, and its deepest feature set is access: policy-based approvals, access that expires on its own, and access reviews.
Skillset builds around one knowledge base. Think of the agent as an additional member of your team who has read every runbook. It answers from the same articles your technicians read, follows the same approval rules, runs the same procedures, and shows which article it used. When the knowledge base doesn’t cover something, it hands over to a person instead of guessing. Every run is visible on the ticket, with live progress, a readable history and the articles it cited.
The result is an agent you correct the way you would brief a colleague: by fixing the document. Change the access policy and the next request follows it. Fix a troubleshooting article and the next answer is right. There’s no separate workflow builder to keep in sync with your docs, because the docs are the workflow.
Where employees ask
Both work in Slack and Microsoft Teams, and that carries over as it is. Console also lists Google Chat, which Skillset doesn’t support. Skillset also takes email (Gmail and Outlook), a web chat widget and Typeform forms, and every message in a connected channel becomes exactly one ticket, with follow-ups in the thread landing on the same ticket.
In Skillset, technicians reply in the employee’s thread under their own name, not as a bot, so the conversation feels like talking to your IT team.
Ticketing and your existing help desk
Console’s Inbox is its own AI service desk: requests the agent can’t resolve land there with a category, a priority (Urgent, High, Medium or Low) and SLA timers.
Skillset has its own queue too, and it’s built to work either way. If your team already runs Jira Service Management, Zendesk, Zoho Desk, ServiceDesk Plus or Linear, Skillset syncs tickets both ways, so your help desk stays the system of record and nobody has to migrate history.
Knowledge and answers
This is the biggest difference, and the one that matters most day to day. Console resolves requests from “existing knowledge, access policies, or playbooks”, and suggests new playbooks from resolved tickets for an admin to approve. It doesn’t describe a knowledge base of its own.
Skillset includes a full knowledge base, and everything the agent does runs on it. Changes go through review before they publish, whether a person or the agent proposed them. You can import Markdown or sync from Notion, publish a help center on your own domain with SEO controls, translate articles automatically, and see which searches came up empty. The agent, your technicians and your employees all read the same articles, so fixing a doc fixes the answer, the procedure and the help center at once.
Access and approvals
Both products handle access requests end to end, with different designs. Console’s access governance covers policy-based approvals, time-bound access that revokes itself, and access reviews. Skillset doesn’t offer scheduled access reviews or self-expiring access today. Both are being built; ask us for timing.
In Skillset, approval rules are written in plain language in your knowledge base, the same page a technician reads. When a request needs sign-off, the agent asks the named approver, who can decide from Skillset, a Slack DM or email. Each approval covers exactly one action: change the app, the access level or the recipient, and it no longer applies. Once approved, Skillset grants the access through your identity provider, Okta for example, and records the request, the approval and the result on one ticket.
Integrations
Console lists more than 600 integrations. Skillset connects natively to the systems IT works in every day: Jira Service Management, Zendesk, Zoho, Linear, Notion, Okta, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Intune and Jamf.
For everything else, Skillset builds custom integrations with your team, so any tool with an API, including internal ones, becomes something the agent can read from and act on. You can also connect your own tools over MCP, the open standard for giving AI agents access to tools.
Security and compliance
Console states SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA attestation on its security page. Skillset is SOC 2, HIPAA and GDPR compliant, with details on the Skillset Trust Center.
Pricing
Console describes its pricing as tailored to each organization. Skillset has three plans priced per employee with a monthly minimum, and every plan includes all AI usage: no per-resolution fees, no token fees, and no reason to ration the agent. Rates are on request; see Skillset pricing.
Stay or move
Stay on Console if:
- Your security team is standardising on Palo Alto Networks Cortex and wants IT workflows inside it.
- Self-expiring access or periodic access reviews are a hard requirement for your audits today. Skillset is building both, but they aren’t there yet.
- Your employees ask in Google Chat.
Move to Skillset if:
- You want one knowledge base behind the agent, your technicians and your help center.
- You want an agent that acts from your own documentation and shows its sources.
- You want to keep Jira Service Management, Zendesk or another help desk as the system of record.
- You need integrations built around your stack, including internal tools.
- You want predictable per-employee pricing with all AI included, from a company focused on IT support.
Frequently asked questions
Is Console still available after the Palo Alto Networks acquisition?
Palo Alto Networks announced on September 1, 2026 that it had acquired Console and would integrate it into Cortex, its security operations platform. At the time of writing, we couldn’t find a published roadmap for Console’s IT service management customers. Check with Console directly for your account.
How is Skillset priced compared with Console?
Skillset is priced per employee with a monthly minimum, across three plans, with all AI usage included. Console describes its pricing as tailored to each organization. Neither publishes rates.
Sources
- Palo Alto Networks, “Palo Alto Networks Acquires Console to Agentify Security”, September 1, 2026
- Console homepage: positioning, features, integrations count and automation claim
- Console, “Console Inbox: The AI Service Desk”
- Console, “Best Slack & Microsoft Teams IT Support Platforms”: channels and pricing wording
- Console security page: SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA
- Skillset pricing and Skillset Trust Center
If you work at Console and something here is wrong or out of date, email team@skillset.co and we’ll fix it.