Accelerating AI Innovation with Microsoft Marketplace: Key Takeaways from AI Tour London
At the recent AI Tour in London, I had the opportunity to connect with partners and customers to discuss how organizations are accelerating artificial intelligence adoption through the marketplace ecosystem. One theme came through clearly: Microsoft Marketplace is becoming a key platform for discovering, purchasing, and scaling AI solutions - and ultimatley enterprise wide deploying through partner-led private offers. In my latest article, I share key takeaways from the event, including how developers and channel partners are using Microsoft Marketplace to bring AI innovations to market faster, simplify procurement for customers, and drive new growth opportunities across the partner ecosystem. Read the full article to learn how Microsoft Marketplace is helping organizations move from AI experimentation to real business impact—and what these insights mean for partners building and selling AI-powered solutions. https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/marketplace-blog/how-microsoft-marketplace-is-accelerating…Microsoft at NVIDIA GTC 2026
Microsoft returns to NVIDIA GTC 2026 in San Jose with a strong presence across conference sessions, in‑booth theater talks, live demos, and executive‑level ancillary events. Together with NVIDIA and our partner ecosystem, Microsoft is showcasing how Azure AI infrastructure enables AI training, inference, and production at global scale. Visit us at Booth #521 to see the latest innovations in action and connect with Azure and NVIDIA experts. Exclusive GTC Experiences LEGO® Datacenter Model Explore Azure AI infrastructure at the Park Container. Candy Lounge Visit the high-traffic candy wall for co-branded treats all day long. Networking Lounge Relax and recharge with comfy seating and vital charging options. Outdoor Juice Truck Free, refreshing beverages served during outdoor park hours. Sponsored Breakout Sessions Microsoft Featured Reinventing Semiconductor Design with Microsoft Discovery S82398 · Mon, Mar 16 · 4:00 PM Prashant Varshney Microsoft · Semiconductor & AI Engineering Abstract: Semiconductor teams face exploding design complexity and shrinking verification windows. This session shows how the Microsoft Discovery AI for Science platform, combined with Synopsys Agent Engineers, introduces an agentic approach to EDA that automates routine steps and accelerates expert decision-making on Azure. Microsoft Featured Operationalizing Agentic AI at Hyperscale S82399 · Tue, Mar 17 · 1:00 PM Nitin Nagarkatte Microsoft · Azure AI Infrastructure Anand Raman Microsoft · Azure AI Vipul Modi Microsoft · AI Systems Abstract: As enterprises move to agentic systems, the challenge shifts to operating intelligent agents reliably at scale. This session demonstrates how Microsoft builds AI Factories on Azure using NVIDIA technology and explores Microsoft Foundry as the control plane for deploying and operating coordinated AI agents. Live from GTC: AI Podcast Dayan Rodriguez Corporate Vice President Global Manufacturing and Mobility Alistair Spiers General Manager Azure Infrastructure Live Special Feature A conversation with Microsoft Azure Listen & Subscribe: aka.ms/GTC2026Podcast Scan to Listen Earned Conference Sessions Don't miss these high-impact sessions where Microsoft and NVIDIA leaders discuss the future of AI factories and infrastructure. Mon · Mar 16 5:00 PM Drive Optimal Tokens per Watt on AI Infrastructure Using Benchmarking Recipes Speakers: Paul Edwards, Emily Potyraj Microsoft, NVIDIA Tue · Mar 17 9:00 AM Autonomous AI Factories: Technical Preview of Agent-Native Production Speakers: JP Vasseur, César Martinez Spessot NVIDIA, Microsoft Research Tue · Mar 17 4:00 PM The Road to Intelligent Mobility: Vehicle GenAI Speakers: Raj Paul, Thomas Evans, Bryan Goodman Microsoft, NVIDIA, Bosch Wed · Mar 18 9:00 AM Supercharging AI with Multi-Gigawatt AI Factories Speakers: Gilad Shainer, Peter Salanki, Evan Burness NVIDIA, CoreWeave, Meta, Microsoft Daily Booth Theater Schedule Visit the Microsoft Theater for lightning talks from engineering leaders and partners. Monday, March 16 2:00 PM BTH208 · NVIDIA Accelerate AI Innovation on Azure with NVIDIA Run:ai — Rob Magno 2:30 PM BTH202 · General Robotics Models to Machines: Deploying Agentic AI in Real-World Robotics — Dinesh Narayanan 3:00 PM BTH200 · Fractal Analytics From Generalist to Enterprise-Ready: Fractal Builds Domain AI — C. Chaudhuri 3:30 PM BTH109 · Microsoft Agentic cloud ops - Smarter Operations with Azure Copilot — Jyoti Sharma 4:00 PM BTH103 · Microsoft Build a Deep Research Agent for Enterprise Data — D. Casati, A. Slutsky, H. Alkemade 4:30 PM BTH205 · NetApp Azure NetApp Files: Powering Your Data for AI Capabilities — Andy Chan 5:00 PM BTH207 · NVIDIA The Agentic Commerce Stack: Open Models on Azure — Antonio Martinez 5:30 PM BTH217 · OPAQUE Confidential AI on Azure Unlocks Sovereign AI at Scale — Aaron Fulkerson 6:00 PM BTH218 · Simplismart Making BYOC work at scale with modular inference — Amritanshu Jain 6:30 PM Expo Reception Tuesday, March 17 1:30 PM BTH100 · Microsoft From Open Weights to Enterprise Scale: Open-Source Models — Sharmila Chockalingam 2:00 PM BTH212 · Personal AI Unlocking the power of memory in Teams with Personal AI — Sam Harkness 2:30 PM BTH111 · Microsoft / NVIDIA Scalable LLM Inference on AKS Using NVIDIA Dynamo — Mohamad Al jazaery, Anton Slutsky 3:00 PM BTH204 · Mistral AI Innovate with Mistral AI on Microsoft Foundry — Ian Mathew 3:30 PM BTH104 · Microsoft GPU-Accelerated CFD at Scale: Star-CCM+ on Azure — Jason Scheffelmaer 4:00 PM BTH206 · NeuBird AI Agentic AI for Incident Response on Microsoft Azure — Grant Griffiths 4:30 PM BTH101 · GitHub Agentic DevOps: Evolving software with GitHub Copilot — Glenn Wester 5:00 PM BTH209 · Rescale Real-World AI Physics: GM & NVIDIA on Rescale — Dinal Perera 5:30 PM BTH107 · Microsoft Intro to LoRA Fine-Tuning on Azure — Christin Pohl 6:30 PM Raffle Wednesday, March 18 1:00 PM BTH219 · VAST Data Scaling AI Infrastructure on Azure with VAST Data — Jason Vallery 1:30 PM BTH110 · Microsoft Physical AI and Robotics: The Next Frontier — F. Miller, C. Souche, D. Narayanan 2:00 PM BTH105 · Microsoft Sovereign AI options with Azure Local — Kim Lam 2:30 PM BTH108 · Microsoft Automating HPC Workflows with Copilot Agents — Param Shah 3:00 PM BTH102 · Microsoft Trustworthy Multi-Agent Workflows with Microsoft Foundry — Brian Benz 4:00 PM BTH106 · Microsoft Scaling Enterprise AI on ARO with NVIDIA H100 & H200 — Lachie Evenson 4:30 PM BTH211 · WEKA Hybrid AI Data Orchestration with WEKA NeuralMesh™ — Desiree Campbell 5:00 PM BTH202 · Hammerspace NVIDIA AI Enterprise Software with NIM — Mike Bloom 5:30 PM BTH203 · Kinaxis Reimagining Global Supply Planning with Azure — Dane Henshall 6:00 PM BTH214 · AT&T Connected AI on Azure for Manufacturing — Brad Pritchett 6:30 PM Raffle Thursday, March 19 11:00 AM BTH210 · Wandelbots Physical AI: Powering Software-Defined Automation in Robotics — Marwin Kunz, Martin George 11:30 AM Raffle Explore Our Demo Pods Visit the Microsoft booth to see our technology in action with live demonstrations across four dedicated pod areas. POD 1 Azure AI Infrastructure End‑to‑end AI infrastructure for training and inference at scale, featuring the latest NVIDIA GPU integrations on Azure. POD 2 Microsoft Foundry Our comprehensive platform for building, deploying, and operating agentic AI systems with enterprise reliability. POD 3 Building AI Together Showcasing joint Microsoft and NVIDIA solutions across diverse industries, from manufacturing to retail. POD 4 Startups Powering AI Discover how innovative startups are running next‑generation AI workloads on the Azure platform. Ancillary Events & Networking Join Microsoft leadership and our partner ecosystem at these curated networking experiences. Click the location to view on Bing Maps. Sun · Mar 15 6:00 PM Microsoft for Startups Executive Leadership Dinner 📍 Morton’s Steakhouse, San Jose Exclusive gathering for startup leaders and Microsoft executives. Mon · Mar 16 1:30 PM Microsoft × NVIDIA Open Meet 📍 Signia by Hilton · International Suite Strategic alignment session for Microsoft and NVIDIA executives. Mon · Mar 16 7:30 PM Microsoft + NVIDIA Executive Dinner 📍 Il Fornaio, San Jose Executive dinner for key customers and leadership teams. Tue · Mar 17 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM Microsoft AI Luncheon: Research, Robotics, & Real‑World AI 📍 Signia by Hilton · International Suite Invite-only: A curated executive lunch exploring the journey from AI research to physical enterprise deployments in robotics and manufacturing. Tue · Mar 17 7:30 PM Networking in AI & Tech 📍 San Pedro Square Market Community networking mixer for Microsoft teams, partners, and customers. Wed · Mar 18 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM AI Innovator’s Circle Brunch: Powering Intelligent Systems Across the Ecosystem 📍 Il Fornaio, San Jose Hosted by Microsoft & NVIDIA at GTC. Join us for an exclusive brunch and discussion on the intelligent ecosystem.Microsoft Pre-Day: Your first look at what’s next in Security
Kick off RSAC 2026 on Sunday, March 22 at the Palace Hotel for Microsoft Pre‑Day, an exclusive experience designed to set the tone for the week ahead. Hear keynote insights from Vasu Jakkal, CVP of Microsoft Security Business and other Microsoft security leaders as they explore how AI and agents are reshaping the security landscape. You’ll discover how Microsoft is advancing agentic defense, informed by more than 100 trillion security signals each day. You’ll learn how solutions like Agent 365 deliver observability at every layer, and how Microsoft’s purpose‑built security capabilities help you secure every layer of the AI stack. You’ll also explore how our expert-led services can help you defend against cyberthreats, build cyber resilience, and transform your security operations. The experience concludes with opportunities to connect, including a networking reception and an invite-only dinner for CISOs and security executives. Microsoft Pre‑Day is your chance to hear what is coming next and prepare for the week ahead. Secure your spot today.Marketplace trainings and events calendar (updated 03/06/26)
-Welcome to our calendar for accessing upcoming Marketplace trainings and events, along with links to recent resources. This page is a go-to resource for discovering training sessions and events designed specifically for software development companies related to Microsoft Marketplace. Whether you’re building innovative solutions or publishing to the commercial marketplace, you’ll find content to help you stay ahead in today’s fast-moving tech landscape. We’ve organized dedicated areas for partners and customers, making it easy to find sessions most relevant to your needs. Some events are upcoming, while others are past recordings that remain valuable for learning and growth. This page is updated frequently with new opportunities. Be sure to subscribe for notifications; instructions are provided at the bottom of this post. Explore the upcoming AI events below, revisit past sessions, and feel free to comment with any questions. ****Sessions updated as of 03/06/2026**** Partner and Channel Partner sessions Upcoming sessions Date Time Area Title Description Link 03/11/26 8:30 AM PDT Partner Session AI-powered automation for Marketplace private offers and IP co-sell Learn from guest speaker Kyle Heisner, Suger, how software development companies can use AI-powered automation to simplify buying through Microsoft Marketplace, streamline private offers, and optimize co-selling opportunities. AI-powered automation for Marketplace private offers and IP co-sell 03/18/26 8:30 AM PDT Office Hours Build, publish, and optimize Marketplace offers with App Advisor Learn what App Advisor is, how it works, and how it can help partners accelerate Marketplace offer creation. Live demo walk through; validating value to publishing and optimizing your listing. Build, publish, and optimize Marketplace offers with App Advisor 04/15/26 8:30 AM PDT Office Hours Marketplace Office Hours for Partners Tune in for updates, insights, and live Q&A to help you sell through Microsoft Marketplace. Topic TBD. April 2026 Office Hours 05/20/26 8:30 AM PDT Office Hours Marketplace Office Hours for Partners Tune in for updates, insights, and live Q&A to help you sell through Microsoft Marketplace. Topic TBD. May 2026 Office Hours 06/17/26 8:30 AM PDT Office Hours Marketplace Office Hours for Partners Tune in for updates, insights, and live Q&A to help you sell through Microsoft Marketplace. Topic TBD. June 2026 Office Hours Recent Recorded Sessions Date Area Title Description Link 02/25/26 Partner Session Inside Azure IP co-sell: What high-performing software developers do differently Get an inside look at the signals Microsoft uses to evaluate Marketplace and Azure IP co-sell readiness with insights from Barbara Treviño of Labra. Learn what top software companies do differently to accelerate approvals and boost GTM impact. View the recording 02/18/26 Office Hours (Partner) How to build a Microsoft Marketplace channel practice Building a successful Marketplace practice takes the right people, process, and strategy working together. Learn how top performing partners organize their teams across alliances, operations and leadership View the recording 1/21/26 Office Hours (Partner) Microsoft Partner Center reporting Get to know the Partner Center Insights and Earnings workspaces. Walk through Earnings, Customer, Order, Usage and Revenue reports. View the recording 12/18/25 Office Hours (Partner) Introducing resale enabled offers Explore resale enabled offers through Microsoft Marketplace. View recording 12/04/25 Partner Session AI-powered acceleration: scale faster on Microsoft Marketplace Go beyond listing basics and explore how Microsoft Marketplace can act as a strategic revenue engine. View recording 11/04/25 Partner Session How to structure your Microsoft Partner Center account for long-term success Learn best practices for setting up your Partner Center account for operational and marketplace success. View recording 08/28/25 Office Hours (Partner) Certified software designations: FY26 benefits updates Overview of certified software designations and FY26 benefit updates. View recording Customer sessions Upcoming sessions Date Time Area Title Description Link 03/25/26 9:30 AM PDT Office Hours (Customer) Charting your AI strategy for manufacturing with Marketplace Build, buy, or blend? Gain the insights you need as a manufacturer to scale AI apps and agents across the factory floor using Microsoft Marketplace. Hear about practical manufacturing scenarios Charting your AI strategy for manufacturing with Marketplace 04/29/26 8:30 AM PDT Office Hours (Customer) Marketplace Office Hours for Customers Tune in for updates, insights, and live Q&A to help use Microsoft Marketplace. Topic TBD. April 2026 Customer Office Hour 05/27/26 8:30 AM PDT Office Hours (Customer) Marketplace Office Hours for Customers Tune in for updates, insights, and live Q&A to help use Microsoft Marketplace. Topic TBD. May 2026 Customer Office Hour 06/24/26 9:30 AM PDT Office Hours (Customer) Marketplace Office Hours for Customers Tune in for updates, insights, and live Q&A to help use Microsoft Marketplace. Topic TBD. June 2026 Customer Office Hour Recorded sessions Date Area Title Description Link 02/25/26 Office Hours (Customer) Accelerate AI adoption through Microsoft Marketplace Explore practical AI use cases available through Microsoft Marketplace - from prebuilt AI apps and agents to AI-powered solutions that simplify deployment. View the recording 01/28/26 Office Hours (Customer) Optimize cloud cost and performance Learn proven strategies to accelerate time-to-value for cloud and AI investments using Microsoft Marketplace. View the recording 12/11/25 Office Hours (Customer) Chart your AI app and agent strategy Insights into build, buy, or blend approaches for AI apps and agents using Microsoft Marketplace. View recording 07/30/25 Office Hours (Customer) FinOps and the Microsoft Marketplace Learn how Microsoft Marketplace supports FinOps practitioners and accelerates AI transformation. View recording Subscribe to this post If you're not already a Tech Community member, create an account at techcommunity.microsoft.com. Select Subscribe from the three‑dot menu in the upper‑right corner of this post. Under Notification Settings, choose to be notified of edits and comments, and select whether you'd like updates immediately, daily, or weekly (weekly recommended). You can also subscribe to the entire Marketplace Community via the Marketplace Community homepage. ``Certified Software Designations: FY26 Benefits Updates
If you are a software development company selling through the Microsoft commercial marketplace, don’t miss this office hours session. Learn how to stand out to Microsoft customers and sellers -- and unlock the top-tier of benefits available to software development company partners. Walk away with a better understanding of: Certified software designation: What it is and why it matters FY26 updates: New benefits and incentives for designated partners Getting started: Steps to begin your designation journey Where can I access the deck? Click here to download the slides presented in this session of Office Hours. When is the next Office Hours session? Bookmark the Marketplace Community for announcements about upcoming Office Hours events.Office hours for partners: Marketplace rewards for FY26
If you are a software company or channel partner selling through the Microsoft commercial marketplace, don’t miss our first Office Hours session of the new fiscal year! We start with an update on Marketplace Rewards for channel partners, which is now generally available for FY26. We then dive into the following topics and answer your questions live: Marketplace Rewards benefit tiers and changes from the pilot program Essential tips for utilizing Microsoft Azure Sponsorship to win multiparty private offer deals Lessons learned from successful partners Where can I access the deck? Click here to download the slides presented in this session of Office Hours. When is the next Office Hours session? Bookmark the Marketplace Community for announcements about upcoming Office Hours events.Ask Microsoft Anything: Data & AI Security in the Real World
At RSA this year, we’re hosting Ask the Experts: Data & AI Security in the Real World a live, unscripted conversation with Microsoft Security engineers and product leaders who are actively building and securing AI systems on a scale. And if you’re not attending in person, you can join the conversation online through Tech Community. What to Expect This is not a traditional conference session. There are no slide decks. There’s no product pitch. Instead, we’ll host an open AMA-style discussion where security practitioners can ask: Implementation questions Architecture questions Lessons learned from early deployments You’ll hear directly from the engineers and security leaders responsible for securing Microsoft AI systems and customer environments. Topics We’ll Cover While the format is open, we expect to dive into areas like: Data protection strategies for AI workloads Securing copilots and generative AI integrations Identity and access controls for AI services Monitoring, logging, and anomaly detection Join Us at RSA or Online If you’re attending RSA, join us live and bring your toughest questions. If you’re remote, participate through Tech Community; where you can post questions in advance or engage during the live discussion. The conversation will remain open afterward so practitioners across time zones can continue the dialogue. Hope to see you there! Tech Community Event LinkMeet with us in Vegas! Marketplace sponsoring Channel Partners Conference
The Microsoft Marketplace team is excited to sponsor the Channel Partners Conference & Expo, April 13–16 at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, and connect with the advisors, resellers, and services partners who are delivering value for customers every day. We want to meet you! Throughout the week, Marketplace experts will lead sessions, host conversations at our booth, and support private meetings to help you activate and accelerate your Marketplace strategy. Read the blog to learn how to connect with us and even get FREE or DISCOUNTED passes if you're a channel partner: Microsoft Marketplace at Channel Partners Conference & Expo 2026 | Microsoft Community HubMicrosoft Marketplace at Channel Partners Conference & Expo 2026
If you’re a channel partner, you’ve probably felt the shift: customers are relying on trusted advisors like you now more than ever as they transition to an AI-first world. As part of this change, channel‑led sales through Microsoft Marketplace have grown rapidly over the past year, fueled by new offer constructs and simplified procurement paths that make it easier for partners to source, bundle, and deliver the cloud and AI solutions customers need, while accelerating deals and expanding their services footprint. To continue to drive momentum with channel-led sales, the Marketplace team is excited to sponsor the Channel Partners Conference & Expo, April 13–16 at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, and connect with the advisors, resellers, and services partners who are delivering value for customers every day. How to engage with Microsoft Marketplace at the event We want to meet you! Throughout the week, Marketplace experts will lead sessions, host conversations at our booth, and support private meetings to help you activate and accelerate your Marketplace strategy. ✔ Join our sessions Keynote interview: Scaling channel impact in an AI-first world with Microsoft Marketplace Tech sponsor session: Unlock the channel opportunity through Microsoft Marketplace Theater session: 5 tips for channel success through Microsoft Marketplace ✔ Visit us onsite Stop by our booth (#1536) to meet experts and learn how partners are using Marketplace to: Pair your solutions with vetted offerings Accelerate vendor relationships Scale faster with bigger deals ✔ Request a private meeting If your team will be in Las Vegas, we’d love to connect. Submit a meeting request here. Register with our sponsor discount code As a Platinum Sponsor, we’re pleased to offer complimentary Expo + Keynote passes and discounted Standard and Premium passes. Use code “Microsoft” when registering here. We hope to see you in Las Vegas!
