AI is reshaping industries—and fast. Partners like you are at the center of this transformation, helping customers modernize, innovate, and scale with confidence. To help you stay ahead, we’re launching the Azure Partner Update, a recurring update designed to keep you up to date with the latest developments and accelerate your business. Expect curated insights, bold perspectives, and the latest tools to help you lead with cloud solutions and AI and build what’s next.
Spotlight
One of this month’s top updates is the reimagined Microsoft Marketplace, now a trusted central source for cloud solutions, AI apps and agents for customers, and a scale engine for partners. Marketplace continues to evolve as an extension of the Microsoft Cloud, connecting your innovations directly to customers where they work. The new AI Apps and Agents category empowers customers to discover AI solutions that integrate seamlessly with Microsoft products, creating new paths for partners to reach buyers and scale impact.
We also announced several technical updates designed to make cloud deployments faster and more flexible:
We’re investing in tools to strengthen your go-to-market efforts, as well.
- New co-branded campaigns in a box are available for Migrate and modernize and Unify your data platform, offering customizable materials to accelerate engagement:
- Migrate and modernize your estate: ENT and SMB
- Unify your data platform: ENT.
- Innovate with Azure AI apps & agents (ENT) solution play resources enable partners to sell Azure AI by providing playbooks and sales guides to identify, engage, and convert high-propensity customers, especially in the SMB segment.
- The Fabric Extensibility Toolkit enables faster customer app development within Microsoft Fabric.
Incentives and offers
Azure Accelerate, our unified offer under the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program, brings together Azure Migrate and Modernize, Azure Innovate, and the Cloud Accelerate Factory into one integrated experience built on the foundation of Azure Essentials.
It simplifies approvals, expands partner funding, and unlocks zero-cost joint delivery opportunities across the cloud and AI lifecycle. Services partners can now nominate projects to access funding, pre-sales packages, and technical guidance that streamline delivery and drive transformation.
In addition, we’ve introduced the following partner investments and incentives as part of Azure Accelerate:
- End-customer migration funding is now available for software companies moving customers to Azure.
- The Cloud Accelerate Factory now offers zero-cost deployment benefits for Azure Accelerate and supports more than 30 Azure services.
- New partner incentives are now open to Defender for Cloud partners with a Security designation to drive adoption in modernization projects. Get started with new resources and register for an upcoming webinar.
To learn more about what’s new in FY26 with Azure Accelerate, and to hear from both Microsoft SMEs and our partners, watch our on-demand partner webinar (you must sign in to the Partner Skilling Hub to access).
Events and skilling
Our events lineup includes Microsoft Ignite, returning November 18, where partners can engage directly with product leaders, attend deep technical sessions, and explore what’s next in AI and cloud innovation.
The Microsoft AI Tour for Partners is also underway, with in-person stops across global markets designed to showcase new technology, best practices, and hands-on learning experiences.
You can sign up for Fabric Global Hackathon, from September 15 to November 3, 2025, to build a real-world AI and analytics solution and join AgentCon2025, a global series of one-day conferences designed for developers building the future with autonomous AI agents.
Partners can also access the Migrate and Modernize Summit on demand or register for future summits to learn how agentic AI can accelerate customer transformation.
Skilling and enablement opportunities include webinars on new Azure Accelerate investments, Fabric and Purview workshops, and sales training for Azure Databricks and Microsoft Fabric.
Services partners can learn how to use Azure Databricks to transform fragmented customer data estates into unified platforms for analytics and AI.
Go-to-market resources
If you’re looking to accelerate AI transformation with speed and scale, AI Solution Accelerators are now available to shorten time-to-value. These pre-built, production-ready assets enable services partners to demonstrate AI capabilities during customer engagements without starting from scratch. Combined with campaigns in a box, envisioning workshops, and Microsoft CloudAscent and Segmented Partner Analysis and Recommendation Kit (SPARK) Propensity tools, partners can engage customers with targeted insights and drive demand more effectively.
Let’s build what’s next—together
As AI and cloud innovation accelerate, so do opportunities to lead transformation together. From updated platforms like Microsoft Marketplace to expanded programs like Azure Accelerate, this month’s updates are designed to enable you to move faster, scale smarter, and deliver greater customer impact across the Microsoft Cloud.
Stay connected through Partner Center, explore resources on the Partner Skilling Hub, and follow us on LinkedIn for ongoing insights, announcements, and opportunities to grow your Azure business.
For details on recent announcements please read the “What’s new in Azure for Partners” newsletter on the Microsoft Community hub and follow the tag “Azure News” to stay updated: