by Heather Deggans, Vice President, Global Partner Go-To-Market, Programs, Operations
Bring your customers’ next questions to Microsoft Ignite. Whether you’re joining us in San Francisco or online, use the week to explore new capabilities, learn from Microsoft experts, and connect with partners whose experience can inform your next steps.
Microsoft Ignite 2026 takes place November 17–20 at the Moscone Center and online. Register now for the experience that fits your plans. If you’re already registered, review what’s included with your pass and start building your agenda.
Make partner programming your starting point
Start with the Frontier Transformation Partner keynote on Wednesday, November 18 from 9:00–10:30 AM Pacific Time. Join Nicole Dezen, Judson Althoff, Mala Anand, Ralph Haupter, and Stephen Boyle to explore how organizations are redesigning work, scaling AI adoption, and accelerating customer outcomes. This year, we will also welcome AI scientist, entrepreneur, investor, and thought leader Dr. Rana el Kaliouby to the partner keynote. We will also celebrate our 2026 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards winners during the keynote.
As our partner guide to Microsoft Ignite 2026 explores, Frontier Transformation brings AI and agents into the way customers work and run their businesses. The Frontier Partner specialization gives partners a way to demonstrate AI agent delivery expertise and customers verified evidence to consider when choosing a provider.
Open the Partner Business view of the schedule builder and look for sessions such as:
- Frontier Transformation: The Next Trillion-Dollar Partner Opportunity
- Enterprise Frontier Transformation: Defining a New Era of Growth
- Differentiating at the Frontier: Unlocking Opportunities with the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program
- Co-sell at scale with Microsoft Marketplace
- Partner Skilling as a Growth Lever for Revenues & Profitability
Plan to join me for a session on how Microsoft is bringing AI into the partner journey in Your AI-Powered Partnership: The E2E Partner Experience. The end-to-end walkthrough covers agentic co-sell in Partner Center, sales and upsell recommendations, AI-guided benefits and licensing, and a personalized Partner 360 experience. Look for practical guidance on finding opportunities, managing your partnership, and building your own agents.
Explore the full session catalog for the technical learning and product insights most relevant to your customers. Check each listing for its time, delivery format, and recording availability and get AI-powered recommendations for sessions, speaker details, and onsite information.
Build the rest of your agenda before the event
Choose a few priorities, such as an architecture to validate, a capability your team needs to strengthen, or a customer challenge to solve. Filter the catalog by topic, audience, session type, and technical level, then pair product direction with practical learning across Microsoft 365 Copilot and agents, cloud infrastructure, data, and security.
If you serve small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), build on the opportunity to turn AI adoption into recurring revenue by choosing sessions that advance a repeatable service you can deliver and manage.
Check reservation requirements as you build your schedule. Some activities like labs require an RSVP. Coordinate with colleagues to cover more topics, identify sessions to attend together, and make time to compare what you learn.
If you’re attending in person:
- Plan your arrival. If your travel schedule allows, collect your badge on Monday, November 16. Before you arrive, check the event website for pickup hours and locations, identification requirements, and security guidance.
- Get ready for your time onsite. Visit the Microsoft Ignite website and review the latest venue information. Allow time to move between sessions and complete entry procedures. Bring comfortable shoes, a charged device, and a charger.
- Book certification ahead. If an exam is part of your plan, review the 2026 onsite certification instructions and reserve your slot. Eligible in-person attendees can take one Microsoft or GitHub certification exam at no cost, subject to the offer terms. Registration is required.
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