Nicole Dezen, Chief Partner Officer and CVP, Global Channel Partner Sales
Moving from AI experimentation to transformation takes ingenuity, deep expertise, and a clear understanding of customers’ business objectives. Every day, Microsoft partners bring these qualities together to turn bold ideas into meaningful outcomes for customers and communities around the world. The Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards celebrate that work, recognizing partners that deliver innovative solutions and high-impact services across solution areas, industries, and geographies.
I’m proud to congratulate our 2026 winners and finalists. Your achievements demonstrate what Frontier Transformation looks like in practice: connecting Microsoft Cloud and AI capabilities with industry knowledge and trusted customer relationships to deliver measurable business value.
Celebrating excellence across our global partner ecosystem
This year’s awards recognize exceptional achievement across seven global categories:
- Cloud & AI Platforms
- Security
- AI Business Solutions
- Industry
- Partner Innovation
- Business Transformation
- Social Impact
These categories reflect the range of expertise customers rely on throughout their transformation journeys. Recognized achievements span AI apps and agents, migration and modernization, data platforms, security, agentic business solutions, industry transformation, Marketplace, and social impact.
Regional awards celebrate excellence across the Americas, EMEA and Asia. They recognize the contributions of systems integrators, ISVs, channel partners, and device partners serving customers across these regions. Country Partner of the Year Awards further recognize outstanding partners across countries and markets worldwide. Together, the global, regional, and country awards showcase the breadth of our ecosystem and the many ways partners turn Microsoft technology into customer impact.
Turning innovation into lasting customer value
Across industries and geographies, partners are enabling customers to move beyond isolated AI scenarios and reimagine how work gets done. They connect technology, services, and industry expertise to bring AI into everyday workflows and critical business processes.
That progress begins with understanding each customer’s priorities. It takes trusted relationships, innovation, and the ability to connect emerging capabilities with practical business needs. This year’s winners and finalists exemplify those qualities. Their work spans the foundations and execution of transformation: securing AI environments, modernizing applications and data estates, improving workforce productivity, and redesigning business processes with agents. They also bring the strategy, skills, and change management customers need to sustain progress as adoption grows. For partners across our ecosystem, these achievements offer inspiration and practical examples of ways to translate innovation into lasting customer value.
Celebrating together at Microsoft Ignite
We look forward to celebrating our 2026 winners and finalists at Microsoft Ignite, November 17–20, 2026. Join us for the Ignite Frontier Transformation Partner keynote on Wednesday, November 18, from 9:00–10:30 AM PT, where we’ll highlight this year’s Partner of the Year Awards winners and the customer impact behind their achievements.
In this session I’ll be joined by Judson Althoff, CEO, Microsoft Commercial Business; Mala Anand, EVP and Chief Customer Officer; Ralph Haupter, EVP and CRO, Small, Medium Enterprises and Channel (SME&C); and Stephen Boyle, CVP, Enterprise Partner Sales. Together, we’ll explore how organizations are redesigning work, scaling AI adoption, and accelerating customer outcomes, and what these shifts mean for the capabilities and services our partners build and deliver for customers around the world.
The keynote is part of a broader Ignite experience connecting product strategy with implementation through access to Microsoft leaders, engineers, and product teams, technical sessions, demonstrations, labs, and skilling experiences. Register to attend in person or join the digital experience. You can also explore the complete list of winners and finalists and learn more about the work behind this year’s recognition.
To every winner, finalist, and nominee: thank you for your dedication to our shared customers and for the ideas, expertise, and care you bring to your work. Congratulations on your achievements and the impact you continue to make around the world.
**This has been shared from the Microsoft Partner blog**
Community Manager