Across industries and job functions, Microsoft partners aren’t just transforming the way organizations work today, they're shaping what’s next. Together, we are powering the rise of the Frontier Firm.
Structured around on-demand intelligence and powered by hybrid teams of humans and agents, Frontier Firms understand the value of pairing irreplaceable human insight with the power of AI. They embed agents into their workflows, not just as assistants but as essential teammates able to execute tasks under human direction. That’s how they move faster, operate with greater agility, and generate value in ways that traditional methods can’t match.
Our 2025 Work Trend Index Annual Report surveyed 31,000 people across 31 countries and analyzed trillions of productivity signals. The data shows that this shift—moving from experimenting with AI to building entire businesses around it—is already underway. 82% of leaders say it’s a pivotal moment to rethink strategy and operations. And in the next two to five years, we expect every organization will begin its journey to becoming a Frontier Firm. Microsoft partners are central to this opportunity, enabling customers to transform, modernize how they work, and activate the potential of AI.
This blog post is the first in a new series designed to give you practical guidance to build your own Frontier practices. Each installment will focus on a specific opportunity area, from Microsoft 365 Copilot and agents to data unification and security, with resources to strengthen your business and drive transformation for customers. By following this series, you will discover strategies and tools to strengthen your business, accelerate Copilot adoption, and drive measurable impact for your customers.
Copilot at the center of transformation
Copilot is already an essential tool that’s reshaped productivity for teams. Early users surveyed completed tasks like writing, searching, and summarizing 29% faster.1 41% of surveyed decision-makers saw improved security and compliance with Copilot.* 70% noticed higher employee satisfaction, 64% saw improved productivity, and 59% reported IT efficiency gains.*
Now, with Copilot Chat and agents, the opportunity expands. These tools bring enterprise-grade security, robust IT controls, and wide-ranging benefits across teams. They also make the value of AI real, scalable, and accessible to organizations of all sizes. That means your team can deliver smarter solutions, streamline operations, and unlock new revenue while enabling customers to accomplish more.
Capturing the Copilot opportunity
The business case is compelling. A Forrester Total Economic Impact (TEI) study on the impact of Copilot found that a composite organization based on interviewed customers deploying Microsoft 365 Copilot realized benefits of $36.8 million2 over three years versus costs of $17.1 million, resulting in an ROI of 116%.* And this opportunity is only going to keep growing: “Gartner® projects global spending on AI services will reach $478 billion by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 18.2% over five years.”3
For partners, this isn’t just about selling more licenses. It’s about building AI-infused solutions that deliver more value for both your customers and your business. AI already represents 14% of the expected revenue opportunity for a Modern Work partner, with 60% year-over-year growth.*
You can tap into this opportunity by extending Copilot with custom add-ons, offering AI consulting services, and delivering agents with flexible pay-as-you-go models that meet customers where they are while creating recurring revenue.
Proven partner impact
From building and deploying custom agents with Copilot Studio to streamlining workflows with Copilot Chat, Microsoft partners are already making an impact for customers:
- NTT DATA helped a security services client introduce AI agents that cross-check work, boosting service desk efficiency by 30%. Another solution in manufacturing lifted customer satisfaction by 15% and agent productivity by 25%.
- Kyndryl deployed an AI service desk in multiple environments, driving 50% higher satisfaction, deflecting over 40% of tickets, and reducing costs by two-thirds. Now they’re expanding it for multilingual use.
- Capgemini now designs and deploys Copilot agents in minutes—a task that used to take days—thanks to low-code capabilities and automation.
- SoftwareOne exceeded the industry average with a 97.7% Copilot adoption rate, saving employees 4.8 hours per month and deploying over 95 AI agents to transform workflows and redefine how work gets done.
According to one Microsoft partner (anonymized), they’ve experienced significant growth by leaning into the Copilot opportunity:
“We grew 21% this past year, and it is all because of Copilot. We are selling more projects and bigger projects, including winning new logos. Copilot opportunities have also helped us expand into other countries.”*
Resources, benefits, and offerings for Copilot success
Kickstart your Copilot practice growth with this list of Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program refreshed benefits:
- Earn the Microsoft Copilot specialization (now available) to validate your organization’s expertise in deploying, extending, and advising customers on Copilot.
- Tap into Azure credits for Copilot Studio (available February 2026) to build agents with our low-code platform and explore the potential of agentic AI.
- Expand Copilot usage across business functions to accelerate adoption and productivity with additional Copilot seats (starting February 2026).
We’ve also strengthened our investment in Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners, with a range of updates designed to drive renewals, upgrades, and customer retention.
- Drive demand and sales with the Copilot & Agents at Work solution play, complete with a partner playbook, sales guide, and customizable marketing campaigns.
- Check out our Copilot practice development guidance for everything you need to build your strategy, hone your team’s sales and technical skills, and scale your go-to-market efforts.
- Register for an upcoming CSP Level Up bootcamp to learn how to develop your sales and technical capabilities, win new customers, and explore upselling and cross-selling strategies.
- Get the AI Business Solutions partner playbook for solution plays and strategies for driving revenue growth and profitability with Copilot.
- Explore the Partner Skilling Hub to sharpen your skills and grow your expertise with Copilot and agents.
The future is human led and AI-powered
The numbers are compelling, the use cases are real, and Frontier Firms are already leading the way. As a Microsoft partner, you have the expertise to shape how customers embrace AI. And with Copilot, you’re not just driving AI transformation. You’re redefining it.
Sources
1 Microsoft, Annual Report 2024, (Redmond, WA: Microsoft, 2024).
2 Throughout this document, $ refers to US dollar (USD).
3 Gartner, “Market Opportunity Map: Artificial Intelligence Services, Worldwide, 2024,” November 2024.
* Total Economic Impact (TEI) study conducted by Forrester Consulting, commissioned by Microsoft, “The Impact Of AI On Microsoft Modern Work Partner Revenue: Copilot And Agents,” July 2025.