AI 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 hereLearn to maximize your productivity at the proMX Project Operations + AI Summit 2026
As organizations accelerate AI adoption across business applications, mastering how Microsoft Dynamics 365 solutions, Copilot, and agents work together is becoming a strategic priority. Fortunately, businesses no longer need to rely on speculation — they can gain practical insights with fellow industry professionals during a unique two-day event: On April 21-22, 2026, Microsoft and proMX will jointly host the fourth edition of proMX Project Operations Summit at the Microsoft office in Munich, but this time with an AI edge. The summit brings together Dynamics 365 customers and Microsoft and proMX experts to explore how AI is reshaping project delivery, resource management, and operational decision‑making across industries. On day one, participants will discover how Dynamics 365 Project Operations, Copilot, Project Online, proMX 365 PPM, and Contact Center can strategically transform business processes and drive organizational growth. On day two, they can explore the technical side of these solutions. Secure your spot! What to expect from the summit Expert-led, actionable insights Join interactive sessions led by Microsoft and proMX experts to learn practical AI and Dynamics 365 skills you can use right away. Inspiring keynotes Gain future-focused perspectives on Dynamics 365, Copilot, and AI to prepare your organization for what’s next. In between our special guests we have Microsoft's Rupa Mantravadi, Chief Product Officer, Dynamics 365 Project Operations, Rob Nehrbas, Head of AI Business Solutions, Archana Prasad, Worldwide FastTrack Leader for Project Operations, and Mathias Klaas, Partner Development Manager. Hands-on AI workshops Take part in workshops where Sebastian Sieber, Global Technology Director (proMX) and Microsoft MVP will show the newest AI features in Dynamics 365, giving you real-world experience with innovative tools. Connect with industry leaders Engage with experts through Q&A sessions, round tables, and personalized Connect Meetings for tailored guidance on your business needs. Real customer success stories Hear case studies from proMX customers who are already using Dynamics 365 solutions and learn proven strategies for successful digital transformation. Who should attend? This summit is tailored for business and IT decision-makers that are using Dynamics 365 solutions and want to drive more business impact with AI, but also for those who might be planning to move away from other project management solutions such as Project Online and need practical guidance grounded in real-life implementations. Date: Apr 21 & 22, 2026 | 2 -Days event Location: Microsoft Munich, Walter-Gropius Straße 5, Munich, Bavaria, DE, 80807 Ready to maximize your productivity? Register here.Partner Case Study | Cognizant
Cognizant, a 2025 Microsoft Partner of the Year award winner and global services company, is redefining enterprise transformation across industries. By democratizing AI and embedding intelligent automation, Cognizant helps organizations modernize systems, reduce costs, and accelerate growth. Their unique approach—combining deep Microsoft expertise, strategic change management, and a culture of innovation—delivers measurable results, including millions in savings, productivity boosts, and record-setting employee engagement. Organizations across industries face mounting technical debt, fragmented legacy systems, and the urgent need to consolidate onto modern, scalable platforms. Three Cognizant clients—one in healthcare, one in financial services, and one in retail—faced similar pressures. Regulatory compliance and governance added further complexity, especially in healthcare and finance. Cognizant’s clients needed a forward-looking technology roadmap to streamline operations, unlock data-driven insights, and support automation for better employee and customer experiences. Cognizant’s approach: Empowerment through Microsoft intelligent automation Using Microsoft Power Platform, Copilot agents, and robust governance frameworks, Cognizant delivers solutions that are secure, scalable, and tailored to each client’s needs. Ongoing training, upskilling, and community-building ensure sustained adoption and a strong digital culture. An essential part of that digital culture is Cognizant’s belief that innovation with AI should be accessible to employees at every level—not just technical teams. “At Cognizant, intelligent automation is more than a technology capability—it’s a strategic enabler for business transformation,” said Chakradhar Gooty Agraharam, Global Intelligent Automation Leader at Cognizant. “By combining Microsoft Power Platform, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and Copilot innovations with our deep industry expertise, we help clients accelerate automation at scale, unlock new efficiencies, and deliver measurable outcomes. Our partnership with Microsoft empowers us to lead with innovation, speed, and precision—driving hyper automation strategies that redefine what’s possible for enterprises worldwide.” For their healthcare, financial services, and retail engagements, Cognizant selected solutions that met each client's immediate needs while supporting long-term scalability. They implemented strong governance frameworks—using the Microsoft Power Platform Center of Excellence Starter Kit alongside their own methodologies—to maintain regulatory compliance and secure operations. By empowering clients to adopt Microsoft intelligent automation tools, including Copilot agents, Microsoft Power Automate, and Power Platform, Cognizant helped their clients streamline processes, unlock insights, and enhance both employee and customer experiences. Continue reading here Explore all case studies or submit your own Subscribe to case studies tag to follow all new case study posts. Don't forget to follow this blog to receive email notifications of new stories!Partner Blog | Copilot monetization for SMBs: Start with Copilot Chat, scale with agents
This post kicks off a five-part series for Microsoft partners on the Copilot monetization opportunity for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Each post follows a repeatable approach aligned to the Microsoft Customer Engagement Methodology (MCEM) and the Win Formula—from building credibility as Customer Zero to driving adoption and measurable outcomes, then extending value with agents and specializations. If you’re looking for practical ways to turn your customers’ AI interest into secure, scalable outcomes and repeatable revenue, you’re in the right place. SMBs want proof, not hype. They want an AI path that fits how they work today, stays governed, and delivers results. SMBs are the backbone of the global economy, accounting for 90% of all firms with around 400 million enterprises worldwide, according to the World Economic Forum’s SME Resource Hub. At the same time, 82% of leaders are rethinking core aspects of their strategy and operations, under constant pressure to do more with less. That combination is driving a shift from AI curiosity to AI decisions. Continue reading hereAgentCon New York - Come One Come All for FREE
On March 9, 2026, #AgentCon lands at Nasdaq, Times Square, bringing together developers, engineers, and innovators shaping the future of AI agents. Expect deep‑dive talks, hands‑on learning, practical demos and plenty of networking with the AI community. This isn’t just another AI event, it’s where builders meet to talk real code. ➡️ Register now!Partner Blog | Expanded partner benefits are now available: What’s new in February 2026
Expanded partner benefits are now available across the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program. These updates reflect continued investment in the tools, resources, and support partners rely on to build, differentiate, and grow, and they incorporate feedback we hear consistently across the ecosystem. If you read our January post about planning ahead for the February refresh, this is the follow-up: the new benefits are now rolling out, and partners with eligible offers will find them in Partner Center as they become available. What’s new You’ll find a range of meaningful additions designed to empower you to move faster with AI, support security needs, and improve go-to-market execution. Highlights include: Copilot additions in select offers: The FY26 refresh introduces new Copilot-related benefits across parts of the program, including Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, and Microsoft Dragon Copilot (per user) in select partner offers where available. Security benefits expansion: Security-focused benefits have been broadened, including additions such as Microsoft Defender Suite, Microsoft Entra Suite, and Microsoft Intune Suite in select offerings. Azure credit updates: Azure benefits are being updated across multiple offers, including new additions and increases in value for certain cloud benefits. These credits are designed to support solution development, testing, and expansion of your practice. Go-to-market resources: As partners continue to access marketing benefits and resources through the program, Microsoft is simplifying discovery and execution—so you can bring campaigns to market with less friction. Continue reading here
Unleashing New Business Opportunities for Microsoft Partners with PostgreSQL & MySQL on Azure
The latest innovations announced at Microsoft Ignite 2025 for PostgreSQL and MySQL running on Azure are more than just technical upgrades—they’re a launchpad for new business growth, deeper customer engagement, and accelerated digital transformation. Here’s how these advancements can help you deliver greater value and unlock new opportunities for your clients. 1. Introducing Azure HorizonDB: Built for Performance and AI Workloads We’re excited to unveil Azure HorizonDB in private preview—a new, fully managed PostgreSQL service engineered for business and developers alike. HorizonDB is designed for ultra-low latency, high read scale, and built-in AI capabilities, offering seamless scaling up to 192 virtual cores and 128 TB of storage. Deep integration with developer tools, including GitHub Copilot, delivers performance, resilience, and simplicity at any scale. With HorizonDB, teams can: Build AI apps at scale using advanced DiskANN vector indexing, pre-provisioned AI models, semantic search, and unified support for both relational and graph data. Accelerate app development with built-in extensions, including the PostgreSQL extension for Visual Studio Code integrated with GitHub Copilot. Copilot in VS Code is context-aware for PostgreSQL and enables one-click performance debugging. Unlock data insights through deep integrations with Microsoft Fabric and Microsoft Foundry. Expect reliability with enterprise-ready features from day one, including Entra ID integration, Private Link networking, and Azure Defender for Cloud. Business Opportunity: Position your practice as an early adopter and expert in next-generation database solutions. Position your practice as an early adopter and expert in next-generation database solutions by introducing customers to Azure HorizonDB. Use this conversation to offer migration, modernization, and AI-powered application development services leveraging Azure Database for PostgreSQL with future migrations to HorizonDB. Help clients build resilient, high-performance, and intelligent data platforms—driving new revenue streams and deeper customer engagement. 2. Modernize Data Infrastructure with Limitless Scale and Performance Azure’s new Elastic Clusters in Azure Database for PostgreSQL enable organizations to scale their databases horizontally across multiple nodes, supporting virtually unlimited throughput and storage. This means you can help clients build and grow multi-tenant SaaS applications and large-scale analytics solutions without the complexity of manual sharding or the limitations of legacy infrastructure. Azure’s managed service automates shard management, tenant isolation, and cross-node query coordination, freeing up your teams to focus on innovation instead of administration. Business Opportunity: Position your practice as the go-to partner for scalable, future-proof data platforms. Offer migration services, architecture consulting, and managed solutions that leverage Azure’s unique scale-out capabilities. 3. Accelerate Innovation with AI-Ready Databases Azure is leading the way in AI integration for open-source databases. With the PostgreSQL extension for Visual Studio Code and native Microsoft Foundry support, developers can build smarter apps and AI agents leveraging advanced AI capabilities directly in the database. Features like natural language querying, vector search, and seamless Copilot integration mean your clients can unlock new insights and automate processes faster than ever. Business Opportunity: Expand your offerings to include AI-powered analytics, intelligent agent development, and custom Copilot solutions. Help organizations harness their data for real-time decision-making and enhanced customer experiences. 4. Simplify and Accelerate Migrations from Legacy Systems The new AI-assisted Oracle to PostgreSQL migration tool dramatically reduces the effort and risk of moving off expensive, proprietary databases. Integrated into the PostgreSQL extension for VS Code, it automates schema and code conversion, provides inline AI explanations, and ensures secure, context-aware migrations. Business Opportunity: Lead migration projects that deliver rapid ROI. Offer assessment, planning, and execution services to help clients escape legacy costs and embrace open-source flexibility on Azure. 5. Enable Seamless Analytics and Real-Time Insights With support for Parquet in the Azure storage extension for PostgreSQL and Fabric zero-ETL mirroring for Azure Database for MySQL and Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Azure is bridging operational databases and analytics platforms. Business Opportunity: Build solutions that unify data estates, streamline analytics workflows, and deliver actionable intelligence. Position your team as experts in data integration and real-time analytics. 6. Drive Industry-Specific Transformation Ignite 2025 showcases real-world success stories from industries like healthcare (Apollo Hospitals), automotive (GM), and finance (Nasdaq), demonstrating how Azure’s open-source databases power resilient, scalable, and AI-driven solutions. Business Opportunity: Use these case studies to inspire clients in regulated or complex sectors. Offer tailored solutions that meet strict compliance, security, and performance requirements. Why Partners Win with Azure’s Latest Innovations Faster time-to-value: Help clients adopt the latest tech with minimal downtime and risk. Expanded service portfolio: From migration to AI, analytics to managed services, the new capabilities open doors to new revenue streams. Trusted platform: Azure’s enterprise-grade security, compliance, and high availability mean you can deliver solutions with confidence. Ready to help your customers achieve more? Dive deeper into the Ignite 2025 announcements and start building the next generation of intelligent, scalable, and AI-powered solutions on Microsoft Azure. Learn more here: https://ignite.microsoft.com/en-US/home
