AI takes centre stage at Microsoft partner event

Microsoft has been outlining its partner priorities for the next fiscal year, with artificial intelligence (AI) taking centre stage at its latest channel get together.

The vendor used its MCAPS Start for Partners event to talk about the importance of being prepared to adopt AI agents, and how it was aligning its investments behind supporting that goal.

Nicole Dezen, chief partner officer and CVP of global channel partner sales at Microsoft, penned a blog that outlined the direction of travel the vendor wanted its partners to be going in.

“This is a pivotal moment for our industry and a significant business opportunity for partners,” she said. “AI adoption is accelerating at an incredible pace, and customers are ready to scale from early adoption to business-wide execution.

“Capabilities that once required massive scale and resources are now accessible to businesses of every size and every customer segment through the Microsoft partner ecosystem.”

The blog spoke of Frontier Transformation, with partners being encouraged to integrate AI tools and agents into their own operations so they could deliver the same outcomes to customers.

“Frontier Transformation becomes real when partners combine the Microsoft AI platform with the expertise, services and trust customers need to transform how they operate, innovate, and grow,” said Dezen. “Partners that embrace Frontier Transformation will be positioned to capture new opportunities across customer segments.”

At MCAPS, the firm indicated it would be investing in each of the main areas of its programmes, with support going into the build, go to market and co-selling areas.

On the build front, the focus was on Agent P – the AI-driven sales tool being offered to partners who want to be able to provide customers with information around how the vendor’s products would work in their environments.

“It is designed to enable sellers to build fluency faster, strengthen customer conversations and connect technical depth to business value,” stated Dezen.

Microsoft is also providing specialisations and programmes to encourage partner skill development in this area, with the introduction of the Transformation Engineer Package, Frontier partner specialisation and the extension of existing options, including the support services designation, to encompass more AI content.

Go-to-market changes include providing the tools to support AI campaigns and delivery, with the vendor keen to work with those concentrating in that area.

“Co-op is now shaped around demand generation and high-yield activities, with guidance to direct 30% of co-op investment toward Copilot and to leverage propensity signals to target the right customers with the right motions,” said Dezen.

Efforts were also being made to encourage those serving the SME customer base with the tools needed to get users shifting towards greater levels of AI consumption.

“For SME partners, FY27 also introduces a customer outcome-centred go-to-market framework: powering work with secure AI, creating a competitive edge with AI, running the business securely, scaling finance processes with agents and moderniing data for AI,” the blog stated.

“This gives cloud solution provider [CSP] partners a structured approach to align go-to-market and co-sell motions with Microsoft, win new customers and accelerate business outcomes in FY27. It frames the partner opportunity through the lens of Frontier Transformation and highlights the readiness, investments and seller alignment needed to capture customer demand, deliver measurable impact, and drive growth with SME customers.”

Finally, Dezen was also encouraging partners to get into a position where they can co-sell repeatable business with Microsoft: “Through enhanced seller alignment, shared pipeline management and coordinated go-to-market, eligible partners can co-sell with Microsoft through a repeatable motion.

“The impact is clear: when partners and Microsoft sellers co-sell, we see 84% higher win rates, 41% larger deals and a 55% increase in deals shared with partners year over year.”

Microsoft is aligning its incentives for the next fiscal year around those that take the message on board and get behind the Frontier Transformation push.

“FY27 incentives are designed to reward partners that create customer growth and deliver measurable outcomes,” added Dezen. “By leveraging the investments Microsoft is making in all pillars of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Programme, the partners that build capability, create demand and turn customer adoption into durable growth are well-positioned to maximise earning potential and generate impact on their P&L.”

She concluded the blog by encouraging partners to grasp the significance of what was happening in the market and to ensure they skilled up and engaged with the vendor’s AI tools.

“The momentum we are seeing globally, across all customer segments and industries, gives me tremendous confidence in the year ahead,” she stated. “Every major technology shift creates new leaders – not because they reached the technology first, but because they understood how to turn innovation into value for customers.

“That has always been a hallmark of capability for Microsoft partners. This is our moment to apply that strength and expertise to advancing the business outcomes for customers around the world,” she added.