Microsoft Ignite 2025 AI announcements: What software developers need to know
Igniting what’s next: What software development companies need to know about Microsoft’s AI announcements at Ignite 2025 The AI landscape took a major leap forward at Microsoft Ignite 2025, and for software development companies and digital natives, the announcements represent a massive opportunity: faster innovation, simplified agent development, access to enterprise‑ready AI platforms, and a dramatically expanded ecosystem to build on. This year, Microsoft introduced the era of agentic AI—and software companies are at the center of this shift. Ignite 2025 formally unveiled Microsoft Foundry, our unified platform for building, governing, and scaling intelligent agents. From new agent runtimes to multi‑agent orchestration, enterprise‑grade knowledge access, and one‑click publishing to Microsoft 365, the momentum creates one clear signal: 💡 AI assistants are becoming intelligent agents—and Foundry is the platform software companies will use to build them. Why Microsoft Ignite 2025 mattered for software companies Across every session, Microsoft doubled down on helping partners accelerate time‑to‑market with agentic AI solutions. Whether you’re building vertical apps, automation copilots, knowledge systems, or developer tools, the new capabilities in Foundry eliminate much of the heavy lifting associated with retrieval, orchestration, compliance, hosting, and model selection. Key themes this year from Azure AI: Unified agent platform across all Microsoft clouds Framework‑agnostic development (bring your own models, tools, or frameworks) Enterprise‑grade governance built into the lifecycle Open ecosystem and interoperability using MCP, A2A, OpenAPI Seamless distribution through Microsoft 365 and Teams Let’s break down what’s new—and what it means for your product strategy. Top announcements for software companies at Ignite 2025 Microsoft Foundry: A unified brand for AI agent development Azure AI Foundry is now Microsoft Foundry—a consolidated platform for building, deploying, and managing intelligent agents. For software companies, this means: One consistent developer experience Shared governance and compliance across products A more integrated ecosystem for publishing and distributing agentic solutions This rebrand isn’t cosmetic—it reflects Microsoft’s strategic shift to deliver a platform built explicitly for the next generation of AI agents. Introducing Foundry IQ: Your enterprise knowledge engine One of the most exciting announcements is Foundry IQ, a new engine that gives agents instant access to enterprise data from SharePoint, OneLake, ADLS, and the web, all governed by Purview. For software companies, this unlocks: Reliable, production‑grade knowledge retrieval without building RAG pipelines Consistent compliance and security models Faster customer onboarding with fewer integration gaps Foundry IQ is a game‑changer for teams who have spent months building retrieval layers or maintaining custom RAG components. Foundry Control Plane: Unified governance for all agents Now in public preview, the Foundry Control Plane enables teams to manage agents across frameworks, clouds, and environments. Highlights: Unified visibility and observability Built‑in security & compliance (Defender, Purview) Fleet‑wide monitoring for cost, health, and risk For software companies offering multi‑tenant solutions or operating in regulated industries, this dramatically simplifies the operational burden of managing AI agents. Agent Framework (public preview): SK + AutoGen, Unified The Microsoft Agent Framework, now in public preview, merges the strengths of Semantic Kernel and AutoGen into a single SDK for building durable, interoperable agents. Software companies gain: A consistent programming model Durable memory Strong interoperability with MCP, A2A, OpenAPI Framework‑agnostic design This is the developer foundation for future AI applications built on Microsoft clouds. Hosted Agents: Enterprise‑grade runtime, no infrastructure needed With Hosted Agents, teams can deploy custom‑code agents directly into a fully managed runtime—no containers, pipelines, or infra setup. What this enables for software companies: Faster deployment cycles Secure, autoscaling environments Simple onboarding for customer‑specific agents Observability and monitoring built in This drastically reduces the operational overhead many software companies face today. Multi‑agent workflows & connected intelligence Ignite 2025 introduced major advancements in multi‑agent orchestration: Built‑in memory across sessions A catalog of 1,000+ Microsoft & partner tools (with private catalogs for software companies) Visual and programmatic orchestration tools Enterprise‑ready coordination for long‑running workflows Foundry IQ for instant knowledge access This allows software companies to design more autonomous, intelligent, and interconnected systems—moving beyond assistants toward true digital workers. Model Router GA + Anthropic partnership expansion There are two major updates for model flexibility: Model Router GA Now supporting 11,000+ models, the router helps developers intelligently choose the best model for each task, optimizing both cost and performance. Anthropic Claude models in Foundry Claude Sonnet 4.5, Opus 4.1, and Haiku 4.5 are now integrated into Microsoft Foundry through an expanded partnership with Anthropic. This gives software companies more choice, capability, and model‑agnostic development paths. One‑click publishing to Microsoft 365 & Teams One of the biggest wins for software companies: Agents built in Foundry can now be published to Microsoft 365 and Teams Chat with one click. This means: Access to hundreds of millions of users Unified governance through Microsoft Admin Center Seamless integration with Copilot experiences For software companies, this is a massive new distribution channel. Why this matters for software development companies Ignite 2025 didn’t just introduce new products—it signaled a platform shift. software companies now have: A full-stack platform for agentic applications - From data access to orchestration, hosting, deployment, and compliance. A unified runtime and SDK - Reducing fragmentation and speeding up development cycles. Enterprise reach through Microsoft 365 - Making your agents as discoverable as apps. A rapidly expanding ecosystem - More models, more tools, more integration points. If you’re building AI-powered products, this is your moment. Get hands-on: Sessions & resources for software companies Here are links to top Ignite sessions to dive deeper. Build & Manage AI Apps with Your Agent Factory AI Agents in Azure AI Foundry: Ship Fast, Scale Fearlessly AI‑Powered Automation & Multi‑Agent Orchestration Agent Developer Guide for Foundry Agent Service The Future of RAG with Agentic Retrieval & AI Search What’s next: December Foundry Council Session Join us on Dec 18 for the Ignite Recap session through the Foundry Partner Council. It’s the best opportunity for software companies to: Get deeper into the new capabilities Share partner/DN feedback Join focus groups For more information about the December 18 session, contact foundrycouncil@microsoft.com or visit aka.ms/foundrycouncilHow AI closes requirements gaps, and how Modern Requirements and Microsoft Marketplace can help
In this guest blog post, Asif Sharif, CEO of Modern Requirements, explores where DevOps workflows fall short and how teams can better manage requirements with Copilot4DevOps, Modern Requirements4DevOps, and Microsoft Azure DevOps.AI-powered maintenance management with Microsoft Azure
Welcome to another edition of our Partner Spotlight series, where we showcase the innovators transforming maintenance and field service operations through the Microsoft Marketplace. Each feature uncovers the unique journey of a partner leveraging the Microsoft ecosystem to deliver AI-powered solutions and transactable offers that simplify enterprise adoption and accelerate digital transformation. In this article, I connected with Benjamin Schwärzler from Workheld, a Vienna-based SaaS provider redefining maintenance management for asset-intensive industries. We explore their origin story, their evolution as a Microsoft partner, and how they’re helping organizations bridge the gap between shopfloor execution and strategic decision-making—all within a secure, Azure-powered environment. About Ben [BS]: Benjamin Schwärzler is the CEO of Workheld, a Vienna-based SaaS company redefining how industrial enterprises manage maintenance and field service operations. With a strong background in digital transformation and enterprise software strategy, Benjamin has led Workheld’s evolution from a start-up to a trusted Microsoft partner serving global industry leaders such as voestalpine. Under his leadership, Workheld has become a pioneer in digital shopfloor enablement—combining AI-driven insights with seamless execution to improve efficiency, transparency, and safety in industrial maintenance. His work focuses on bridging the gap between operational excellence and digital innovation, empowering technicians and managers alike with intuitive, data-driven tools. Benjamin is passionate about advancing smart manufacturing and asset management through technology partnerships and ecosystem collaboration. His strategic vision has positioned Workheld at the forefront of Microsoft’s Marketplace, where it now serves as a reference case for how industrial SaaS providers can accelerate enterprise adoption through transactable marketplace solutions. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [JR]: Tell us about your organization. [BS]: Workheld is a leading SaaS provider focused on digital solutions for maintenance and field service operations. Founded in Vienna, Austria, Workheld empowers industrial enterprises to plan, execute, and analyze maintenance and asset management processes with full transparency. Our platform, from within a secure, Microsoft Azure-based environment unites digital work orders, smart scheduling, and AI-driven insights—bridging the gap between the shopfloor and strategic decision-making. [JR]: What inspired the founding? [BS]: Workheld was born from a simple observation: while industrial production processes had undergone massive digitalization, maintenance operations remained largely analog. We saw an opportunity to create a solution that not only digitizes workflows but also connects people, data, and machines in a way that drives measurable efficiency gains. [JR]: What does your app do, and who is it designed for? [BS]: Workheld serves asset-intensive industries such as manufacturing, energy, and infrastructure. Workheld Flow connects maintenance teams, planners, and managers in one unified platform—delivering visibility from the field to the executive level. We started as a digital work order system and have grown into a full-fledged maintenance and asset management platform. Today, Workheld is an ecosystem—connecting technicians, planners, and management dashboards, with seamless integration into ERP systems and industrial IoT data streams. We help companies overcome fragmented communication, manual reporting, and inefficient resource allocation. With Workheld, teams can schedule, document, and analyze maintenance tasks in real time—reducing downtime and enabling data-driven decisions. [JR]: What technologies or Microsoft services does it leverage? [BS]: Workheld is built on Microsoft Azure, leveraging services such as Azure App Services, Azure SQL Database, and Azure Active Directory for secure and scalable operations. We are also integrating Azure AI Services for intelligent recommendations and predictive maintenance insights. [JR]: Can you describe your journey in publishing a transactable offer? Why did you decide to publish transactable, and what challenges did you face? [BS]: Enterprise customers increasingly want trusted, secure, and simplified procurement. By publishing a transactable offer, we aligned with our customers’ Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC) and eliminated procurement barriers—making it easier for enterprises to buy and deploy Workheld within their existing Microsoft ecosystem. Navigating the technical and legal aspects of the transactable setup required close collaboration with Microsoft’s partner success team. We leveraged Microsoft’s resources, including Marketplace Rewards and technical documentation, to streamline the process and ensure compliance. [JR]: What publishing advice would you give to new partners? [BS]: Invest early in making your offer transactable—it dramatically increases customer trust and speeds up enterprise sales. Collaborate closely with Microsoft’s Marketplace team and focus on aligning your solution with customer MACC priorities. [JR]: How are you using AI in your app development? [BS]: We are incorporating Azure OpenAI Service and Azure Machine Learning to power intelligent assistant features within Workheld—such as AI-guided troubleshooting, natural language work order generation, and contextual recommendations during maintenance execution. Microsoft’s AI documentation, Azure partner webinars, and early access programs have been instrumental in helping us integrate and test AI components efficiently and responsibly. [JR]: What business outcomes have you seen from integrating AI? [BS]: AI reduces reporting time for technicians by up to 60% and enhances the accuracy of maintenance insights. It also allows managers to identify recurring issues faster, improving asset availability and reducing downtime. [JR]: What business impact have you seen since publishing on the Marketplace? [BS]: The Marketplace has transformed how we approach enterprise deals. Our first six-figure transaction with voestalpine demonstrated that Marketplace deals can accelerate procurement, align with customer MACC targets, and enhance trust across IT and procurement departments. [JR]: How has transacting directly on the Marketplace influenced your strategy? [BS]: It has become a key pillar of our go-to-market approach for enterprise customers. We now plan all major deals with Marketplace alignment in mind, enabling faster approvals and improved positioning within Microsoft’s co-sell ecosystem. [JR]: What key takeaways would you share with other partners? [BS]: Success in the Marketplace is about customer alignment and ecosystem thinking. It’s not just a sales channel—it’s a trust signal. Publishing a transactable offer opens the door to larger enterprise opportunities and deeper collaboration with Microsoft. [JR]: How has your Marketplace experience shaped your roadmap? [BS]: The Marketplace is now central to our global expansion strategy. We’re extending our platform with AI and IoT capabilities to further strengthen our position as the go-to maintenance management solution within the Microsoft ecosystem. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Resources Join ISV Success - Build and publish applications and agents faster with powerful AI developer tools, consultations, and technical guidance—then grow your sales through Microsoft Marketplace Join the marketplace community - Access resources for every stage of the journey on the Microsoft Marketplace, provide feedback, and engage with other partners and Microsoft subject-matter experts focused on your success. Microsoft Marketplace - Your trusted source for cloud solutions, AI apps, and agents Paths for partnership - Learn more about the ways you can partner with us—from building and selling solutions to differentiating your business with a Solutions Partner designation.Unlocking growth: the channel-led Marketplace opportunity
The technology industry is in the midst of a transformation, and nowhere is this more evident than in the evolution of cloud marketplaces. Microsoft’s unified Marketplace—bringing together AppSource and Azure Marketplace—has become the trusted destination for customers and partners to discover, transact, and scale cloud solutions, AI apps, and agents. But what’s truly driving momentum is the way software companies and channel partners are coming together to capture new opportunities. A new era of partnership The story begins with a simple observation: cloud marketplaces aren’t just about listing products—they’re about building relationships and accelerating growth. Microsoft’s ecosystem, now boasting over 500,000 partners and tens of thousands of solutions, is seeing explosive growth. Deals brokered through collaboration between software companies and channel partners are not only more frequent, but also 75% larger than average. The multiplier effect is real: for every dollar transacted, software companies see an additional $1.75 in value, while channel partners are seeing a remarkable $6.26 for every dollar. Why is this happening? The answer lies in the changing nature of technology buying. Today’s buyers prefer digital-first, integration-driven experiences. They want to discover, try, and deploy solutions with minimal friction, and they expect seamless interoperability. The marketplace is evolving to meet these expectations, supporting everything from product-led growth to seller-led and ecosystem-led go-to-market strategies. The value comes when Microsoft Marketplace is the mechanism of co-building and co-selling, in conjunction with a Microsoft Channel Partner. Here, customers get the perfect balance of agility and innovation, with good governance, guardrails and best practices, along with software lifecycle management and advisory services delivered through channel-led private offers. The mechanics of channel-led selling with Microsoft Marketplace Microsoft has built the marketplace to be an accelerated platform for innovation for our customers & partners – recently introducing the new globally available channel feature, resell-enabled offers - making it easier for channel partners to manage the entire lifecycle of a customer relationship. The partner led features of Marketplace —private offers, multiparty private offers, CSP private offers, and now resale-enabled offers—give partners full control over pricing, terms, and delivery, while streamlining the contracting process. The result? Faster deal velocity, increased profitability, and the ability to scale globally. Building a Marketplace practice Success in this new landscape requires more than just technical know-how. It’s about building a new business practice—starting with a strong foundation of leadership and ownership, enabling teams with the right processes and operational muscle, executing with clear reporting and visibility, and finally, scaling with dedicated resources and a vendor-light approach. Partners who embrace this journey are seeing significant new net business and deeper engagement with both Microsoft and their customers. The future: AI, services, and the power of moments As generative AI and agentic AI reshape the industry, services are growing even faster than products. Most deals now involve multiple partners, each contributing at different moments along the customer journey—from consulting and design to implementation and renewal. Marketplaces are becoming the platform where these moments are orchestrated, data is shared, and value is multiplied. A platform for partnering The Microsoft Marketplace is more than a storefront—it’s a platform for partnering, innovation, and growth. Whether you’re a software company looking to expand your reach, or a channel partner ready to build new practices, the opportunity is clear: embrace the marketplace, leverage new mechanisms, and unlock the multiplier effect. I covered the channel-led marketplace opportunity in my session at Microsoft Ignite this year. You can watch the full session and hear firsthand how industry leaders are navigating the channel-led marketplace opportunity, discover practical strategies for building your own marketplace practice, and get inspired by real-world examples of innovation and growth within the Microsoft ecosystem. Dive deeper into the mechanics, the mindset, and the momentum that are shaping the future of partner-driven success. Access the full session here: Executing on the channel-led marketplace opportunity for partnersHow we talk about the value of Microsoft Marketplace with customers
At Microsoft Ignite 2025, we introduced the reimagined Microsoft Marketplace to our customers as your trusted source for cloud solutions, AI apps, and agents. This brief, 20-minute breakout session talked about how Marketplace is empowering organizations to become Frontier Firms by streamlining the discovery, purchase, and deployment of tens of thousands of partner solutions. You can watch the session on the Ignite site or on YouTube and read the synopsis below to see how our team pitches Marketplace to our shared customers. We encourage you to provide this and our other customer-focused session on cost optimization to your customers! They can watch a Marketplace demo and learn more at Microsoft.com/Marketplace. BRK213 Microsoft Marketplace: Your trusted source for cloud and AI solutions How Microsoft Marketplace empower the shift to AI-first Frontier Firms are leading the shift to AI-first. Microsoft Marketplace, as an extension of the Microsoft Cloud, is empowering this Frontier transformation by connecting our customers to our partner ecosystem. Marketplace is unique in that customers can discover and purchase solutions in our storefront, in Microsoft products, and through distributed marketplaces through channel partners. Marketplace offers the largest catalog of AI apps and agents in the industry (4,000+ and growing), including so many of the leading innovators in this category. We’re seeing incredible momentum with customers adopting Marketplace: 2X+ sales growth again this year, 75% increase in average spend, and ~2X increase in AI solutions purchased. Microsoft Marketplace value AI apps and agents for every use case Marketplace allows you to choose thousands of AI apps and agents that match your scenario and stack, which simplifies deployment and decreases time-to-value. When you need to ground your AI solution, Marketplace has more than 11,000 models to choose from to ensure you get fast, relevant, and accurate context. You have confidence that solutions integrate natively so that employees can get what they need in the flow of work when using Microsoft products. Comprehensive catalog across cloud solutions and industries As organizations transition to becoming Frontier Firms, it fuels more cloud adoption. Marketplace has the most comprehensive catalog of solutions. Additionally, there are a host of business applications that meet exact needs in functions like HR, legal, and project management. You can access everything from Microsoft – a business partner you know and trust. Solutions come from vetted Microsoft partners which gives peace of mind with purchase. As tech buying responsibilities grow outside of IT, Marketplace keeps teams on the same page while allowing them to get what they need and supports try-before-you-buy scenarios with trials and POCs. Everything your organization buys through Marketplace is consolidated in a single view. Maximize investments with a consumption commitment A Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC) commits your organization to a certain dollar amount of cloud spend. When you fulfill that commitment, it unlocks discounts on Azure infrastructure. Microsoft is unique in that we offer a 100% match on eligible solutions through Marketplace with no limit. Today, 85% of Microsoft customers with MACCs are buying through Marketplace. We have 3,800+ eligible solutions and that number grows every day. Integrated experience from discovery to deployment You can find and deploy solutions in our storefront but also in the Microsoft products you know and use every day -- agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot, apps in Teams, models in Microsoft Foundry, a host of solutions in Azure portal, and more. We’re continuing to build out capabilities that allow you to use AI for an even better Marketplace experience. For example, you can now get Marketplace recommendations using Copilot in Azure portal. As we look to make an AI-infused commerce platform, you’ll continue to see improvements here. Empower your channel, get the benefits of Marketplace We aim to empower customers to buy how they want to buy, whether that’s through us and our Marketplace or relying on the channel. If you procure technology through a channel partner, you can bring that partner to source Marketplace solutions on your behalf. One way to do that is through resale enabled offers, which allow partners to work together so software companies can defer the sales and integration of their products to their channel partners. This means your IT provider can better service you. We have several other channel-led Marketplace opportunities in our portfolio, and all a partner has to do is enroll.Ignite 2025: Drive the next era of software innovation with AI
Artificial intelligence is unlocking new possibilities and redefining what’s achievable. Software companies, startups, ISVs and AI Natives are leading the charge, using AI to speed up delivery, scale effectively, and unlock new business potential. Microsoft empowers software companies to unlock growth through AI-driven innovation, empowers their developers to ship faster and scale through programs, incentive and Microsoft Marketplace. There is clear momentum in AI innovation, led by forward-thinking software companies. For instance, Microsoft Marketplace now offers 4,000+ AI Apps and Agents—more than any other marketplace—as well as additional cloud solutions designed to help customers accelerate their innovation. Software company acceleration at Microsoft Ignite. This week at Ignite, Microsoft is empowering software companies across three key areas: 1. Unlock growth with AI Software companies can access a broad choice of models, tailor them to their use case, and create AI apps and agents that deliver outcomes while using responsible AI to protect data and reduce risk. New announcements: Unified tools catalog in Microsoft Foundry (Public preview) New Microsoft Foundry updates in preview will enable developers to enrich agents with real-time business context, multimodal capabilities and custom business logic through a unified Tools catalog of Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers built with security and governance in mind. The catalog includes Unified tool discovery, deep business integration, new tools for prebuilt AI services, and custom tool extensibility. Managed instance on Azure App Service (Public preview) Enables organizations to move web applications to the cloud with just a few configuration changes, saving the time and effort of rewriting code. Whether .NET web apps are running on-premises or in virtual machines, developers will be able to modernize them into a fully managed platform-as-a-service (PaaS) environment and future-proof their infrastructure. The result is faster app modernization with lower overhead and access to cloud-native scalability, built-in security and Azure’s AI capabilities. Cohere joins Microsoft Foundry’s first-party model lineup (Public preview) Cohere’s leading language models (Command A, Embed 4 and Rerank) are now available directly from Azure, giving customers fast, secure, and compliant access without third-party dependencies. Delivered with Azure-native governance, observability, networking, and billing, Cohere on Azure enables organizations to build high-performance retrieval, classification, and generation workflows at enterprise scale. Introducing Anthropic's Claude models in Microsoft Foundry (Public preview) Microsoft and Anthropic are expanding their existing partnership to provide broader access to Claude for businesses. Customers of Microsoft Foundry will be able to access Anthropic’s frontier Claude models including Claude Sonnet 4.5, Claude Opus 4.1, and Claude Haiku 4.5. This partnership will make Claude the only frontier model available on all three of the world’s most prominent cloud services. Azure customers will gain expanded choice in models and access to Claude-specific capabilities. 2. Accelerate development Ship faster with AI-assisted workflows, build across clouds and open-source stacks, and use databases that speed data access and analysis to quickly move from prototype to production. New announcements: Systems innovation (Private preview) Remote storage throughput of up to 20 GBps, up to 1 million remote storage IOPS and network bandwidth of up to 400 Gbps, enabling significant performance improvements for the latest Azure VM series. Azure Boost is a server subsystem designed by Microsoft consisting of purpose-built software and hardware that offloads server virtualization processes traditionally performed by the hypervisor and host OS. Various storage and network intensive workloads will benefit the most from these new performance specifications. Microsoft Defender for Cloud + GitHub Advanced Security (Preview) With Microsoft Defender for Cloud and GitHub Advanced Security, you can protect cloud-native applications across the full app lifecycle from code to cloud. This natively integrated solution helps connect software developers and security teams while staying in the tools they use every day; to prioritize the most critical risks exposed in production and fix these risks faster with AI-powered remediation. Azure HorizonDB PostgreSQL (Private preview) A new PostgreSQL cloud database service delivering high speed and elastic scalability for building or modernizing mission-critical applications. Integrated with Microsoft Foundry, Microsoft Fabric, Visual Studio Code and more, Azure HorizonDB streamlines development. Modern authentication with Microsoft Entra ID and security features like Microsoft Defender and private endpoints support enterprise-grade protection. 3. Scale with confidence Turn innovation into revenue with Microsoft Marketplace by expanding your reach through the partner ecosystem, unlocking go-to-market benefits, and differentiating with offers that stand out. New announcements: Global release of Microsoft Marketplace (General availability) Microsoft Marketplace — your trusted source for cloud solutions, AI apps, and agents — is now globally available following its launch in the United States in September. All traffic from legacy storefronts (Azure Marketplace and AppSource) is now redirected to Marketplace.Microsoft.com. Featuring the industry’s largest catalog of AI apps and agents, Marketplace extends the Microsoft Cloud, helping customers accelerate their AI-first transformation with tens of thousands of vetted solutions from our partner ecosystem. These solutions integrate easily with Microsoft products, delivering faster time-to-value. Microsoft Agent 365 (Preview) Extend the existing infrastructure that you use for managing people to agents. Agent 365 equips your agents with the same apps and protections, tailored to agent needs, saving IT time and effort on integrating agents into business processes. It includes leading Microsoft security, productivity and collaboration solutions: Defender, Entra and Purview to protect and govern agents; Microsoft 365 productivity and collaboration apps and Semantic Index to accelerate their productivity; and Microsoft 365 admin center to manage agents. We're already seeing great examples from Devin, Genspark, Glean, Kasisto, Manus AI, n8n, ServiceNow, Workday, and more. Unified programs for software companies – App Accelerate (Public preview) Our Partner Program is focused on delivering more value for software companies, and we’ve identified an opportunity to simplify the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program (MAICPP) offers available to software companies today. We're announcing a new offering for software development companies, available in 2026—combining incentives, benefits, and co-sell resources across existing offerings such as ISV Success, and Marketplace Rewards—into one streamlined pathway for partners. App Accelerate brings together ISV Success, Marketplace Rewards, and more into a single-entry point, creating a unified and simplified experience to help partners accelerate their growth through Microsoft Marketplace. Early access to co-sell benefits (Pilot) As part of our new unified offer, we’re creating an additional route for software companies to access co-sell benefits. This pathway is designed for partners who may not have reached the $100K milestone in Marketplace Billed Sales (MBS) or Azure Consumed Revenue (ACR) but demonstrate readiness in other critical areas. This early access option is nomination-based, with eligibility determined by criteria such as Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC), customer traction, and pipeline strength. Resale enabled offers (General availability) Analysts estimate nearly 60% of cloud marketplace business will be channel-led by 2030. With a partner ecosystem of 500K+ —Microsoft Marketplace is fully embracing the channel-led Marketplace opportunity with the general availability of resale enabled offers. Resale enabled offers enable software companies to empower channel partners to manage their Marketplace listings through a repeatable model designed for scale. This helps software companies break through to new markets without adding overhead while channel partners maintain their customer relationships while getting the added value of Marketplace. Sales of eligible solutions also count toward customers’ Azure consumption commitments, opening the door to larger, more strategic deals funded by pre-committed cloud budgets—creating stickier relationships and fueling growth. Featured Ignite sessions Whether you're attending Ignite in person or joining online, these sessions are designed to help software companies build smarter, scale faster, and unlock new growth opportunities. Tuesday, November 18 – 1:00pm PT Agents, apps, and acceleration: Helping software companies grow Explore the opportunity for AI apps and agents. Learn how to build experiences that matter and get best practices from other leading software companies. Wednesday, November 19 – 10:15am PT Benefits for accelerating software company success Discover resources available across the build, publish, and grow journey in MAICPP. Hear how peers are using AI investments and go-to-market benefits to grow. Wednesday, November 19 – 5:00pm PT Executing on the channel-led Marketplace opportunity for partners Discover practical strategies across diverse dealmaking scenarios to grow business and deepen Microsoft partnerships. Keep the momentum going—explore more Ignite sessions and activities created with software companies in mind. Let’s create the future together You are redefining what’s possible with AI. Microsoft is here to help you create the future. Get started Get resources to help grow your software development company Use ISV Success to build faster with AI tools, services, and expert support Publish your solution and reach millions of customers on the Microsoft Marketplace Access App Advisor and get step-by-step guidance to build, publish, and sell your app or agent
Boost SaaS revenue with Microsoft Marketplace: A step-by-step guide
About the author: Manesh Raveendran is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Spektra Systems, a partner-focused cloud solutions company that simplifies cloud sales adoption and helps cloud-based businesses accelerate their growth. He specializes in thought leadership and in building end-to-end technology solutions across cloud computing, data platforms, and DevOps, with a strong focus on hybrid workloads. Manesh works closely with CXOs to understand business problems and designs systems that drive customer success through Spektra Systems’ innovative cloud solutions and services, including SaaSify, CloudLabs and CSP Control Center. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ For SaaS companies, the Microsoft Marketplace has evolved from being a procurement convenience to becoming a strategic revenue engine. But while publishing a listing is easy, closing the first transaction quickly is what separates software development companies who scale on Marketplace from those who stall. That first transaction isn’t just revenue. It’s a signal: Your offer flows through Microsoft’s procurement rails. Your finance, legal, and operations stack is aligned. Microsoft sellers trust they can bring you into deals. Buyers trust Marketplace as their procurement path. Furthermore, transactable offers close faster because they simplify legal review, leverage committed cloud spend and integrate into enterprise procurement. Many software companies go live on Microsoft Marketplace but fail to reach their first transaction quickly. Some stall for months because of fragmented processes, delayed financial setup, or a lack of alignment with Microsoft’s co-sell engine. Others underutilize the marketplace’s full potential because they treat it as a digital storefront rather than an integrated revenue channel. This blog aims to close that gap. It goes beyond “how to list” and focuses on what really drives velocity: operational readiness, CRM-native automation, seller engagement, trust signals, and AI-enabled acceleration. In this blog, we’ll walk through: The step-by-step journey from publishing your transactable offer to your first Microsoft sale. Common pitfalls that delay the first transaction and how to avoid them How CRM-native automation can accelerate finance, legal, and operations readiness for transactable offers Why field seller alignment and partner incentives are critical to activating the Microsoft ecosystem. How AI copilots and agents are changing the game for marketplace GTM. By the end, you’ll have a clear, actionable blueprint for moving from “just listed” to “revenue in hand” and turning your first sale into a repeatable growth engine. Listing readiness and execution: Step-by-step for publishing your offer Most first-sale delays don’t happen after publishing. They happen before the offer goes live. Getting listing readiness right can cut weeks off your timeline. Get the account setup right Have a Partner Center publisher account with your company verified and enrolled in the Microsoft Marketplace. Assign the right roles in Partner Center (e.g., Owner, Marketplace Admin, and for payments Finance Contributor). These are required to configure payments and publish offers. Decide offer type and monetization strategy early Pick your offer type carefully (SaaS, VM, Managed App, Container). If your goal is to accelerate revenue, transactable SaaS offers using Microsoft’s Standard Contract tend to have the lowest procurement friction. Align your pricing model (seat-based, usage, flat, or hybrid) with enterprise buying behavior and potential private offer flexibility. Complete legal, finance, and tax setup upfront Configure and validate payout and tax accounts before creating the offer. Decide whether to use the Standard Contract (fastest buyer approval) or a custom EULA (more control, more delays). Define internal ownership between finance, legal, and GTM teams. Create the offer shell in Partner Center with listing details Create a new SaaS offer in Partner Center and provide the Offer ID and Offer alias to create the shell. Complete the offer listing details with name, description, categories, keywords, logos/screens, (optional) videos. These are what customers see in the storefront. Select markets/regions, audience, and any reseller/CSP availability where supported. (Exact toggles vary by offer type; the goal is to ensure the offer is visible where you sell.) Build the listing like a sales asset A Marketplace listing is not a product brochure, it’s the first deck Microsoft sellers and buyers see. Open with a sharp value proposition. Add pricing clarity or private offer options. Include visuals (architecture diagrams, screenshots, etc.). Add security and compliance details. Link to deployment guides and onboarding documentation. Test before you publish Run through test purchases and fulfillment callbacks. Validate offer visibility, legal terms, pricing flows, and payout readiness. Involve your finance and ops teams before pressing “Submit.” Software companies that complete listing readiness thoroughly typically reach first sale in a few days post-publish, versus weeks or months when key steps are deferred. Making an offer transactable: Speed starts here Publishing a Marketplace listing is like setting up a storefront. But a transactable offer turns that storefront into a fully operational sales channel. Technical execution: Fulfillment & integration For SaaS offers, integrate the SaaS Fulfillment API v2: Implement landing page and webhook endpoints to handle provisioning. Automate activation, change, and cancellation flows. Ensure your finance systems can reconcile Marketplace invoices and payouts. Commercial execution: Pricing & packaging for enterprise buyers Offer transparent, scalable plans buyers can commit to confidently. Design for private offers: custom pricing, terms, or multi-year deals. Ensure deployment is frictionless; buyers expect immediate activation. Aligning with seller & buyer behavior Transactable offers allow Microsoft sellers to retire quota faster which can be a huge incentive. Buyers prefer using committed cloud spend on pre-approved contracts. Simplicity wins: fewer legal redlines, faster billing, and predictable usage. Using Microsoft’s Standard Contract instead of custom terms can cut procurement timelines drastically. Co-sell readiness ensures sellers can bring you into opportunities quickly. Common pitfalls that delay first sale velocity Not every software company reaches their first sale smoothly. In fact, many delays stem from operational and technical issues, not lack of demand. Some of the most common pitfalls include: Delaying payout and tax setup: Without validated financial configuration, your offer can go live but won’t be able to transact. This is one of the biggest and most common delays. Weak or incomplete listings: If your listing doesn’t clearly communicate value, pricing, deployment, and security posture, neither sellers nor buyers will engage confidently. Fulfillment gaps: A broken or manual provisioning flow can derail the first transaction at the worst possible moment. Automation here is essential. Lack of CRM integration: Marketplace opportunities stuck in a separate portal often get ignored or delayed, leading to poor forecasting and slower deal cycles. No seller activation: Simply going live won’t bring in deals. Without proactive enablement, Microsoft field sellers won’t prioritize your offer. Legal complexity: Custom legal terms add friction for buyers and sellers. Using Microsoft’s Standard Contract accelerates procurement significantly. Over-reliance on “organic” traffic: Marketplace is not a “list and wait” channel. The first sale almost always needs to be driven intentionally. Most of these pitfalls are fully preventable with early planning, operational alignment, and a revenue-first listing strategy. Here’s how modern software companies are solving these common challenges, with AI copilots and CRM-native workflows. CRM-native automation to streamline first marketplace sale Once your offer is live, speed to first transaction depends on how efficiently you can move from buyer intent to recorded revenue. This is where CRM-native automation bridges the gap, connecting Marketplace activity with your core GTM and operational systems. When Marketplace deals don’t connect to your CRM, they fall into operational dead zones that slow execution and create unnecessary manual work: Data entry and updates are done twice, once in CRM and then again in the Partner Center Manual processes introduce errors and inconsistencies. Seller response time slows because opportunities aren’t visible. Finance teams chase payouts and reconciliation weeks after closing. GTM leadership lacks visibility into true pipeline attribution and revenue impact. In short, disconnected systems mean disconnected teams and that’s the biggest drag on first-sale velocity. But CRM-native automation streamlines the transactable offer process in more than one way, including: Automated offer creation For most software companies, the first Marketplace transaction happens through a private offer, not a public click-to-buy. CRM-native automation lets you generate, customize, and track private offers directly inside your CRM, eliminating manual Partner Center steps and accelerating deal velocity. Advanced workflows also integrate co-sell automation, so partner managers and Microsoft field sellers are looped in automatically. Real-time deal visibility As soon as a buyer initiates a transaction or engages through a private offer, the status is instantly logged in your CRM through bi-directional sync. Sellers and RevOps no longer have to check Partner Center manually. This eliminates lag between buyer intent and seller follow-up, often shaving days off deal cycles. Unified forecasting and attribution Marketplace opportunities flow directly into your primary CRM pipeline. GTM and revenue leaders can forecast Marketplace deals alongside direct sales, using the same dashboards and metrics. Marketplace revenue is no longer a black box sitting outside the funnel. Financial reconciliation without chaos Payout reports, tax records, and revenue recognition tie directly to opportunity records. Finance teams don’t need to manually match spreadsheets or chase payouts. Marketplace revenue is reconciled automatically with clean data, reducing delays and errors. Better seller incentives and co-sell alignment When Marketplace deals show up in seller dashboards and reports, they’re treated like legitimate, quota-retiring opportunities. This increases seller participation and encourages field teams to bring software companies into opportunities earlier. Co-sell notifications can be automated, ensuring partner managers, sellers, and Microsoft teams are always aligned. A fully operational CRM-native Marketplace motion typically includes: Automated private offer generation through Marketplace Streamlined co-sell opportunity signals from CRM to align Microsoft sellers and accelerate joint pipeline. Deal stage mapping aligned with GTM and RevOps workflows. Automated approval, legal, and finance processes. Integration with payout and tax reporting for real-time revenue recognition. Alerts and dashboards for sellers, RevOps, and partner managers. Direct linkage with co-sell opportunities and field seller engagement. AI agents & Copilots: Driving faster listing readiness For most software development companies, listing and selling on Microsoft Marketplace is complex because the steps are fragmented. Legal, technical, operational, and GTM readiness often move at different speeds. This is exactly where AI agents and copilots transform the motion from manual and reactive to predictable and orchestrated. AI Agents can act as a purpose-built companion for software companies, like SaaSify AI Companion can generate tailored, prioritized roadmaps based on your GTM maturity, offer type, and launch goals. Here’s how AI agents can accelerate GTM readiness: Personalized Roadmaps: AI generates a launch plan with 50+ tasks, customized to your offer type, stage, and objectives. These aren’t static lists, they adapt dynamically as you progress. Guided Execution: Every task includes step-by-step guidance, deep links to Microsoft resources, contextual recommendations, and real-time AI assistance. Dependency & Risk Management: Visual progress indicators, dependencies, and conditional logic ensure you never miss a critical step. Potential blockers are flagged early with no need for external consultants Flexible Engagement: Software companies can choose between self-service (full control) or assisted onboarding (expert + AI), allowing different team structures to move at the same velocity. AI copilots don’t just accelerate readiness; they reduce errors, compress planning cycles, and create predictability. Listing to first sale on Microsoft Marketplace: An inflection point The first Marketplace sale isn’t just a transaction. It’s the moment your GTM motion proves it can run on Microsoft’s procurement rails. It’s the point where sellers start to pull you into deals, buyers see Marketplace as a trusted procurement path, and your internal teams gain confidence in a repeatable channel. The software companies who reach this point fastest aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets or teams. They’re the ones who: Treat listing readiness as a strategic launch, not an operational checkbox. Invest early in transactability to minimize friction for buyers and sellers. Avoid common operational pitfalls that slow most launches down. Use AI copilots to orchestrate readiness instead of relying on manual project management. Implement CRM-native automation so every signal flows seamlessly into their revenue engine. Marketplace is not a “list and wait” channel. It’s a GTM motion that rewards precision, alignment, and speed. That’s where SaaSify plays a catalytic role. SaaSify AI Companion enables self-service readiness with guided, step-by-step launch roadmaps, while the SaaSify GTM Platform automates the operational backbone of transactable offers, from private offer creation to co-sell workflows and payout reconciliation. This combination helps software companies cut time-to-first-sale dramatically, reduce execution overhead, and scale Marketplace revenue motions with confidence. In today’s Marketplace-driven economy, the winners aren’t just those who list fast, they’re the ones who operationalize faster, automate smarter, and sell through Microsoft as a scalable, repeatable growth engine. To learn more and ask questions, attend the AI-powered acceleration: Scale faster in Microsoft Marketplace | Microsoft Community Hub session on December 4 th . If you are unable to attend, the session will be recorded for on demand viewing after. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Resources Microsoft Marketplace Trusted source for cloud solutions, AI apps, and agents Microsoft Marketplace - Marketplace publisher | Microsoft Learn How to guides for working in Microsoft Marketplace ISV Success Discover offers and benefits of ISV Success to help you take your apps and agents to the next level.From AI to ecosystem strategy: Why UP LIVE Reston was a game-changer
On Oct 28–29, Carahsoft hosted Ultimate Partner LIVE at their incredible Reston, VA facility — a high-impact, two-day experience designed to empower ecosystem partners to lead through change. With keynotes from top Microsoft leaders, immersive workshops, and a curated executive audience, this wasn’t just another conference — it was a strategic accelerator for the future of partnering. Here are the top 7 insights from Ultimate Partner LIVE Reston 1. Microsoft’s vision: Ecosystem leadership in action The event kicked off with a powerful keynote from Craig Abod, President of Carahsoft, who reminded attendees to “know the business you're in, and know where you're going.” His disciplined approach to scaling — from $2B to $10B — set the tone for strategic focus and execution. His advice to “take care of your $2K customers, they’ll become $50K customers” was one of the most quoted lines of the event. Microsoft leaders then took the stage to amplify the momentum: Erwin Visser- GM, SCP Channel, challenged attendees to embrace co-innovation, stating, “In 10 years, the world’s top 50 brands don’t even exist yet.” Matt Berg- Global Sales Leader, AI Workforce SME&C, emphasized the importance of scaling success through Copilot and secure AI adoption. Pat Primavera- Americas ISV Channel Sales Leader Applications and Infrastructure, shared the origin story of Microsoft’s co-sell practices, highlighting how transparency and shared learning fuel ecosystem growth. Together, their insights framed a clear call to action: the time to build is now, and the future belongs to those who lead with purpose, partnership, and velocity. 2. AI is reshaping the partner ecosystem AI isn’t just a tech trend — it’s a business revolution. From Copilot to Agentic AI, Microsoft and its partners are leading the charge in redefining how innovation is delivered. Systems integrators (SIs) are at the forefront of AI experimentation, signaling a shift in who drives transformation. The message was clear: “Don’t wait for the next wave. Be the wave.” 3. The lines between partner roles are blurring The partner landscape is being rewritten. Today, partners play an average of 3.2 roles — ISV, MSP, SI, and more. The traditional definitions are fading fast. The winners will be those who adapt their models to stay relevant as these worlds collide. As one speaker noted, “Modern sales is an ecosystem play.” 4. Relationships are the real currency Jay McBain- Chief Analyst, Channels, Partnerships & Ecosystems at Omedia & Canalys, nailed it: “The difference between contacts and contracts is the letter R — Relationships.” His “7 Spheres of Influence” framework — advisors, analysts, ISVs, influencers, integrators, peers — was widely referenced as a guide to navigating modern partnerships. Trust and influence are now central to deal-making, and the ecosystem is the engine that drives it. 5. The buyer has changed permanently Only 5% of buyers are ready to buy now, and 90% will choose from their “Day 1 list.” With 51% of B2B buyers being millennials, early relationship-building is no longer optional — it’s essential. Partners must engage long before a formal buying process begins. The takeaway? If you’re not already on their radar, you’re already too late. 6. The time to build with AI is now From Copilot to secure chat and Agentic AI, Microsoft’s message was clear: the opportunity to build, launch, and scale new solutions is unbridled. Business-led innovation > tech-led innovation. AI isn’t just about automation — it’s about reimagining how work gets done and delivering real business outcomes. Partners were encouraged to adopt AI-first strategies and start building now. 7. Community beats chaos Transformation fatigue is real. Burnout is real. But UP LIVE Reston was described by attendees as “the jolt I didn’t know I needed.” Amid the noise of the industry, the event provided a space for authentic conversations, collaboration, and inspiration. From hallway chats to workshops, the energy was electric. The message was clear: community still matters, and we are truly better together. Special thanks to Craig Abod and the Carahsoft team for their generous support and leadership throughout the event. Carahsoft was honored with Ultimate Partner’s 2025 Partner of the Year Award, recognizing their outstanding commitment to building lasting relationships across the partner ecosystem. If you missed UP LIVE Reston, you can catch the event recordings here: Ultimate Partner LIVE: Reston - Oct. 28 Ultimate Partners LIVE: Reston - Oct. 29Accelerating Copilot-ready governance with a transactable offer
Welcome to another edition of our Partner Spotlight series, where we continue to highlight the trailblazers shaping app and agent innovation across the Microsoft Marketplace. Each feature dives into the unique journey of a partner building AI-powered solutions, leveraging the Microsoft ecosystem, and delivering transactable offers that are redefining how customers engage and buy. In this article, I connected with Michal Pisarek from Orchestry to explore their story, their path as a Microsoft partner, and how they’re helping organizations get Copilot-ready with smarter governance and streamlined adoption. About Michal [MP]: Michal Pisarek is CEO and Janitor of Orchestry, a Microsoft 365 governance platform that helps enterprises tighten permissions, streamline lifecycle management, and stay Copilot-ready. A multi-year Microsoft MVP and Service Adoption Specialist, he has led product and go-to-market in the Microsoft ecosystem for more than 15 years, including co-founding Bonzai Intranet (acquired in 2018). He speaks and writes on Microsoft 365 governance, permissions, and adoption. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [JR] Tell us about Orchestry. What products or services do you offer? [MP]: Orchestry is a Microsoft 365 management platform for IT admins and platform owners. We help organizations improve security, governance, and adoption by giving clear visibility across Teams and SharePoint, highlighting what matters, and making it easy to act. Our product surfaces issues, recommends next steps, and lets teams remediate quickly so the tenant stays healthy and Copilot-ready. [JR] What problem does Orchestry solve for your customers? [MP]: Microsoft 365 generates a lot of signals and not much guidance. Orchestry turns that noise into a ranked list of fixes, like overshared sites, ownerless teams, and risky groups, and lets you remediate these issues quickly, easily and at scale. [JR] Which Microsoft technologies or services does Orchestry leverage? [MP]: Orchestry is all-in on the Microsoft stack. We are built on Azure, using Azure Front Door, Azure App Services, Entra ID, and Azure DevOps. We securely use Microsoft Graph to gather data and perform actions, and we rely on multiple Azure storage services, including Azure Cosmos DB, Azure Table Storage, and Azure SQL Server. To ensure world-class security, we use Defender for Cloud, Azure Key Vault, Microsoft Purview, and more. [JR] What motivated you to publish a transactable offer on the Microsoft Marketplace, and what buying friction did it remove? [MP]: Our buyers already purchase in Microsoft Marketplace, so meeting them there made sense. We published Orchestry for Microsoft 365 as a transactable offer because it uses a procurement path they trust, with approval flows their finance team recognizes. Making the offer transactable removed two consistent blockers: adding us as a new vendor and negotiating non-standard payment terms. Private offers allow us to match how budgets actually work, including monthly billing when that clears the gate. Where a customer is eligible, Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC) gives them a clean way to fund the purchase without finding new budget. There are fewer internal handoffs, faster agreement on terms, and a shorter path from evaluation to deployment. [JR] What business impact have you seen since publishing your offer? [MP]: We have seen faster progress on two fronts. When Marketplace is part of the motion, the sales cycle moves more quickly because customers can evaluate and purchase without switching systems. On the procurement side, vendor onboarding drops away, and payment terms are simpler. Our first Marketplace deal closed in under 60 days, and typical procurement through Marketplace has gone from about 120 days to under 30. That aligns with what we see broadly: ~25% faster sales cycles and ~75% shorter procurement when customers transact through Marketplace. [JR] Did you use Microsoft programs or benefits such as ISV Success, Marketplace Rewards, or Co-sell to support publishing and go-to-market? Which ones mattered most? [MP]: Different programs helped at different stages. Microsoft for Startups (Pegasus) was a key accelerator for us, aligning us with Microsoft field motions and getting our offer ready for Marketplace. Our listing is Azure benefit eligible, so customers can draw down MACC where applicable, which has been important in late-stage deal navigation. We are IP co-sell ready, and we also participate in Marketplace Rewards, which let us use Azure credits, earn sales rebates, and get dedicated support from a Microsoft account rep. [JR] How has transacting directly on the marketplace influenced your sales strategy and customer engagement? [MP]: We bring Microsoft Marketplace into the conversation at the first budget discussion. Finance gets the instrument they already use, security stays on a familiar review path, and the project team can move from trial to purchase without switching systems. The net effect is that we spend less time debating how to buy and more time on why to buy. Where a customer is eligible, MACC resolves funding quickly. Where terms are the issue, a private offer lets us tune length and billing without reopening legal. Because evaluation, purchase, and provisioning sit inside the Microsoft ecosystem, the handoff from proof of value to deployment is cleaner and the perceived risk is lower. Internally, Marketplace is a defined selling motion: early alignment on route to buy, late-stage precision on terms, fewer distractions in the middle. [JR] Can you share one customer example that shows a before and after because of Marketplace? [MP]: For a recent deal, the problem wasn’t interest, it was budget cadence. We typically sell on annual terms, but we kept the transaction inside Microsoft Marketplace and issued a private offer with monthly billing. That aligned spend to their cash flow, used an approval path finance already recognized, and converted a “next fiscal” conversation into an immediate start. [JR] How did you approach building securely on Microsoft Azure, including key architecture choices, your data model, and any verifiable certifications? [MP]: Security starts with the platform. We build on Microsoft Azure and authenticate with Microsoft Entra ID, integrating with Microsoft 365 through Microsoft Graph where appropriate. We follow Microsoft cloud security best practices, and we operate with continuous monitoring via Drata, regular vulnerability scanning, independent penetration testing, and annual third-party audits. We maintain SOC 2 Type II and are in the process of getting ISO 27001 as well. Microsoft Azure has all the key security certifications that our customers expect and trust, so it was the platform of choice for us to build our business on. [JR] How is Orchestry using, or planning to use, AI today, including Copilot readiness, and what business outcomes have customers seen? [MP]: We approach this in three parts: how we help customers get Copilot-ready, how we use AI ourselves, and how that shows up in the product. Copilot is only as good as the permissions and content behind it, so Orchestry tightens access, reduces oversharing, cleans ROT (redundant, obsolete, and trivial), and puts guardrails in place. In practical terms, we identify overshared sites and ownerless workspaces, flag risky groups, recommend right-sizing access, and give admins one-click remediations and workflows so Copilot is working with the right material. The Orchestry team uses Microsoft 365 Copilot across the business, GitHub Copilot in engineering, and AI for analysis and prototyping, which shortens research, speeds routine code work, and helps us test ideas faster. In large tenants preparing a Copilot pilot, the first pass focuses on exposure and hygiene: remove or downgrade risky sharing links, eliminate ownerless Teams, and produce an archive-ready list of stale sites. Customers commonly clean up about 75% of unused Teams within 10–14 days, which quiets the noise and moves the pilot faster. In one case, storage cleanup paired with Microsoft 365 Archive freed 34+ TB, lowering costs and giving the customer a cleaner Copilot baseline. The goal is straightforward: less oversharing, faster remediation, and Copilot answers grounded in what people are actually permitted to see. [JR] How is Orchestry thinking about the role of agents in Microsoft 365, and what opportunities do you see for agent-driven automation in governance and remediation workflows? [MP]: At Orchestry, we see agents as the next major shift in M365 governance and automation. As organizations scale their use of agents, governance will become critical — and we intend to lead there. Our vision is simple: Orchestry will not only monitor and govern Microsoft 365 agents, but it will also be the agent that automatically fixes issues behind the scenes. One day, admins will log in to Orchestry and see “Everything is good,” because the platform will have already handled it. [JR] What key takeaways would you share with partners considering a similar path, and how has the Marketplace experience shaped your roadmap? [MP]: Publish transactable sooner than your instinct. Decide private-offer rules before the first redline. Only name programs and certifications you can substantiate; procurement will ask. Marketplace is now a core go-to-market pillar for us because it shortens closing, makes it easier for Microsoft sellers to engage, and keeps our team focused on product and outcomes instead of paperwork. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Resources Join ISV Success - Build and publish applications and agents faster with powerful AI developer tools, consultations, and technical guidance—then grow your sales through Microsoft Marketplace Join the marketplace community - Access resources for every stage of the journey on the Microsoft Marketplace, provide feedback, and engage with other partners and Microsoft subject-matter experts focused on your success. Microsoft Marketplace - Your trusted source for cloud solutions, AI apps, and agents Paths for partnership - Learn more about the ways you can partner with us—from building and selling solutions to differentiating your business with a Solutions Partner designation. Microsoft Marketplace transactable offers - Pricing, billing, invoicing, and payout considerations for transactable offers sold through the Microsoft MarketplaceAI architecture: Powering the next generation of business agents
In this installment of our Partner Spotlight series, we’re continuing to showcase the innovators’ driving app and agent development forward on the Microsoft Marketplace. Each feature highlights the distinct journeys of partners who are pioneering AI-powered solutions, building across the Microsoft ecosystem, and delivering transactable applications that are shaping the future of the marketplace. In this article, I sat down with Imran Mahmood from KAISPE to learn more about their story and partner journey. About Imran: Imran Mahmood is the Chief Executive Officer of KAISPE, leading the company’s vision to deliver AI-powered, secure, and scalable business applications through Microsoft technologies. With over 20 years of experience in enterprise technology and digital transformation, Imran has guided KAISPE’s growth as a global Microsoft Partner with 20+ IPs listed on Microsoft Marketplace. He also oversees KAISPE AI for AI Center of Excellence, driving innovation in AI agents, intelligent automation, and Microsoft ecosystem integration. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [JR]: Tell us about your organization. [IM]: KAISPE is a Microsoft Partner and software development company focused on developing intelligent, secure, and scalable business applications that help organizations accelerate their digital transformation. Our core expertise includes AI and cloud-based business applications built on Microsoft technologies such as Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Azure. With a growing portfolio of over 20+ IPs listed on Microsoft Marketplace, KAISPE’s solutions help businesses automate processes, enhance decision-making, and improve user experience. [JR]: What inspired the founding? [IM]: KAISPE was founded with the vision to bridge the gap between complex enterprise systems and user-centric experiences. We recognized that many organizations were still managing manual, time-consuming processes, and saw an opportunity to build smarter, AI-driven solutions that make technology feel like an extension of the team not a barrier. This commitment to solving real business pain points through innovation and simplicity continues to drive our product strategy. [JR]: What products/services do you offer? [IM]: Our portfolio includes industry-specific and horizontal business applications and offer several SaaS and PaaS based solutions and services including such as AutoRecruit (AI-powered recruitment automation), Supplier Relationship Management, Field Service (intelligent field operations), MyFieldAgent, and Employee Self Service. Beyond apps, we are investing heavily in our AI Center of Excellence (AI CoE), which drives innovation in developing intelligent AI agents for recruitment, field service, procurement, and customer support all powered by Microsoft Azure AI and OpenAI technologies. KAISPE’s journey with AI agents Building autonomous agents that think, act, and deliver across industries [JR]: What does your app or agent do, and who is it designed for? [IM]: KAISPE develops AI-powered business applications and intelligent agents that help organizations automate workflows, enhance productivity, and make smarter decisions. Our solutions serve a wide range of users—from field engineers and recruiters to suppliers and enterprise employees. Examples include: MyFieldAgent: Real-time AI support for field engineers with role-based access ensures focus and data security. AutoRecruit & Recruitment Hub: AI-driven hiring tools for job descriptions, resume parsing, skills matching and candidate assessments. MyJobMate: AI-powered job matching and applicant engagement. MyProcureBot: A conversational and autonomous assistant that helps suppliers easily create quotes, manage contracts, and update vendor information automatically. AutoAPX, Travel & Expense & Sales Field: Automate invoice processing, utilize OCR for receipt scanning and leverage AI to auto-categorize expenses based on recognized text and patterns and capture customer data from business cards. Field Service: Uses AI to detect anomalies or irregularities from site images, identify objects automatically, and with Copilot, quickly check inventory, fulfillment dates, and summarize data. All solutions are built under KAISPE’s AI Center of Excellence (AI CoE) and leverage Microsoft Azure AI, Copilot Studio, Power Platform, and Dynamics 365 for secure, scalable, and deeply integrated experiences. [JR]: How has your solution evolved since its initial launch? [IM]: Our journey began with single-use applications tailored to specific customer needs. Over time, we transitioned to standardized, scalable SaaS models with embedded AI features and marketplace deployment. With the launch of our AI CoE, we now build modular agents that personalize and automate workflows at scale—each iteration bringing stronger security, better UX, and deeper integration with Microsoft’s cloud ecosystem. [JR]: What motivated you to start building agents, and what business outcomes have you seen? [IM]: We wanted to make business applications more intelligent and human-like. Users needed faster assistance and guided workflows without relying on back-office teams. That’s why we introduced Agentic AI task-oriented, conversational agents that act and decide autonomously to improve efficiency and create intuitive user experiences. As a result, our customers experience fewer operational delays, faster decision-making, and higher satisfaction. [JR]: How do you prioritize standalone agents versus embedded (in-app) agents in your roadmap? [IM]: We take a strategic approach. Embedded agents enhance existing app experiences—for example, integrating Copilot into Field Service or Travel & Expense Management. Standalone agents like MyProcureBot serve broader use cases across multiple apps. The decision depends on customer needs: if it’s about improving a specific workflow, we embed; if it’s about offering an assistant across systems, we go standalone. [JR]: How have your customers responded to conversational or task-based agents compared to traditional app interfaces? [IM]: Enthusiastically. Solutions like MyFieldAgent, MyJobMate, and MyProcureBot show that users prefer natural interaction over complex menus. Conversational agents simplify tasks and drive higher adoption rates. For many organizations, they’ve transformed routine operations into quick, AI-assisted experiences. [JR]: Which Microsoft tools or frameworks have been most valuable for building agents? [IM]: Microsoft’s stack has been essential: Copilot Studio: For building conversational flows and task logic. Azure AI Studio & Azure OpenAI: For natural language understanding and generative capabilities. Azure Cognitive Services: For speech recognition, translation, and vision features. These tools help us design intelligent, scalable agents that integrate seamlessly with Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365, and Power Platform. [JR]: What challenges have you faced in designing context-aware agents, and how have you overcome them? [IM]: Users expect agents to remember intent and switch topics smoothly. To meet this expectation, we built a context management layer that tracks conversation history, remembers user actions, and connects to backend systems like Dynamics 365. This ensures our agents feel natural and aware—not robotic. [JR]: How do you see agents driving differentiation and discoverability on Microsoft Marketplace? [IM]: Our agent-powered solutions showcase practical AI innovation. When customers explore the Marketplace, they see our focus on conversational, intelligent experiences. This builds trust and aligns with Microsoft’s vision for AI-powered workplaces—helping KAISPE stand out as a partner delivering measurable impact. [JR]: What’s next for KAISPE in terms of agent innovation? [IM]: We’re expanding our AI CoE to focus on multi-agent orchestration and industry-specific templates—starting with healthcare. Our new offerings, KAISPECare and TherapyCare, will deliver agentic AI experiences for small and medium-sized healthcare centers. AI Copilot for Doctors: Auto-generate patient visit summaries Risk flagging for chronic diseases Voice-to-EMR note assistant Drug interaction checking AI Copilot for Patients: Smart appointment suggestions Symptom checking (pre-visit triage) Voice-based booking and registration AI Copilot for Admins: Flag inconsistent or duplicate charges Auto-apply billing codes Generate invoice drafts from consultation notes These Autonomous Agents will empower healthcare professionals with intelligent, voice-driven workflows that save time and improve care. [JR]: How are agents impacting business decision-making for customers? [IM]: Built on AI Foundry, these Agentic AI–powered autonomous agents analyze context, history, and trends to deliver real-time insights and take action based on user intent. In areas like procurement or recruitment or during inspection, they recommend next steps, flag risks, and even handle routine tasks helping businesses make faster, smarter decisions with minimal effort. [JR]: How do you ensure agents stay relevant and continuously learn? [IM]: Through our AI CoE, we continuously update agents based on feedback, performance data, and new Microsoft features. Using Copilot Studio and Azure OpenAI, we feed structured and unstructured data to agents and connect to external knowledge sources. We retrain models regularly to refine responses, improve tone, and adapt to evolving business needs. Marketplace journey & transactable offers [JR]: What motivated KAISPE to publish a transactable offer on the Microsoft Marketplace, and what impact has it had on your business? [IM]: KAISPE saw Microsoft Marketplace as a trusted global platform to reach enterprise customers and simplify procurement through Microsoft’s billing ecosystem. Publishing transactable offers boosted our visibility, credibility, and positioned KAISPE as a verified Microsoft Partner with scalable, ready-to-deploy solutions. This move expanded our global customer base, generated new leads, opened co-sell opportunities with Microsoft field sellers, streamlined sales operations, shortened the sales cycle, and enhanced customer confidence. [JR]: What advice would you give to new partners who are just starting to publish? [IM]: Start with a clear value proposition focused on solving customer problems. Use Marketplace Rewards early, engage with co-sell tools, and make your offers transactable! Treat Marketplace as a strategic growth platform—not just a listing. We leveraged App Advisor, Marketplace Rewards, and co-sell resources to optimize listings, improve visibility, and align with Microsoft’s best practices. Navigating compliance requirements and configuring transactable offers was complex, but support from Microsoft’s Marketplace and Partner Success teams helped us overcome these challenges through technical guidance and collaboration. Lessons learned [JR]: What key takeaways would you share with other partners considering a similar path? [IM]: Invest early in building transactable and secure offers. Leverage Microsoft’s ecosystem and maintain strong communication with your Partner Development Manager. If we were to start over, we’d invest in transactable readiness sooner and engage Marketplace Rewards earlier in the journey. [JR]: Any unexpected wins or challenges? [IM]: A major win has been global visibility — customers from regions we hadn’t directly targeted discovered us through Marketplace. The main challenge was keeping pace with Microsoft’s evolving listing requirements, which improved our processes. [JR]: How has your Marketplace experience shaped your future roadmap? [IM]: It has solidified our focus on building scalable, AI-driven products under the AI Center of Excellence (CoE), strengthening our integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 and expanding our IP portfolio across industries. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Resources Join ISV Success - Build and publish applications and agents faster with powerful AI developer tools, consultations, and technical guidance—then grow your sales through Microsoft Marketplace Join the marketplace community - Access resources for every stage of the journey on the Microsoft Marketplace, provide feedback, and engage with other partners and Microsoft subject-matter experts focused on your success. Microsoft Marketplace - Your trusted source for cloud solutions, AI apps, and agents Paths for partnership - Learn more about the ways you can partner with us—from building and selling solutions to differentiating your business with a Solutions Partner designation.
