Your voice is instrumental in shaping the future of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program. In our latest quarterly update, we share key enhancements driven by partner feedback, along with expert insights, new skilling resources, and the latest benefits to help you grow, innovate, and lead in the AI era.
Spotlights
A reimagined Microsoft Marketplace: New investments to power growth
The reimagined Microsoft Marketplace is now your single destination for AI apps, tools, and agents, bringing together AppSource and Azure Marketplace into one unified experience. With a new AI apps and agents category, simplified publishing, built-in co-sell opportunities, expanded distributor reach, and resale-enabled offers (in preview), partners can connect with millions of customers and scale innovation faster. Marketplace is at the center of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program, giving you the resources, collaboration, and routes to market needed to grow in the AI era.
Accelerating AI growth and innovation: Your guide to Microsoft Ignite
Microsoft Ignite 2025 isn’t just another event; it’s your launchpad for growth, innovation, and partner success. From November 18 to 21 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco (with online access available globally), you’ll get access to cutting-edge keynotes from Microsoft leadership; over 60 partner-led breakout sessions focused on AI Business Solutions, Cloud & AI Platforms, and Security; and hands-on labs and on-site certification exams, plus countless opportunities to explore new incentives, co-sell programs, and success stories. Join us to sharpen your expertise, deepen your impact, and connect with the ecosystem driving tomorrow’s tech.
Don’t miss out on discounted licenses, Azure credits, support, and more
Did you know that our benefits packages for partners were expanded to include even more this year? Tap into savings starting at $15,000*—and going to over $500K—on bundled packages that include product discounts and credits, technical support, personal Concierge support for co-sell, GTM, and presales consulting, and much more. We tailor these offerings specifically to help you reduce costs, accelerate innovation, and improve time to market. The three packages are tiered to offer increasingly robust portfolios of benefits to meet your business growth goals. Purchase with your Partner Center admin credentials or learn more about the benefits packages.
Evolving our productivity offerings to resolve European competition concerns about Teams
Microsoft is reinforcing our commitment to partner innovation and customer choice. In response to feedback, Teams is evolving, with enhanced interoperability, improved data portability, and more flexible licensing and pricing options for Microsoft 365, Office 365, and Teams. Starting November 1, 2025, customers will have broader options to choose plans with or without Teams, unified price deltas, and access to robust export tools and APIs. As partners, you'll gain new opportunities to guide clients through these changes, shape open ecosystems, and deliver even more tailored productivity solutions.
Program news
Strengthen your security and grow customer trust with technical and API changes
Meeting evolving security and compliance standards builds customer trust and creates new opportunities for growth. To support partners, Microsoft is introducing targeted updates to Partner Center and key APIs that will help you stay ahead of regulatory and technical requirements, reduce risk, and avoid business disruption. Some effective dates are being extended to give you more time to prepare, ensuring systems remain compliant and customer transactions stay seamless.
New benefits, designations, and specializations: Your FY26 advantage
FY26 brings big opportunity: stand out, grow revenue, and align even more closely with customer needs by tapping into updated benefits and exploring new Solutions Partner designations and specializations. Expect Azure credits for Copilot Studio, more Microsoft 365 Copilot seats, refreshed partner benefits packages, plus four new designations covering support services, distribution, and Windows device ecosystems. Three new specializations are also coming: Microsoft Copilot (available now), Clinical Applications, and Sovereign Cloud. These updates are expected to go live in February 2026, so get ready to leverage them for your AI, cloud, and security expertise. Read Julie Sanford’s recent blog to learn more.
Partner Center Technical Corner: September 2025 edition
Stay up to date on the latest updates and best practices with the September 2025 edition of the Partner Center Technical Corner. This post highlights new investments in partner enablement, essential security enhancements, and recent releases. Whether you're managing offers, tracking payouts, or supporting customers, this resource is your go-to guide for staying informed and maximizing efficiency.
New Partner Center AI assistant workspaces:
- Earnings: Save time by giving finance and sales leaders quick access to metrics.
- Incentives: Meet deadlines, track co-op balances, and maximize earnings.
- Membership: Check eligibility, qualifications, and metrics with ease.
- Upsells: Automate cancellations and significantly reduce refund time.
Build fast, scale smart, and sell more: Microsoft for Startups evolves to better serve the startup ecosystem
Microsoft for Startups is leveling up to directly support the pace, path, and potential of startup founders. New enhancements include a streamlined self-service option that gives early-stage startups immediate access to Azure credits, plus a new pathway via investor and accelerator partners for funded startups. With a startup-specific Azure portal view, enterprise-grade security, AI tools, and stronger go-to-market support, you can tap into these changes to launch faster, scale smarter, and boost revenue potential.
Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners
Updated CSP authorization requirements in effect October 1
The updated CSP authorization eligibility requirements are now being enforced. Please note that specific enforcement dates might vary based on current status—new applicant or existing CSP partner.
Distributors should:
- Use the reseller performance report to identify at-risk resellers, then work with them to meet the new requirements.
- Find your organization on the distributor search site and validate that the link to your website is correct.
By staying authorized, you can continue to drive upsells and renewals with our suite of go-to-market resources while ensuring that we maintain a highly capable and compliant partner ecosystem. Learn more about the authorization requirements and available resources for CSP partners and download the partner FAQ for more information.
Cloud & AI Platforms
Accelerating app modernization: Technical deep dive into Microsoft’s latest migration & AI tools
Thursday, October 16 | 9:00 AM–10:00 AM Pacific Time
Accelerating app modernization is top of mind for every customer, and partners are leading the way. Join us for a technical deep dive into our latest migration and AI-powered modernization tools, including GitHub Copilot and Azure Migrate. Learn how to accelerate app upgrades with AI-powered automation; reduce risk through expanded platform support for Java, .NET, and data platforms; and leverage new partner programs and enablement resources that streamline modernization. Don’t miss this opportunity to see real-world results and take your practice to the next level.
Cloud & AI Platforms blog series
Check out the first installments of our five-part series designed to equip you with a unified cloud and AI narrative and to activate your top opportunities in FY26: modernizing infrastructure, unifying data estates, and delivering transformative AI solutions so your customers don’t just stay future-ready, they become future-defining.
Fuel cloud transformation with Azure Accelerate
With a simplified offer framework, you can get easier access to end-to-end support and faster funding. Plus, eligible partners can tap into Dr Migrate, an AI-assisted platform that streamlines your comprehensive migration and modernization planning.
Azure blog: OpenAI’s gpt-oss on Azure AI Foundry and Windows AI Foundry
Fine-tune and distill OpenAI’s new open-source model using your data, then deploy confidently with Azure AI Foundry.
Azure blog: Azure Databricks runs best on Azure
Learn how Azure-native integration, autoscaling, and unified governance make Azure Databricks the best home for your data and AI workloads—and share with your customers as they consider their preferred data platform.
Azure blog: Deep Research in Azure AI Foundry Agent Service
Automate research workflows, embed insights into apps, and scale knowledge responsibly with new Deep Research capabilities.
AI Business Solutions
Becoming Frontier: Insights, resources, and partner opportunities
Across industries, Microsoft partners are helping customers move from experimenting with AI to building entire businesses around it. The first blog in our new Frontier Firm series explores how Copilot and intelligent agents are redefining work by blending human insight with AI execution to accelerate productivity, security, and growth. With powerful ROI data, proven partner impact, and new FY26 resources such as the Copilot specialization and Azure credits for Copilot Studio, this is your playbook for building AI-powered solutions and driving measurable customer transformation.
Stand out in the Marketplace with a Microsoft Copilot specialization
Demonstrate your advanced capabilities in AI-powered productivity. The Microsoft Copilot specialization validates partner expertise across Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Chat, Copilot Studio, and agents. To earn it, partners need to attain a designation—Business Applications, Modern Work, or Security—and meet performance, skilling, and customer reference requirements (including delivering solutions with agents).
Microsoft 365 blog: GPT-5 in Microsoft 365 Copilot
GPT-5 is live in Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Studio worldwide, bringing faster responses for everyday tasks and deeper reasoning for complex challenges. With enterprise-grade security and compliance, Copilot is already helping organizations save time, reduce costs, and boost employee satisfaction. For partners, this means a stronger value proposition—you can guide customers through Copilot adoption, extend it with custom solutions, and unlock new revenue opportunities in the fast-growing AI market.
Security
Security, growth, and trust: Introducing the FY26 Security solution plays
Cybersecurity is more critical than ever, and partners need to lead with confidence. Microsoft has introduced three FY26 Security solution plays: Modern security operations with unified platform, Data security, and Protect cloud, AI platform, and apps, all designed to align Microsoft technologies with the outcomes your customers care about most. With dedicated resources, CSP support, toolkits, accelerators, and special small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) SKUs, you can help clients secure their data, scale safely in the cloud, and build trust while accelerating your own growth.
Level Up CSP Security
Level Up CSP Security is an offering designed to strengthen partner sales and technical expertise in Microsoft Security solutions, with a focus on Microsoft 365 E5. The initiative empowers partners to confidently position, sell, and support Microsoft Security offerings to drive customer acquisition and growth in the SMB and Small Medium Enterprises & Channel (SME&C) segments. Through digital and in-person training, you can gain insights into the value of Microsoft Security, threat protection strategies, and data security best practices, plus practical sales tools and real-world scenarios. With resources to guide effective customer conversations, the offering enables partners to lead security discussions, address customer challenges, and accelerate business growth with Microsoft Security.
AI data governance made easy: How Microsoft Purview tackles GenAI risks and builds trust
Learn how Purview brings enterprise-grade data governance to AI with built-in protections like prompt/response Data Loss Prevention (DLP), real-time content blocking, audit trails, and integration via Microsoft Graph APIs, enabling developers to embed compliance without heavy engineering. The post also showcases Purview’s Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) for AI, which provides centralized visibility across Copilot, Azure OpenAI, and third-party models like ChatGPT and Gemini.
Skilling
Virtual Event | Becoming Frontier: Pitch and land the AI transformation story
Join us for a hands-on training designed to sharpen your AI transformation pitch. Over three days, you will dive into the latest executive, platform, business services, and security conversations from Microsoft, learn how to bring the Copilot and agentic story to life, and practice landing it with impact. With expert-led sessions, practical pitch decks, and live Q&A, leave with the confidence to guide customers through their AI journey, and earn a shareable digital badge for completing the training.
- Americas | Tuesday, October 14, 9:00 AM – Thursday, October 16, Noon PDT
- Asia | Wednesday, October 15, 9:00 AM – Friday, October 17, Noon IST
- EMEA | Wednesday, October 15, 9:00 AM – Friday, October 17, Noon BST
Build expertise, earn recognition, and drive transformation with Microsoft skilling
Level up for the AI era. Our September 2025 skilling updates bring you a newly streamlined experience via the Partner Skilling Hub. Discover hands-on live events like the Microsoft AI Tour for Partners, plus in-person workshops, bootcamps, and role-specific learning paths, from sales and tech to project leadership. Whether you're looking to build, specialize, or lead with impact, these tools and resources are designed to speed your growth and make you stand out.
Microsoft AI Tour for Partners
Join us for the Microsoft AI Tour for Partners, a global series of in-person events showcasing breakthrough advancements that can take your business to the frontier of AI. Discover lessons learned from real-world deployments, explore sales best practices, and gain hands-on experience with AI Business Solutions, Cloud & AI Platforms, and Security. This event equips you with the tools to accelerate customer success and build your organization into a Frontier Firm. End the day in conversation with experts from Microsoft.
GitHub sales and presales partner skilling
Grow your ability to initiate sales conversations, solve customer challenges, and pitch GitHub value. This collection features pitch decks, battlecards, and other key assets to help you position GitHub effectively to prospective customers.
Ongoing skilling opportunities
Our popular skilling series offers new dates:
- Partner Project Ready Workshops: These multiday skilling events are designed to deepen your ability to assess customer needs and seamlessly implement Azure solutions.
- Sales & Pre-Sales Skilling Bootcamps: Create new business opportunities and stand out in the AI and cloud market by investing in sales skilling. Get help with planning, building, and assessing strategies for closing sales opportunities. You will learn how to articulate the value of your solutions and services, expand your sales strategies, and accelerate the customer journey.
- Partner Meetups for Microsoft Azure: Join live and virtual events designed by Microsoft to help Azure partners stay current, connect with experts, and deepen their technical and go-to-market capabilities.
Celebrating partner success
From driving innovation to accelerating customer transformation, your stories inspire and empower the global partner ecosystem. Join us in celebrating partner achievements and amplifying success. Here are some of our recent partner success stories.
How systems integrators are scaling innovation with Microsoft 365 Copilot and agents
Discover how leading systems integrators are already using Microsoft 365 Copilot and agents to streamline operations, drive productivity, and deliver new, customer-focused experiences. From automating workflows to improving response times by as much as 30%, partners like NTT DATA, TCS, Kyndryl, Capgemini, and Cognizant are setting the standard. Tap into rich resources—like Copilot Studio, the Microsoft 365 Agents Toolkit, the Partner Skilling Hub, and the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program—to build your own agent-powered solutions.
Spanish Point optimizes product development for software companies with Azure
When Dublin-based company Kefron needed to scale its deployment alongside customer demand, Spanish Point Technologies delivered a cloud-native, AI-powered solution, ensuring seamless service continuity throughout the transformation.
Crayon drives scalable, secure transformation for upGrad’s learning platform with Microsoft solutions
upGrad, a leading South Asia-based edtech platform, partnered with Crayon to move from startup-grade infrastructure to a unified, enterprise-secure system using Microsoft 365 A5 and Copilot. The transformation enhances collaboration for over 4,000 active users, improves cybersecurity with advanced protection tools, and automates critical workflows for their IT team. For partners, this is a clear playbook: help customers grow safely, simplify operations, and deliver AI-powered learning experiences.
Silverfort is redefining holistic identity security
Silverfort helped a national grocery retailer overcome legacy identity risks by extending multifactor authentication (MFA) protection to systems that don’t support modern tools and by uncovering thousands of service accounts hiding in their Active Directory. The result: compliance with cyber insurance requirements, stronger security posture, and lower risk, all achieved without disrupting legitimate users.
NCS collaborates with National Gallery Singapore to bring AI-driven art experiences with Azure OpenAI
NCS Group is using Azure OpenAI to help the National Gallery Singapore make art more accessible. Together, they created G(ai)le, an AI docent offering interactive, multilingual, and personalized art experiences.
Explore all recent partner success stories.
Community and events
Microsoft Partner FY26 GTM Kickoff Event on demand
Learn more about the investments we're making to support how you grow your business and deliver customer engagements that demonstrate the quantifiable added value of AI. This year’s sessions were designed to accelerate business for our systems integrator partners and empower go-to-market alignment with Microsoft for FY26. Whatever your focus, you'll find practical guidance and strategic direction to help you plan for the year ahead. All sessions are captioned in 32 languages and available to watch on demand.
As we continue to grow and improve the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program offerings, we’ll bring you regular updates. Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn for more news and updates.
And follow our partner news community to join the conversation and stay up to date on partner announcements!
* Purchases can be completed by your organization's partner admin in Partner Center.
Throughout this document, $ refers to US dollar (USD).
Product licenses shown are for illustration purposes only. For details on the exact license and seat counts included in each benefits package, please refer to the current Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program benefits guide.
Multiple versions of these licenses may be provided depending on the package you purchase. To confirm the exact version and number of seats included, please refer to the current benefits guide.
Retail value is based on Microsoft list pricing and reflects the potential fees for access to Microsoft software and services.