By: Alex Zagury, CVP, Global Channel Sales
A focused, partner-led 30-day Copilot trial is now available, backed by record FY27 investments to accelerate SMB growth.
Thirty days. Twenty-five users. One clear path to AI.
For small and medium-sized businesses, AI is no longer a someday conversation, it's a right-now decision. SMB customers aren't asking whether AI matters anymore; they're asking how to put it to work in ways that are practical, fast, and secure. The hard part isn't interest. It's the starting line.
Customers are looking to identify relevant use cases, experience AI in their everyday work, and evaluate its value before making a broader commitment. This creates a significant opportunity for Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners to lead customers from initial interest to sustained adoption. The SMB segment represents a Microsoft-estimated $625 billion* market opportunity in FY27, yet most organizations remain early in their AI transformation journey.
As shared at MCAPS Start for Partners, FY27 brings record levels of CSP and programmatic incentive investments through the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program, alongside investments in partner capabilities, skilling and go-to-market resources designed to enable growth, bring new customers and workloads to the Microsoft ecosystem, and deliver customer success through Frontier transformation, starting with Microsoft Copilot.
One of the primary investments we are making for the partner ecosystem is Copilot in 30, now available through CSP New Commerce. Copilot in 30 is a new, limited-time, CSP partner-led Microsoft 365 Copilot Business trial offering designed for SMB customers with fewer than 300 employees. It is available through December 31, 2026. This offer combines a 25-user, 30-day Microsoft 365 Copilot Business trial with partner-ready resources and customer guidance, campaign materials, setup resources, adoption content, and conversion guidance. Together, these resources give you a structured way to turn AI interest into hands-on Copilot experience.
What’s new
For partners, Copilot in 30 provides a repeatable path to turn customer engagement into adoption planning and growth. Rather than positioning Copilot as a standalone product trial, you can lead a guided experience centered on real business needs. Customers can explore how Microsoft 365 Copilot Business fits into their daily work, test scenarios across roles, and build confidence with a focused group of users.
Copilot is the on-ramp. It enables people to work smarter and faster today, and it opens the door to the agents and workflows that follow. You can use the 30-day experience to guide customers through practical scenarios, identify high-value use cases, and create a clearer path from evaluation to paid Microsoft 365 Copilot Business deployment.
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