Agent Builder, Copilot Studio, or Azure AI Foundry: How We Decide for Every Client
Every client conversation starts the same way. Someone has seen a demo, attended an Ignite session, or read a press release. They want to build an agent. Then comes the question that derails more projects than any technical challenge: "Which tool should we use?" After deploying agents for clients across industries - insurance, professional services, manufacturing, public sector - we have developed a repeatable framework for answering that question. It is not based on which tool is newest or which has the best marketing. It is based on where projects actually succeed or fail in production. The three tools are not competitors The first mistake most teams make is treating Agent Builder, Copilot Studio, and Azure AI Foundry as a hierarchy - basic, intermediate, advanced. That framing leads to bad decisions. They are not a ladder. They are three distinct tools built for three distinct contexts. The right question is not "which tool is most powerful?" It is "which tool fits this project's constraints?" The framework: 4 questions We evaluate every project against four dimensions before recommending a tool: Who is building it? Where do users live? How complex is the logic? Who owns it after go-live? Agent Builder Copilot Studio Azure AI Foundry Builder profile Maker, no code Developer / power user Pro developer, Python User surface M365 Copilot Chat Teams, web, M365 Copilot Custom app, any surface Logic complexity Simple Q&A, task routing Multi-step flows, connectors Fully custom orchestration Post-go-live ownership Business team IT + Business joint Engineering team Governance M365 Admin Center Power Platform DLP Custom, Azure RBAC When we recommend Agent Builder Agent Builder is the right call when the business team wants to own the agent end-to-end, the use case is bounded, and the users already live inside M365 Copilot Chat. The key advantage is distribution - an Agent Builder agent surfaces natively inside Copilot Chat with zero additional deployment work. No IT ticket, no app registration, no Teams app package. The ceiling is real. Agent Builder does not support complex branching logic, external API calls, or dynamic prompt injection. The moment a client asks "can it also update a record in our CRM?" the answer is usually no. Use it when: The maker owns it, the use case is narrow, and M365 Copilot is already the user's primary surface. When we recommend Copilot Studio Copilot Studio is our default recommendation for the majority of enterprise agent projects. It covers the wide middle ground between no-code simplicity and full-code flexibility - within the Microsoft governance perimeter most enterprise IT teams already control. Power Platform connectors - 1,000+ out-of-the-box connectors means most enterprise data sources are reachable without custom API development M365 Copilot channel - surface a Copilot Studio agent directly inside M365 Copilot Chat, Agent Builder-level distribution with enterprise-grade logic underneath Topic-level governance - fallback behaviors, confidence thresholds, escalation paths configurable without code DLP policy enforcement - the agent operates within the same data loss prevention perimeter as the rest of the Power Platform tenant The most common mistake: under-investing in the knowledge layer. The agent authoring is the easy part. Getting SharePoint content structured, metadata consistent, and documents deduplicated is where most projects hit delays. Budget for it. Use it when: The use case requires connectors, dynamic responses, or M365 Copilot integration - and you want IT to own governance without requiring a developer team. When we recommend Azure AI Foundry Foundry is the right call when you need to bring your own model, build a fully custom orchestration pipeline, or integrate into a surface that has nothing to do with Microsoft 365. In practice, this means one of three scenarios: The client has a model fine-tuned on proprietary data that must be used The agent is embedded inside a custom-built web or mobile application The logic requires Python-level control - complex reasoning chains, multi-agent coordination, custom evaluation loops Foundry projects require a professional developer, take longer, and produce something the business team cannot maintain without engineering support. That is not a reason to avoid it - it is a reason to be honest with the client upfront. Use it when: You need full control of the model, the orchestration, or the surface - and you have a developer team to own it. The question that resolves most debates When a client is torn between Copilot Studio and Foundry, we ask one question: "Who is answering the 2am support call when this breaks in production?" If the answer is a developer, Foundry is viable. If the answer is the IT admin or the business owner, Copilot Studio is the right call. Not because Foundry is unreliable, but because the operational model has to match the tool. More projects fail from ownership mismatch than from technical limitations. What we see go wrong Reaching for Foundry too early. Developers often want full control and reach for Foundry before validating the use case. We have rebuilt several Foundry POCs in Copilot Studio when the production constraints called for it - faster to ship and cheaper to run. Under-scoping Agent Builder. Business teams choose Agent Builder because it looks simple, then hit the ceiling at month two. The re-platform cost is higher than building in Copilot Studio from the start. Ignoring the M365 Copilot channel. Many Copilot Studio projects are deployed as standalone Teams apps when they could surface directly inside M365 Copilot Chat. The distribution advantage is significant and underused. The short version Agent Builder - maker-owned, bounded use case, M365 Copilot surface, fast Copilot Studio - IT + business joint ownership, connectors, production governance, M365 Copilot integration Azure AI Foundry - developer-owned, custom model or surface, full control, higher cost Start with the ownership model. Everything else follows. Elliot Margot - Team Lead Jumpstart, Copilot and Agents at Witivio (Microsoft Partner). Connect on https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliot-margot-52742a156/.Three Tiers, One Platform: Building Agents Together with the Build-Along Series
The Agentic Opportunity Every partner has agent ambition, but a single workshop format cannot serve every builder. Business makers want a fast win without writing code. Citizen developers want to orchestrate real processes across enterprise systems. Pro developers want a code-first surface with evaluations, tracing, and managed identity. Run the wrong session for the wrong audience, and engagement collapses - too abstract for one group, too constrained for another. The Agent Build-Along Series solves that by meeting builders exactly where they are, across three tiers of the Microsoft platform stack. Behind the series sits a self-serve GitHub repository - a curated library of build-along sessions with easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions, scoped to specific industry scenarios and business functions. Partners pick the scenario that fits the room, clone the assets, and run the session. No bespoke content build, no facilitator guesswork. A Self-Serve Repository for Build-Along Sessions Diagram illustrating three tiers of agent building The repo at Agent Build-Along Github is a self-serve catalog of ready-to-run workshops. Every session is curated for a specific industry and business function, with easy-to-follow instructions a facilitator can pick up and deliver. Pick the combination that matches the room and run the session - the content, scenario, and assets are already there. Sessions are organised across three axes so partners can find the right fit fast: Industry - Financial Services, Healthcare, Retail, Manufacturing, Public Sector, Energy, Professional Services Business function - Sales, Marketing, Finance, HR, Operations, IT, Customer Service Workload - Agent Builder, Copilot Studio and Azure AI Foundry Each session in the repo includes a real-world scenario, step-by-step build instructions, sample data, prompts and configuration, and a facilitator narrative. Clone, brief the room, build the agent - that is the loop. Three Tiers - Meet Builders Where They Are The pyramid is intentional. Builders start where their skills are today and move up as confidence grows. The tier defines platform, audience, duration, and approach - content stays consistent. Tier Platform Audience Duration Approach 1 - Foundation Microsoft 365 Copilot Agent Builder Business makers, end users, departmental teams 60 min No-code 2 - Extend Copilot Studio Citizen developers, power users, ops teams 90 min Low-code 3 - Pro-Code Azure AI Foundry Pro developers, architects, AI engineers 180+ min Code-first Tier 1 - M365 Copilot Agent Builder Author your first agent - no code required. Microsoft 365 Copilot Agent Builder virtual workshop overview, What your customers will build A custom agent scoped to a real workplace scenario Grounded with knowledge sources (SharePoint sites, files, web URLs) Configured with custom instructions and conversation starters Tested in the preview pane and shared with a team Session flow Define → Ground → Refine → Test & Share Prerequisites Microsoft 365 Copilot licence (or Copilot Chat free) Modern browser (Edge / Chrome) A workplace scenario in mind, or use our template Outcome Attendees leave with a working agent they can use immediately, plus a repeatable pattern for future use cases. This is the right entry point for departmental teams who want to operationalise Copilot without engineering involvement. Tier 2 - Copilot Studio Orchestrate multi-step agents across enterprise systems. Microsoft Copilot Studio virtual workshop overview What your customers will build A copilot with generative answers and authored topics Custom actions that call APIs and Power Platform connectors Knowledge sources spanning SharePoint, Dataverse, public web, and enterprise data Channel deployment to Microsoft Teams and a public web embed Session flow Design → Connect → Author → Publish Prerequisites M365 Copilot license with access to Copilot Studio Familiarity with Power Platform helpful, not required A multi-step workflow or process in mind Outcome Attendees leave with a published copilot running in Teams or on the web, plus a pattern for connecting copilots to enterprise systems. This is where citizen developers and ops teams turn manual processes into orchestrated, agent-driven workflows. Tier 3 - Azure AI Foundry Ship a code-first agent with evaluations and observability. What your customers will build A code-first agent with custom tools and function calling Grounding via Azure AI Search and the customer's own data Model selection from the Foundry catalog, with optional fine-tuning Evaluations, tracing, and managed-identity deployment Session flow Provision → Build → Evaluate → Deploy Prerequisites Azure subscription with Azure AI Foundry access VS Code, plus Python or .NET familiarity Sample data or a use case ready to ground on Outcome Attendees leave with a deployed agent - code, evaluations, and tracing in place - plus reusable SDK templates. This is the right tier for architects and AI engineers shipping agents into production with the governance bar enterprise customers expect. How the Repository Works The repo removes the heaviest lift in running these workshops: content creation. Every session is curated against the same three axes - industry, business function, tier - and shipped with step-by-step instructions a facilitator can follow with minimum prep. Industry/Business Function × Tier → Ready-to-run Build-Along Each session in the repo ships with: A real-world scenario grounded in the chosen industry and business function Step-by-step build instructions tuned to the selected tier Sample data the agent can ground against Prompts, conversation starters, and configuration snippets Facilitator narrative so anyone can run the session Need an enterprise agent that can handle integrate with CRM data? There is a curated Copilot Studio session with a deal-desk scenario and sample CRM data. Need a pro-code health care agent? Choose the Foundry session with a patient-flow scenario and a grounded dataset. Same repo, different curated paths - at the right depth for the room. What Attendees Walk Away With Agent-Builder - A working agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot, ready to share with colleagues. Copilot Studio - A published copilot running in Teams or on the web, connected to enterprise systems. Foundry - A deployed Foundry agent with evaluations, tracing, and SDK templates for the next build. In all cases attendees leave with assets - not slides - and the confidence to build the next one without facilitation. Next Steps - Host a Build-Along Pick your tier - Start where your skills are today. Move up the pyramid as confidence grows. Drive Registration – Socialise your Build-Along session to maximise attendance. Show up and build. Bring a real scenario. Customers leave with a working agent to share. Where to Next Browse the self-serve repository of Build-Along sessions - curated by industry and business function, with step-by-step instructions ready to run: Agent Build Along.Pitch Maker Agent: Turn Copilot Chat Signals into Microsoft 365 Copilot Deals
Executive Summary Customers are already using free Copilot Chat at scale, but adoption is often ungoverned and disconnected from the Microsoft 365 workloads where measurable productivity and risk controls live. The Pitch Maker Agent (BETA) helps partners convert Partner Center Copilot growth opportunity signals into customer-ready narratives—reducing pitch preparation from days to minutes and improving consistency across stakeholders (replace with your measured baseline). What it enables (partner outcomes) Turn raw usage signals into an executive business case with clear opportunity, risk, and next steps. Standardize value conversations across IT and business buyers while keeping customer context specific. Accelerate conversion from exploration to governed deployment by anchoring on Microsoft 365 workloads. Why it’s different Evidence-led: uses Partner Center Copilot growth opportunities (ASPX) signals rather than generic prompts. Buyer-ready: outputs a structured narrative (not a feature list) designed for executive alignment and action. Inputs required Partner Center Copilot growth opportunities export (all columns) for the target customer. The Opportunity: From AI Exploration to Enterprise Direction The move from free Copilot Chat to Microsoft 365 Copilot is a timing advantage: customers have intent and familiarity, but need a governed path that ties AI to real work in Teams, Outlook, Excel, and beyond. Advisory gap: translate usage metrics into business insight executives can fund. Governance gap: balance opportunity with security, compliance, and lifecycle controls. Workflow gap: connect AI usage to measurable outcomes inside Microsoft 365 workloads. How the Agent Works (BETA) The Agent follows a simple, repeatable flow to generate an executive-ready pitch narrative from Partner Center Copilot growth opportunity signals. See the agent in action below. In three steps Upload the Partner Center Copilot growth opportunities export (all columns). Run the Agent to translate usage signals into a customer-specific executive narrative. Use the generated business case, recommendations, and next steps in the customer conversation. What the Output Enables Translate Partner Center signals into a fundable business case, faster. Improve executive alignment by presenting opportunity, risk, and plan in one narrative. Increase repeatability across accounts with a consistent structure and messaging. The figure below illustrates how the Agent turns usage signals into a concise, executive-ready pitch narrative and action plan. Figure 1. From Copilot Chat signals to an executive pitch narrative and next-step plan. For customers, the conversation shifts from features to outcomes—clear productivity impact, role-based change, and risk-aware governance. Deployment and Execution The Agent is delivered as a solution package and deployed through Copilot Studio with a straightforward publish-and-run flow. Prepare Partner Center ASPX export (all columns) and validate sensitivity labels. Import the solution package into Copilot Studio. Verify dependencies, publish the Agent, and enable access in Microsoft 365 Copilot and Teams. Run the guided pitch flow by uploading customer data and capturing the narrative output. The run guide provides step-by-step visuals for data preparation, import, publication, and how to use the output in customer conversations. Why This Matters for Partner Practices The Pitch Maker Agent (BETA) supports a repeatable value motion: identify opportunity, align stakeholders, and move customers from experimentation to governed Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption. Higher conversion: clearer executive rationale anchored in evidence and outcomes. Lower effort: less time drafting, more time on discovery and delivery. Better governance: built-in prompts to address risk, readiness, and controls early. Call to Action This week: 15-minute start Locate the solution package and run guide in the Agent folder. Deploy the Agent in Copilot Studio and publish to Microsoft 365 Copilot/Teams. Export Partner Center Copilot growth opportunities data and validate sensitivity labels. Upload the dataset and generate a customer-specific executive pitch narrative. Resources Helpful links to learn more and access supporting materials: Partner Center Copilot growth opportunities data GitHub repository Overview: Run guideScaling Seller Impact with ASPX Insights: From Data Access to AI-Driven Execution
ASPX Insights in Partner Center Most sellers are not constrained by opportunity; they are constrained by time and signal. With up to 70% of effort spent on administrative work, portfolio coverage continues to expand while insight quality declines. Sellers are forced to manually interpret fragmented telemetry across multiple systems, slowing decision-making and reducing precision in where they focus. The result is missed revenue signals, delayed interventions, and inconsistent execution at scale. Productivity is not just about efficiency, it is about enabling every seller to consistently identify and act on the highest-value opportunity, in real time. To drive consistent, data-led growth across Security and AI Business Solutions, partners should connect to ASPX Insights within Partner Center. This provides direct access to adoption propensity models, customer telemetry, and actionable account-level insights across Microsoft 365 Copilot, E7, and Agent 365 scenarios. Access to ASPX Insights is only the starting point. The real value comes from how you operationalise that data and surface it directly to sellers in the flow of work. The most effective pattern is to build a lightweight “opportunity agent” that connects to ASPX data via API and translates telemetry into clear actions. This ensures your sales teams have the right conversation with the right customer at the right time - Conversations that are backed by intelligent insights to help guide your customer's on their AI and security journey. The Architecture ASPX Insights is powered by Partner Center data and exposes rich telemetry and propensity signals that can be accessed programmatically. This allows partners to move beyond dashboards and embed insights directly into seller workflows. As demonstrated in internal adoption patterns, partners can connect to ASPX via API and pull Customer-level adoption and usage telemetry Copilot, Security, and Agent usage signals Propensity scores for expansion, adoption, and conversion Licensing, whitespace, and engagement indicators The M365 Partner API – AI Business Solutions & Security Insights allows partners to ground an agent in real, actionable data rather than static pipeline assumptions. By pulling live telemetry and seat-level signals directly into the agent, the solution continuously reflects actual customer usage patterns - who is adopting, who is stalled, and where there is untapped potential. This means opportunity identification is no longer based on periodic reporting or manual interpretation, but on near real-time behavioural insight. As a result, account prioritisation, upsell motions, and intervention strategies are driven by evidence rather than instinct, enabling account teams to act with precision and focus on the highest-impact opportunities across their portfolio. The agent should act as a translation layer between raw telemetry and seller action. The goal is not to expose more data, but to remove ambiguity and tell the seller exactly where to focus. A simple architecture looks like this: Data layer Ingest ASPX Insights data via API on a daily or scheduled basis. Optionally store monthly snapshots to track trends and smooth out variability. This creates both real-time signal and historical context. With the data layer you have a couple of options. You can integrate directly into Partner Centre ASPX Insights by using the API. This is technically complex and may have a longer lead time to see results. Alternatively, to see results with less complexity, you can simply download snapshots of the data monthly from ASPX Insights in Partner Centre. This is manual but easy to achieve and offers a shorter time to value for your agent. Scoring layer Use ASPX propensity outputs directly or combine them with your own logic to rank accounts across a small set of opportunity lenses Expansion ready (Copilot scale) Conversion ready (free to paid) At risk (low adoption vs paid licenses) Transformation ready (Agent 365 and advanced AI scenarios) These align directly with the machine learning models and signals already surfaced in ASPX. Action layer Translate scores into next best actions Who to engage Why now What motion to run (sell, enable, expand, govern) This is where agents create value. Sellers should not see raw dashboards. They should see prioritised accounts and recommended actions. Internal Adoption Path The key design principle is simple: bring insight into the tools sellers already use. CRM integration Push ranked accounts and recommendations directly into CRM as opportunities, tasks, or account insights. This ensures data becomes part of pipeline management, not a separate activity. Copilot / Agent interface Expose the agent through Microsoft 365 Copilot or a custom chat interface where sellers can ask Which customers should I prioritise this week Which accounts are ready for Copilot or E7 expansion Where are my adoption risks The agent queries the ASPX-backed dataset and returns structured recommendations in seconds. Proactive notifications Trigger alerts based on signal changes Spikes in Copilot usage Drops in adoption for paid tenants New high-propensity accounts entering threshold This shifts sellers from reactive to proactive engagement. Portfolio dashboards (secondary) Maintain dashboards for leadership and planning, but not as the primary interaction model for sellers. Dashboards support strategy, agents drive execution. Extending into E7 and Agent 365 scenarios Once the agent is connected to ASPX, partners can extend the same model across broader solution plays E7 opportunities Use signals such as usage depth, licensing posture, and workload adoption to identify customers progressing toward advanced security and compliance requirements. The agent can flag these accounts as ready for E7-led conversations. Agent 365 opportunities Combine Copilot maturity with agent usage signals to identify customers moving beyond productivity into process automation. These are high-value transformation plays where partners should proactively engage. This ensures sellers are not operating in silos but are guided toward the next logical workload based on real behavior, not assumptions. Where to Next If you lead a partner sales team, connect to ASPX Insights and see how these insights can empower your sales teams to achieve more. Check out our ready made ASPX Insights agent in Github.Announcing the general availability of Microsoft Copilot for Sales & Microsoft Copilot for Service
Summary On February 1, 2024, https://aka.ms/CopilotGAFeb2024 to customers. Copilot for Sales and Copilot for Service bring together the power of Copilot for Microsoft 365 with role-specific insights and actions to streamline business processes, automate repetitive tasks, and unlock productivity. Both provide flexibility to integrate with existing contact center and CRM systems, such as Microsoft Dynamics 365, Salesforce and ServiceNow, to get more done with less effort. Customers can purchase Copilot for Sales or Copilot for Service for $50 per user per month as a standalone license that includes Copilot for Microsoft 365. Customers who already own Copilot for Microsoft 365 can step-up for $20 per user per month to purchase Copilot for Sales or Copilot for Service. Copilot for Sales and Copilot for Service are available now to purchase through EA/EAS, MCA-E, and Buy-Online, and will be available to Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners on March 1. Microsoft Copilot for Sales Copilot for Sales is an AI assistant designed for sales teams to maximize productivity and close more deals. Copilot for Sales builds on Copilot for Microsoft 365, enhancing it with connectivity to CRM systems like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales and Salesforce Sales Cloud to bring sales-specific insights and recommendations to apps like Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft Word. Today, Copilot for Sales helps sellers and sales managers: Generate sales meeting preparation briefs in Word. Summarize emails and surface relevant buying intent and BANT (budget, authority, need, timing) analysis in Outlook. Generate emails in Outlook with relevant product, account, relationship, and opportunity information from their CRM system and Microsoft Graph. Add leads and update CRM records directly from Outlook. View meeting preparation notes and real-time sales insights during calls in Teams. View sales meeting summaries in Teams with conversation analysis, sales keywords and KPIs, and suggested tasks. Create collaborative deal rooms in Teams that sync with CRM data. Copilot for Microsoft 365 is also included in Copilot for Sales, providing sellers with additional productivity enhancements, like: Generate presentations in Microsoft PowerPoint. Generate plans and organize team information in Microsoft OneNote. Ask questions in natural language to catch up on customer interactions using Microsoft Copilot chat experience. Later this month, Copilot for Sales will also bring CRM connectivity to Microsoft Copilot chat experience, allowing sellers and sales managers to get quick insights on conversion and win rate, sales cycle, and pipeline. Microsoft Copilot for Service Copilot for Service helps organizations quickly realize the benefits of generative AI by extending their existing investments in CRM and contact center solutions to enhance customer experiences and boost agent productivity. Copilot for Service unlocks an organization’s trusted knowledge to accelerate onboarding and case resolution, improve efficiency, and automate tasks for agents in their flow of work. Without costly development time, organizations can simply point to their data and in a few minutes unlock generative AI-powered conversations across their knowledge bases. And for agents, they can tap into this knowledge with a copilot embedded directly in their desktop of choice such as Salesforce, as well as the other tools they already use every day like Outlook and Teams. Today Copilot for Service can help organizations: Enable generative AI-powered conversations across all their data with simplified “point and click” access to public websites, SharePoint, knowledgebase articles, and offline files. Access knowledge sources with pre-built integrations for Salesforce, ServiceNow, and Zendesk. Embed a copilot in agent desktops from Salesforce and other channels to support agents where they work. Copilot for Microsoft 365 is also included in Copilot for Service. We will introduce additional features in Microsoft 365 apps beginning later this month that will integrate data from CRM systems like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Salesforce Service Cloud—including: In Outlook, use Copilot to summarize and draft emails, access case summaries, browse and update CRM records, and schedule meetings informed by case summaries and other relevant information from CRM records. In Teams, use Copilot to browse and update CRM records during a meeting, as well as recap meetings, suggest follow-up action items, and create tasks that can all be saved to CRM systems directly from Teams. In Microsoft Copilot chat experience, ask questions over cases and contacts, as well as summarize cases—all from CRM data. Partner Opportunities with Microsoft Copilot for Sales and Microsoft Copilot for Service Microsoft Copilot for Sales and Microsoft Copilot for Service offer new opportunity to help your customers transform business operations using the power of AI. Customers are looking for your expertise to help them be more competitive and profitable. By adding Microsoft Copilot for Sales and/or Microsoft Copilot for Service to your practice, you can expand your customer base, and your revenue opportunities - offering services including business advisory, readiness and deployment, and adoption and change management. These open new possibilities for Business Applications Partners, as well as Modern Work partners to expand the value of Copilot for Microsoft 365. Call to Action Learn: Read the https://aka.ms/CopilotGAFeb2024 Attend the https://aka.ms/DYNA066EXT-Register for field and partners on February 13, 8:00-9:00 AM PST for an end-to-end overview of product narrative licensing, and sales motions Register for the Feb. 29 ‘What's Next for CSP Partners and Microsoft Copilot’ event. Register https://aka.ms/WhatsNextCSPRegistration, https://aka.ms/WhatsNextCSPRegistrationPM. Leverage the new content to drive conversations with your customers: Bookmark and visit the Partner Hub and the AI future of work https://aka.ms/AIFutureOfWorkPartner for the latest content including: Updated: https://dynamicspartners.transform.microsoft.com/download/protected?assetname=protectedassets%2FMicrosoft%20Copilot%20for%20Sales%20Pitch%20Deck.pptx&download=1&protected=1 New: https://dynamicspartners.transform.microsoft.com/download/protected?assetname=protectedassets%2FMicrosoft%20Copilot%20for%20Service%20-%20Pitch%20Deck.pptx&download=1&protected=1 Updated: https://microsoft.bl-1.com/h/i/dv6cXD0o/pDnMXBQ?url=https://adoption.microsoft.com/en-us/copilot-for-sales/Turn upcoming Microsoft 365 pricing and packaging updates into renewal wins
Microsoft 365 pricing and packaging updates take effect July 1, 2026, with expanded security and management capabilities coming this year. Now is the perfect time to accelerate renewals, upsell to Microsoft 365 E3 or E5, and lock in pricing for Copilot Business bundles. Get detailsAI AGENT RACE FINLAND 2026 käynnistyy!
Kilpailun ohjeet ja arviointi Kilpailuun osallistuminen tapahtuu nominoimalla asiakascase ohjeistetulla tavalla sähköpostitse jollekin postauksen alla mainituista yhteyshenkilöistä. Nominoinnin tulee perustua todelliseen asiakastarpeeseen, jossa tekoälyagentti on käytössä tuotannossa tai selkeästi siirtymässä tuotantoon. Ratkaisun tulee ratkaista tunnistettu liiketoiminta‑ tai käyttäjäongelma ja mielellään jo nyt tuottaa asiakkaalle mitattavaa tai muuten selkeästi kuvattavaa arvo. Nominoinnin tulisi sisältää: Kumppani ja yhteyshenkilöt Asiakas ja toimiala Lyhyt kuvaus Lähtötilanne ja liiketoiminnan haaste AI-agentin rooli ja toiminnallisuus Hyödynnetyt teknologiat Liiketoimintahyödyt (esim. Aikasäästöt, laadun parantaminen, tehokkuus ja asiakaskokemuksen paraneminen) Arviointiperusteet: Vaikuttavuus asiakkaalle Agentin käyttöönotto ja käyttöaste Ratkaisun selkeys Toistettavuus ja skaalautuvuus Tarinan selkeys ja opittavuus Aikataulu Kumppanihaaste lanseerataan 5.2.2026, jonka jälkeen nominointien keruu on avoinna 5.2.–20.4.2026. Tänä aikana kumppanit voivat toimittaa asiakascaseihin pohjautuvat nominointinsa ohjeiden mukaisesti. Nominointijakson päätyttyä Microsoftin nimeämä raati arvioi kaikki ehdotukset. Julkaisemme viisi finalistia, joista voittaja valitaan ja julkistetaan 28.4. AI tour -tapahtuman lavalla. AI Agent Race 2026 on kutsu kumppaneille siirtyä agenttimoodiin – rakentaa, ottaa käyttöön ja osoittaa, miten tekoälyagentit tuottavat todellista ja kestävää arvoa asiakkaille. Yhteyshenkilöt: Tom Louhija, t-tomlouhija@microsoft.com Jonna Kaarlenkaski, jonna.kaarlenkaski@microsoft.com Luukas Westerholm, luukas.westerholm@microsoft.comPartner Blog | Introducing Microsoft 365 E7: The Frontier Suite
Frontier Firms—those who adopt an AI-first approach as a core part of their business strategy—are shaping the future of work, which is increasingly fueled by agentic AI. As customers move toward Frontier Transformation, you can help them seize the agentic moment with the premium Microsoft 365 E7 plan, generally available on May 1, 2026. Microsoft 365 E7 is the Frontier Suite, designed for a human-led, agent-operated enterprise, turning human intent into AI action that functions securely and at scale. To accomplish this, Microsoft 365 E7 includes access to Microsoft Agent 365—the control plane to govern and scale agents. Microsoft 365 E7 bundles Microsoft 365 E5, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Entra Suite, and Agent 365 to serve customers who are ready to scale AI with governance and security. This means your customers will have AI-powered productivity apps with advanced security and AI capabilities, grounded in intelligence and trust. You can help your customers make the most of the agentic AI opportunity and unlock new monetization streams with the premium Microsoft 365 E7 plan. Starting on April 1, 2026, to accelerate Microsoft 365 E5 to Microsoft 365 E7 upsell and Agent 365 adoption, Copilot + Power Accelerate will include Agent 365 across Immersion Briefings, Envisioning and proof of concept (PoC) engagements, and Deployment Accelerators. Microsoft 365 E7 and Agent 365 will also be included as eligible workloads for core tier one strategic product accelerators and growth levers in Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) incentives. The AI future is here. Encourage your customers to upgrade to Microsoft 365 E7 so they can move faster and deploy AI with confidence. Read more in our blog postSulava – tekoälyä organisaatioiden arkeen rohkeus, uteliaisuus ja yhteistyö edellä
Konsultointi- ja koulutusyritys Sulava yhdistää ainutlaatuisella tavalla maailmanluokan Microsoft-osaamisen innovatiivisiin ratkaisuihin ja koulutus- ja valmennusosaamiseen, jotta organisaatiot voivat hyödyntää Microsoftin pilvipalveluita parhaalla mahdollisella tavalla jokaisessa työntekijäroolissa ja liiketoiminnassa. Sulava on tukenut muun muassa Copilot Adoption Service- ja Copilot Essentials -palveluillaan jo yli 2 400 organisaatiota ympäri maailmaa heidän matkallaan siinä, kuinka työelämä muuttuu, henkilöstö hyödyntää tekoälyä, kuinka tietoturvan ja tiedon suojauksen toimenpiteet varmistavat tekoälyn turvallisen käytön ja miten agentit muovaavat organisaatioita uudelleen. Sulavan kanssa tekoälyä eturintamassa hyödyntävien Frontier Firm -kärkiorganisaatioiden menestyksen taustalla on vahva johdon ymmärrys muutoksen laajuuteen, sen mahdollistaminen, rohkeus kokeilla uutta ja varmistaa henkilöstön osaaminen. Hyödyt näkyvät muun muassa tuottavuudessa, uusissa liiketoimintamahdollisuuksissa ja työn merkityksellisyydessä. Organisaatioissa, joissa hyödyntäminen on pitkällä, tunnistettiin varhain, että laadulliset mittarit kuten työhyvinvointiin ja työn merkitykseen liittyvät asiat ovat nopeasti saavutettavia. Samalla syntyy muun muassa laadun parantumista, ajan- ja kustannussäästöjä sekä tehokkuutta. Parhaat organisaatiot uskaltavat kokeilemalla hakea ymmärrystä, ja kehittävät uusia toimintatapoja ja tekoälyagentteja laajasti organisaation eri puolilla. Kun kehittäminen tapahtuu lähellä liiketoimintaa, ollaan parhaiten uusien läpimurtojen äärellä. Omien käyttötapausten ja tiimien kautta valmentaminen on paras tapa edetä myös oppimisen kannalta. Yleensä tiimit ensin löytävät tekoälyn pieniä parannuskohteita arkeen, jonka jälkeen päästään suurempiin innovaatioihin. Paras tulos syntyy, kun sekä yksilöllä että organisaatiolla on rohkeutta ja uteliaisuutta, ja uutta otetaan haltuun tiiviillä yhteistyöllä kokemuksia jakaen. Kulttuurin ja toimintatapojen muutos, parempi työelämä ja kilpailukyky Vuonna 2025 Microsoft palkitsi Sulavan niin globaalisti kuin Suomessa Partner of The Year -kilpailussa. Suomessa yhtiö on vuoden Microsoft 365 Copilot Success -kumppani ja globaalisti vuoden Copilot & Agent -kumppani. Vuotta aiemmin Sulava valittiin globaaliksi tuplafinalistiksi Microsoft Copilot- ja Microsoft Training Services -sarjoissa ja Suomessa Microsoft 365 Copilot Success -sarjan voittajaksi. ”Saamamme tunnustukset ovat huikea osoitus siitä, että pieni suomalainen on tehnyt maailmanluokan asioita suurella sydämellä ja tunnustus juuri niistä taidoista, joita asiakkaamme tarvitsevat työelämän muutoksessa”, kommentoi Sulavan toimitusjohtaja Ira Keskitalo, ja jatkaa: ”Asiantuntijoidemme etumatka tekoälyn hyödyntämisessä perustuu laajaan kokemukseen usealta toimialalta, esimerkiksi kymmenillä finanssialalla, terveydenhuollossa ja yhteiskunnan infrastruktuurista vastaavilla asiakkaillamme, joissa tiedon suojaaminen on kriittistä. Yksi meidän vahvuutemme onkin, että syväosaajat aina tiedon suojauksesta henkilöstön valmennukselliseen tukemiseen ja AI-agentteihin löytyvät saman katon alta, joten pystymme tukemaan organisaatioiden tekoälymatkaa kokonaisvaltaisesti. Työssä on korostunut kulttuurin ja toimintatapojen muutos, paremman työelämän ja kilpailukyvyn vahvistaminen, ei pelkästään teknologian käyttöönotto.” Laaja toimialakokemus näkyy asiakkaiden arjessa muun muassa innovatiivisena generatiivisen tekoälyn ja tekoälyagenttien käyttökohteiden sekä erilaisten ammattien tarpeiden ymmärtämisessä. Tekoälystrategia tuodaan osaksi organisaatioiden arkea, sekä liiketoimintaratkaisuihin että jokaisen käyttäjän työskentelyyn. “Microsoftin tuki asiantuntijoidemme kehittymiseen ja yhteistyö asiakkaidemme kanssa on valtavan tärkeää. Tiiviissä yhteistyössä Microsoftin kanssa Sulava jatkaa menestystarinoiden luomista asiakkaillemme hyödyntämällä monipuolisesti pilven mahdollisuuksia sekä rakentamalla uusia innovaatioita”, päättää Keskitalo. Inspiroidu esimerkeistä Tutustu Sulavan asiakastarinoihin, joista löydät tekoälyn hyödyntämisen inspiraatiota niin julkiselta sektorilta kuin yrityksistä: https://sulava.com/references/ Järjestämme jatkuvasti tapahtumia, jotka auttavat sinua tutustumaan ajankohtaisiin aiheisiin ja viemään osaamisesi uudelle tasolle. Tulevat tapahtumat sekä tallenteita menneistä löydät kotisivuiltamme: Events - Sulava Tulossa muun muassa suursuosittu Copilot Chatin perusteet kaikille: Maksuton koulutus: Copilot Chatin perusteet kaikille | Sulava Tutustu Tekoälyn käyttöönottoon ja hyödyntämiseen datasensitiivisillä toimialoilla https://sulava.com/tekoaly/tekoalyn-kayttoonotto-ja-hyodyntaminen-datasensitiivisilla-toimialoilla-finanssiala/Partner Blog | Copilot monetization for SMBs: Build pipeline with readiness and repeatable plays
Small and medium-sized businesses are interested in AI, but they want a clear, practical path, without added complexity. They want proof that AI can fit how they work today, support governed use, and deliver results they can track. Your challenge is to translate curiosity into a practical starting point, anchored in outcomes. In the Microsoft Customer Engagement Methodology, Stage 1 is not about selling a product. It is about creating clarity on where AI can deliver value and establishing the first adoption motion. Instead of opening with a product pitch, anchor the conversation in what SMB leaders already care about: Productivity gains that reduce time spent on repetitive work Operational efficiency that removes friction from everyday workflows Cost control, especially when capacity is tight Innovation, without adding unmanaged risk This shift does two things. It positions you as the advisor who defines the roadmap, and it uncovers services opportunities that customers will fund because they see the path to value. Continue reading here
