Using App Advisor to build, publish, and grow in Microsoft Marketplace
In a recent partner office hour webinar, experts walked through how to build, publish, and optimize Marketplace offers using App Advisor, complete with a live demo of the platform in action. This article summarizes the key insights from that session and highlights how you can apply them to your own Marketplace journey. Navigating the path from idea to a successful Microsoft Marketplace offer can feel overwhelming. With countless resources, technical requirements, and go-to-market decisions to make, many software companies struggle to stay focused on what matters most. That’s where App Advisor comes in. App Advisor is a self-service, end-to-end guidance experience designed to help you build, publish, and grow high-performing marketplace offers, all with tailored, actionable recommendations based on your specific scenario. In this article, we break down how App Advisor supports every stage of your offer journey and how you can use it to drive better outcomes faster. What is App Advisor and why it matters App Advisor brings together curated Microsoft guidance, interactive tools, and AI-powered recommendations into a single experience. Instead of searching across scattered documentation, you get step-by-step, personalized guidance aligned to: Your app type and architecture Your chosen marketplace offer model Your current stage in the journey The result? Less guesswork, faster execution, and higher-quality marketplace offers. The four key stages of the Marketplace journey 1. Discover: Validate the opportunity Before building, it’s critical to understand the business value of Microsoft Marketplace. App Advisor helps you: Evaluate the business opportunity of building on Microsoft technology Understand the value of selling through marketplace Explore available partner benefits and incentives A standout feature here is the Marketplace Value Calculator, which allows you to: Estimate revenue potential Compare transaction costs vs. benefits Generate a business case to share with leadership 2. Build: Accelerate development with confidence In the build phase, App Advisor connects you with: Code templates and reference architectures SDKs, APIs, and technical documentation Free tools, cloud credits, and development resources A newly integrated Quick Start Development Toolkit helps you: Match your app idea to proven development patterns Access deployable code repositories Speed up time-to-market with ready-to-use solutions You also gain guidance on building secure, compliant, and well-architected applications, ensuring your solution is marketplace-ready from the start. 3. Publish: Simplify offer creation and launch Publishing in Microsoft Marketplace involves multiple steps—from selecting the right offer type to configuring listings and pricing. App Advisor simplifies this by: Helping you choose the right marketplace offer type Guiding you through pricing models and selling options Providing step-by-step Partner Center instructions Highlighting common pitfalls and certification requirements The platform dynamically adapts guidance based on your selections, ensuring you only see what’s relevant to your scenario. 4. Grow: Optimize, sell, and scale Publishing your offer is just the beginning. Growth requires continuous optimization and active selling. App Advisor supports this with: AI-powered listing optimization Receive a quality score for your marketplace listing Get actionable recommendations across key areas like value proposition, content clarity, and visual assets Improve discoverability and customer engagement by connecting to your offer so you can edit today Go-to-market and sales guidance Learn how to promote your offer effectively Use tracking tools and analytics to refine performance Access co-branded marketing assets and toolkits Advanced selling strategies Create private offers with custom pricing and terms Partner with resellers and channel partners Scale through CSP and multi-party private offers Unlock benefits and incentives Earn cloud credits and marketplace rewards Leverage co-sell opportunities with Microsoft sellers Accelerate deals with incentives and partner programs The benefits of using App Advisor throughout the journey Using App Advisor consistently across all stages delivers significant advantages: ✔ Personalized guidance- No more generic documentation, get recommendations tailored to your app, technology, and goals. ✔ Faster time to market- Reduce delays with step-by-step instructions, pre-built templates, and streamlined workflows. ✔ Higher quality listings- AI-driven insights help you create compelling, optimized marketplace listings that convert. ✔ Improved discoverability- By following best practices, you increase your chances of being found and chosen by customers. ✔ Better sales outcomes- Access tools and strategies to promote, track, and close deals more effectively. ✔ Continuous optimization- Return anytime to refine your listing, improve performance, and unlock new growth opportunities. App Advisor is valuable for everyone Whether you're: A first-time publisher exploring marketplace opportunities An experienced software development company scaling multiple offers A marketing or sales stakeholder optimizing performance App Advisor provides value at every level. Watch the full webinar 👉 Be sure to watch the complete recorded session to see a detailed demo of App Advisor, showcasing how to navigate each stage and apply best practices in real time to get the most out of your Microsoft Marketplace journey. Partner office hour: Build, publish, and optimize marketplace offers with App Advisor By integrating App Advisor into your workflow, you’re not just building marketplace offers; you’re building better, faster, and more successful ones. Get started with App Advisor App Advisor is publicly available and free to use. Partners are encouraged to explore the experience firsthand and share feedback directly within App Advisor. App Advisor: https://aka.ms/appadvisor Marketplace Community: https://aka.ms/community/marketplaceGet personalized, fast recommendations for your Marketplace listing to boost your discoverability
First impressions matter on Microsoft Marketplace. In a growing and increasingly competitive catalog of apps and agents, the quality of your listing often determines whether a customer discovers, clicks, tries, or moves on. But most software companies are left guessing. Is your value proposition clear enough? Are your benefits compelling? Are you aligned with Marketplace best practices? Now, you don’t have to guess. Try it now: https://aka.ms/ImproveMyListing Why speed matters in a crowded Marketplace Marketplace visibility is competitive. Customers are comparing multiple solutions quickly. If your listing is unclear, vague, or missing key details, you may not get a second chance. Traditional listing optimization required: Trial-and-error updates, Waiting for manual review cycles, Interpreting best-practice documentation, Delayed feedback after publishing or guessing about feedback. Now, you can move at the speed of AI. This agentic capability, trained on the best practices of listings and the extensive experience of Marketplace Reward expert editors, scans your public Marketplace listing and delivers: Targeted, focused recommendations, A clear rating across six critical categories customers care about, Immediate guidance aligned to Microsoft Marketplace best practices. Anyone can get objective feedback in seconds — not weeks. "To make sure that the quality of our listings stays at a consistently high score is going to be really valuable for us and we can make changes to our listings more often and with more confidence." -Dan Langille, VP Mover Engagement and Customer Experience, Breakthru How the AI-powered listing optimization works The experience is intentionally simple. Sign in to App Advisor using your Partner Center account, Select your published publicly available Marketplace offer, Receive personalized recommendations in seconds. Anyone at your organization can use this feature, no special permissions required. Your listing is evaluated across six categories that directly impact discoverability and engagement: Value proposition Solution description Information quality Presentation Clarity and coherence Grammar and style Each category receives a 1–5 score. You see exactly where to improve and why. After reviewing your recommendations, you can edit your listing in Partner Center, republish, and rescan after 24 hours to measure progress. No waiting. No guesswork. No cost. Built on Microsoft expertise This AI capability is trained on Marketplace best practices and the editorial methodology used by Microsoft experts reviewing thousands of listings. You’re not receiving generic AI suggestions. You’re getting structured, Marketplace-aligned guidance designed to help your listing: Improve clarity and positioning Increase search discoverability Strengthen engagement signals Better communicate value to buyers Because insights are AI-generated, you should review and validate each recommendation before publishing changes. But the speed and structure dramatically reduce friction. Designed for software companies who want to stand out Marketplace is not just a publishing channel. It is a competitive sales surface. High-quality listings: Convert more trials, Communicate value faster, Generate stronger engagement, Differentiate you from similar offers. This capability democratizes listing optimization. Previously constrained by availability, it is now available on demand to any organization with a public Marketplace listing in the US. Have multiple listings? Scan them all. Iterate as often as you need. Stop waiting. Start optimizing. What this means for your Marketplace growth Optimization is no longer a one-time activity. It becomes an iterative advantage. Scan. Improve. Republish. Rescan. Over time, this creates compounding improvements in discoverability and engagement — helping your app or agent rise above the noise. Ready to improve your listing today? Visit https://aka.ms/ImproveMyListing Sign in, select your offer, and get recommendations in seconds.Unlock 5 powerful App Advisor capabilities to sell faster on Microsoft Marketplace
Software companies building apps and agents move quickly. But speed alone isn’t enough. Teams also need clear guidance on development decisions, publishing steps, and how to bring solutions to Microsoft Marketplace. App Advisor helps streamline that process. App Advisor helps streamline the process for anyone, with no barriers to start. However, when you sign in and authenticate, the experience becomes even more powerful. Here are 5 reasons to authenticate in App Advisor. 1. Manage multiple app or agent projects in one place Many software companies work on several apps or agents at once. Each may be at a different stage — from early design to publishing. Signing in to App Advisor unlocks multi-project save, allowing you to manage multiple projects in one place, complete with step-by-step guidance. This allows you to: Track several apps or agents simultaneously. Save project name and development progress. Connect to correlating existing Partner Center offers. Resume work later on offers without restarting the process. Save your progress on each app or agent across different devices and browsers. Instead of recreating your progress each time, your work is now saved and organized. You can access any of your projects whenever you want to work on them in the Your projects section of App Advisor above the steps. 2. Get personalized guidance based on your benefits When you sign in, App Advisor can personalize recommendations to your current benefit membership and help guide you to the next step. Guidance adapts based on: Your Microsoft AI Cloud Partner program membership. Your eligibility for benefits based on ISV Success or Azure IP Co-Sell. Your Marketplace Billed Sales (MBS) and Marketplace Rewards benefits. This helps reduce time spent searching through documentation and surfaces the most relevant guidance for your scenario. The result: clearer decisions and faster development cycles. 3. Start Marketplace offers directly from App Advisor Signed in users can create Marketplace offers directly inside App Advisor, which will create your record in Partner Center. Supported offer types include: SaaS offers. Azure Container offers. Azure Virtual Machine offers. These represent the majority of Marketplace listings today. Want to use a different Marketplace offer type? No problem! App Advisor can still curate guidance for you based on your desired offer type. Once started, the offer is automatically saved in Partner Center, allowing your team to continue configuration without losing progress. After choosing your offer type, additional guidance within App Advisor is focused on steps applicable to that offer type. This simplifies the transition from development to publishing. Sign up for partner programs without leaving your workflow. 4. Signing in also allows you to enroll in partner programs directly within App Advisor. You can start sign-up for programs such as: ISV Success. Publisher enrollment. Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program (if applicable). This makes it easier to unlock benefits like development resources, go-to-market support, and cloud credits while staying focused on building your solution. After you are enrolled, App Advisor continues to personalize content based on that membership. 5. Coming soon: Instant recommendations for your Marketplace offers A new capability launching soon will allow software companies to sign in, choose a publicly available Marketplace offer, and get actionable recommendations to improve the listing in seconds. Directly within App Advisor. By scanning your listing, App Advisor will quickly provide recommendations to help you: Improve listing quality. Increase discoverability. Boost engagement from the right customers. You’ll receive targeted suggestions in seconds, based on an AI model trained on best practices for Microsoft Marketplace listings and on expert editorial feedback. You’ll then be able to click right to your listing in Partner Center and implement your recommendations. This empowers you to improve your listing without waiting for any manual review. Ready to unlock the full App Advisor experience? Authenticating in App Advisor turns it from a guidance tool into a workspace designed to help you build, publish, and sell apps and agents on Microsoft Marketplace. Sign in to App Advisor to save your projects, receive personalized recommendations, and move faster toward Marketplace success.Microsoft Marketplace Partner Digest
March marks a strong quarter of momentum across the Microsoft Marketplace ecosystem, with partners scaling their businesses while delivering high quality customer experiences—directly, through the channel, and alongside Microsoft. From monetizing AI innovation to streamlining post purchase workflows and co-selling motions, partners continue to turn Marketplace readiness into real, repeatable growth. This month’s digest highlights the insights, updates, and opportunities helping software companies meet customers where and how they choose to buy. Articles worth reading As more partners race to build AI apps and agents, the real differentiator is turning that innovation into recurring revenue through scalable sales motions. Microsoft’s Brady Bumgarner shares how App Advisor helps teams think about monetization well before they publish an offer, empowering partners to launch with confidence and scale faster. 🚀 Learn more about AI app and agent monetization Brady also breaks down how combining Marketplace transactable offers with Azure IP co-sell readiness turns co-selling into a true growth engine. More partners are leveraging the insights and guidance available through App Advisor to build repeatable co-selling muscle memory. 🔄️See how co-selling with Microsoft can accelerate your business growth As customers move to AI‑first architectures, cloud cost optimization is becoming a core decision lens—not just an operational concern. In this post, Justin Royal explores how customers are rethinking cost, performance, and governance as continuous disciplines. For sellers, this has clear implications: customers increasingly expect flexibility in how solutions scale, perform, and are paid for, and those expectations should shape how software companies build, package, and position offers on Marketplace. 💸 Explore how customers are optimizing cloud spend as AI adoption scales Accelerate your Marketplace growth by delivering a seamless customer experience after the click. Marketplace Fulfillment APIs automate activation, entitlement, and subscription management so you can reduce friction, speed time‑to‑value, and scale globally with confidence. Explore how these APIs—and new Microsoft reference code—help product teams integrate faster and support every customer at every stage. 🔍 Discover how Marketplace Fulfillment APIs streamline and automate critical post purchase workflows Marketplace updates Dragon Copilot solutions in Microsoft Marketplace On March 5, we announced preview of Dragon Copilot solutions for Microsoft Marketplace. This enables software companies to build and sell AI apps and agents that integrate with Dragon Copilot, while allowing customers to discover and purchase solutions that work with their existing Microsoft investments. Software companies can build and publish their solutions using one of three offer types: Dragon Copilot Physician Apps and Agents (in preview now) Dragon Copilot Clinical App Connectors (coming soon) Dragon Copilot Radiology Apps and Agents (coming soon) Dragon Copilot is built for care teams including physicians, nurses, and radiologists and is already operating with more than 100,000 clinicians relying on it daily to support care for millions of patients each month. Steps you can take to get started: Read through our documentation on how extensions for Dragon Copilot work and how to build your own Check out the sample repo with sample code, and more Contact dragon_extensions@microsoft.com to inquire about joining preview 🐉 Learn how Dragon Copilot solutions are modernizing Healthcare Recent events How to build a Microsoft Marketplace channel practice In his recent webinar, Darren Sharpe highlights how partners are increasingly building their channel businesses with Microsoft Marketplace at the core—using it as a channel-led, Marketplace delivered growth engine. As buying shifts toward lineofbusiness leaders and decentralized procurement, Marketplace brings together discovery, governance, and enterprise purchasing in one place. Darren shares how partners that align sales, alliances, and operations around Marketplace are better positioned to drive repeatable growth, meeting customers where and how they choose to buy. 🎥 Watch on demand Inside Azure IP co-sell: What high-performing software companies do differently Get an insider’s view of what truly moves the needle for Microsoft Marketplace and Microsoft Azure IP co-sell success. Guest speaker Barbara Treviño breaks down the signals Microsoft prioritizes when assessing submission strength—helping software development companies understand what great looks like across architecture, messaging, evidence, and sequencing. You’ll learn why high performing software development companies approach readiness differently, and how that difference translates directly into smoother approvals and stronger GTM impact. 🎥 Watch on demand AI-powered automation for Marketplace private offers and IP co-sell Learn how software development companies can use AI-powered automation to simplify buying through Microsoft Marketplace, streamline Microsoft Marketplace private offers, and maximize the effectiveness of co-selling opportunities. Join Jon Yoo, Co-Founder & CEO at Suger, as he explores how reducing operational friction in Partner Center can help you accelerate deal velocity, improve collaboration with Microsoft sellers, and drive Azure adoption. 🎥 Watch on demand 📅 Coming up Partner office hour Build, publish, and optimize Marketplace offers with App Advisor Wednesday, Mar 18, 2026, 8:30 AM PDT Tune in for live demos and proven best practices on using App Advisor, Microsoft’s guided experience for Microsoft Marketplace success! Learn what App Advisor is, how it works, and how it can help partners accelerate Marketplace offer creation. Walk through key stages of the experience from validating value to publishing and optimizing your listing. ➡️ Get the meeting details Customer office hours Charting your AI strategy for manufacturing with Marketplace Wednesday, Mar 25, 2026, 9:30 AM PDT 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. We’ll go beyond AI theory and focus on practical manufacturing scenarios—connecting factory equipment, IoT, and enterprise systems into a unified foundation that enables analytics, digital twins, and AI agents. ➡️ Get the meeting details In-person events Channel Partners Conference & Expo 2026 Microsoft Marketplace is sponsoring Channel Partners Conference & Expo 2026 in Las Vegas, with interactive sessions, booth conversations, and private meetings focused on helping channel partners understand how Marketplace can simplify software purchasing for their customers. Partners can expect to learn how the expansive catalogue of products and services available from thousands of software companies delivered through channel-led sales capabilities are Marketplace enabled and accelerate AI‑ and cloud‑led sales through Marketplace. 📆 April 13-16, 2026 📍The Venetian Resort, Las Vegas ➡️ See the details and learn how to register Microsoft AI Tour Our series continues, coming to more cities around the globe. Bringing in‑person opportunities for partners to connect with Microsoft experts, explore innovation and get inspired. ➡️ Find your city and registerScale your sales growth with negotiated deals and reselling with ease
Negotiated deals are one of the most effective ways to grow larger, more flexible sales through Microsoft Marketplace. They let you align pricing, billing, and terms to how customers prefer to buy, without changing how your app or agent is built. That last point matters. Negotiated deals don’t require you to create a new app or agent. Instead, they let you repackage existing, publicly transactable offers with customized terms for specific customers or partners. The result is faster deal execution without added development overhead.Accelerate massive growth by co-selling through Microsoft Marketplace with App Advisor guidance
Co-selling with Microsoft is one of the most powerful growth levers available to software companies to sell to enterprises. But on its own, co-sell is not a strategy. The real acceleration happens when you combine them. When you publish a transactable offer in Microsoft Marketplace and make it Azure IP co-sell eligible, you unlock joint selling with Microsoft’s global field organization— and that changes the trajectory of your business. Here’s how to turn Marketplace plus co-sell into a growth engine. Why Marketplace & co-sell drive larger, faster deals Data consistently shows that co-sell deals outperform non-co-sell deals: Co-sell deals are ~ 30% larger, Co-sell deals close up to 2x faster, Microsoft sellers are incentivized to prioritize Azure IP co-sell eligible solutions. When your offer is transactable in Marketplace and co-sell eligible, three important things happen: Microsoft sellers can confidently introduce your solution to their enterprise accounts, Customers can apply purchases toward their Azure consumption commitments, Your offer becomes visible inside Microsoft’s internal sales systems. This reduces friction in procurement, increases executive visibility, and accelerates deal velocity. You’re no longer selling alone. You’re selling with leverage. The following is high-level guidance of the steps to start co-selling Want to skip right to the curated guidance? Go to App Advisor Step 1: Publish a transactable offer in Marketplace Co-sell begins with Marketplace readiness. To unlock Azure IP co-sell benefits, you must publish a transactable offer through one of these marketplace offer types: Software as a service (SaaS), Azure Application, Azure Container, Azure VM. If you sell apps or agents built on Microsoft 365 or Copilot, link your solution to a transactable SaaS offer to qualify. To see how Abnormal Security made the most of co-selling, see the blog and corresponding Co-Sell Coaching call. Step 2: Create a co-sell ready solution in Partner Center When publishing your offer, you can create a co-sell solution to activate visibility with Microsoft sellers. Inside the Referrals workspace in Partner Center: Create a co-sell solution, Classify your solution using Microsoft taxonomy, Upload required marketing collateral: Solution one-pager, pitch deck, reference architecture diagram (required for SaaS), Enter the link to your product's website to help Microsoft sales teams and channel resellers learn more about your solution, Add geographic sales contacts. This listing tells Microsoft sellers: Who to contact, What your solution does, Which Azure services it uses, Why they should bring you into a deal. Clear positioning drives seller confidence. Seller confidence drives joint opportunity. Step 3: Achieve Azure IP co-sell eligible status To become Azure IP co-sell eligible, you must meet performance or technical validation requirements. You can qualify by: Reaching $100K USD in trailing 12-month Marketplace billed sales or Azure Consumed Revenue (this is the fastest path to meeting that requirement) or Passing Microsoft technical validation confirming your solution is primarily built on Azure This status matters because: Customers can count the purchase toward Azure consumption commitments, Microsoft sellers are financially incentivized to include your solution, Your offer is labeled Azure benefit eligible. Customers being able to decrement their Azure consumption commitments can help draw engagement and interest to your app or agent. Step 4: Use referrals to build momentum High-performing software companies don’t just wait for Microsoft to bring opportunities. They submit referrals to help sell co-sell their app. Submitting referrals: Increases your visibility to Microsoft sellers, Signals strategic partnership depth, Opens doors to new seller collaboration, Provides insight into customer Azure commitments. Small actions compound. Referral discipline builds pipeline resilience. For more information about referrals, visit Generate, manage, and nurture leads step in App Advisor. Step 5: Use Marketplace Rewards to amplify co-sell Marketplace Rewards benefits strengthen your co-sell motion: Customer propensity scoring to prioritize Marketplace-ready buyers, Azure sponsorship credits to help close competitive deals, Microsoft seller webinars and solution spotlights. This is how you differentiate inside the ecosystem — not just with customers, but with Microsoft sellers. The growth shift: from independent seller to ecosystem player Software companies that treat Marketplace merely as a checkout page miss some amazing opportunities. Those that combine: Transactable offers, Azure IP co-sell eligibility, Strong co-sell collateral, Referral discipline, and Marketplace Rewards. Move from transactional selling to ecosystem selling. The result: Larger average deal sizes Shorter sales cycles Stronger executive alignment Increased visibility inside Microsoft accounts You’re no longer trying to break into enterprise deals. You’re already in the room. Ready to put your co-sell strategy into motion? Visit App Advisor to learn more about how to accelerate your growth with co-sell.Monetize your AI apps and agents on Marketplace to realize growth
Ready to stop guessing how to monetize your offer? Skip right to App Advisor Software development companies are building faster than ever. But when it comes to sales, the key to monetization happens early. Monetization, packaging, and operational execution helps determine whether your AI solution becomes a growth engine on Microsoft Marketplace. New data reinforces the opportunity. According to Omdia research highlighted in Microsoft’s blog on the partner revenue opportunity: 88% of partners selling through Marketplace report revenue growth, 75% close deals faster, 69% secure larger deals, 60% agree Marketplace improved their deal structure. The Omdia study found that among partners that sell through Marketplace (compared to direct go-to-market and sales motions), they saw incredible gains with Marketplace. The opportunity is clear. The question is how to capture it consistently. How the AI app and agent monetization checklist helps The time to think about sales is when you’re building, not just when you hit “publish” on an offer. That’s why the Microsoft Marketplace Monetization Checklist for SaaS and Container Offers was created as part of the AI envisioning sessions. It gives your team a structured, practical framework to move from idea to revenue with confidence. A solution can offer immense value, but because monetization decisions are made too late, it can perform worse than expected. Pricing models, packaging tiers, metering accuracy, and subscription flows are often bolted on after architecture is finalized. The checklist changes that. It organizes monetization strategy around the five pillars of the Well-Architected Framework so that revenue design and technical design stay aligned. This checklist is also featured in App Advisor Build and Publish stage, so that you don’t miss a single step along the way. This ensures your offer is: Secure and enterprise-ready, Reliable across subscription lifecycle events, Cost-optimized for margin protection, Performance-aligned to your pricing model, Operationally structured for scale. Instead of guessing, you follow a clear path. Monetizing your offer the right way While designed for Saas and Azure Container offers, this checklist can be helpful for any offer. It guides you through key decisions that directly impact growth: Define your revenue model early during design, not after deployment, Model cost of goods sold against pricing tiers to protect margin, Package plans intentionally (Starter, Pro, Enterprise) to drive upsell, Implement secure licensing and Marketplace API validation to prevent revenue leakage, Optimize trial-to-paid conversion with structured upgrade paths. The checklist also reinforces operational execution with best practices for both SaaS and Azure Container offers. The result: an offer built for revenue, not just deployment. From build to publish to monetization on Microsoft Marketplace Building a great app or agent for your customers is the goal, but scaling your sales helps you grow. You’re not just publishing an offer, you’re building: A pricing strategy aligned to architecture, A subscription model aligned to customer value, An operational model aligned to Marketplace growth. This is how your company can turn Marketplace from a just listing platform into a revenue multiplier. Ready to monetize apps and agents on Microsoft Marketplace? You don’t have to guess how to grow. Use these resources to monetize your app or agent and get world-class Microsoft best practices, curated for you: Download the Marketplace Monetization Checklist, See the opportunity for your revenue growth in App Advisor, Watch sessions with experts by signing up for the AI Envisioning sessions.Get alignment early to build AI apps and agents and sell on Marketplace
Frontier firms are pulling ahead. The data is clear why. According to Microsoft research of Frontier firms: 71% of leaders say their company is thriving, compared to just 39% of workers globally, 93% are optimistic about future work opportunities, 55% say they’re able to take on more work, versus 25% globally. But the difference isn’t experimentation with AI. It’s execution. Work Trend Index Annual Report, 2025 How getting business and technical alignment with AI development helps Frontier firms are succeeding because they align business intent, technical design, and security expectations before building AI apps and agents. They don’t treat alignment as a workshop or a slide deck. They treat it as a prerequisite to building agents that actually work, scale, and earn trust. Microsoft helps you adopt this same approach through structured guidance in App Advisor, AI envisioning resources, and practical checklists designed to keep teams aligned from design through deployment. Why alignment separates Frontier firms from the rest AI apps and agents increasingly operate inside critical business workflows. That raises the bar. When alignment is missing, teams often ship agents that technically function but fail in production due to security gaps, unclear ownership, or mismatched expectations around outcomes. Teams that align early are better positioned to: Move faster through build by eliminating ambiguity, Build agents that reliably perform the job they’re designed to do, Embed security, governance, and trust by design, not as an afterthought, Reduce redesign cycles caused by unclear requirements or late-stage constraints. This is where guidance-first approach from Microsoft plays a critical role. How App Advisor helps teams align before they build App Advisor is intentionally designed to help teams put an alignment framework together at the start. To move faster later. App Advisor gives you: Tools to help your business get an AI Center of Excellence, Systems, like Azure Essentials and Cloud Adoption Framework, Checklists for every step of the way, so that teams stay informed, Toolkits and services that build in answers to friction that your team can leverage. These shared starting points helps ensure what teams build reflects real business needs and can be deployed responsibly. Using AI envisioning sessions to align outcomes The Microsoft AI envisioning sessions complement App Advisor by helping teams translate strategy into execution. The Business–Technical Alignment Checklist for Microsoft Foundry helps teams stay synchronized as they build. It ensures architecture, cost, security, and delivery choices support a clear business outcome—not just technical success. This checklist reinforces practices like: Defining shared success metrics and KPIs, Setting joint budget guardrails and cost visibility, Establishing cross-functional cadence and governance, Planning for integration testing and real-world workflows, Using a shared project workspace as a single source of truth. This alignment reduces late-stage friction when you’re preparing to publish, co-sell, or scale. This translates into offers that are easier to describe on Marketplace, more likely to attract customers, and better for those customers to deploy. Moving from aligned design to confident build to sales growth After alignment is established, teams can move into build with momentum. App Advisor showcases development toolkits, SDKs, templates, and reference architectures that reflect the decisions already made during design. That continuity matters. It keeps teams focused on execution instead of re-litigating fundamentals mid-build. Alignment isn’t a meeting. It’s a system. Microsoft provides the structure to support it. Start aligning today to sell more tomorrow Get resources to help your teams align and keep in step in App Advisor.Discover why to build AI apps and agents with Microsoft and sell through Marketplace
Customer demand for AI is accelerating fast. And your company's AI app or agent should be there to meet it. In this fiscal year, Microsoft has already seen 2x growth in customers purchasing AI products through Microsoft Marketplace, while also being the largest catalog of AI apps and agents in the industry. Building AI apps and agents isn’t just about model performance or speed to market. It’s about meeting your customers’ needs when they have them. For software companies, success depends on whether your AI solution is secure, compliant, responsibly designed, and ready to scale in real-world work environments. That’s why App Advisor starts by showing the many reasons why building with Microsoft is the right foundation for AI apps and agents. Why building AI apps and agents with Microsoft is different Microsoft, named an AI Leader by Gartner, brings together AI innovation, Responsible AI, and enterprise-grade security into a single, integrated platform. This matters when you’re quickly building AI-powered experiences and agents that your customers can trust. When you build with Microsoft, you’re building on an AI-native platform designed for production use: Industry-leading AI and agentic capabilities supporting Gen AI, RAG, ML, predictive analytics, and multi-modal agent workflows, Integrated developer tools to help teams ship faster that you already use and trust (like GitHub Copilot, Visual Studio, and Microsoft Foundry), Seamless integration across the Microsoft stack to make it easier to connect data, services, and user experiences without stitching different systems together. This foundation helps you focus on what you’re building. Microsoft handles the complexity behind the scenes. Build confidently from day one, stay up to date with AI best practices Building with AI doesn't have to be risky. Data access, model behavior, governance, and compliance all matter more when AI and agents are embedded directly into customer workflows. Microsoft approaches this with end-to-end security and Responsible AI practices that are integrated throughout the development lifecycle. That's why App Advisor and Microsoft keep you up with the speed of designing with AI: Principles to design your own AI Center of Excellence, Sessions focused on the future of AI and agents in the AI Tour, Resources and webinars, like the AI envisioning sessions, to keep you current. This is especially critical for software companies selling into regulated or security-conscious industries. Security isn't an afterthought. You’re building on a platform where they’re already part of the system. How App Advisor can help answer questions about building AI apps and agents The first step in App Advisor is intentionally focused on clarity. Instead of jumping straight into tooling or publishing requirements, it helps you evaluate: Why Microsoft is the right platform for AI apps and agents, How building with Microsoft assists in development, scaling, and customer trust, What kinds of opportunities exist in the Microsoft Marketplace and how to maximize on them. However, App Advisor doesn’t stop at discovery or development. The same experience that helps you build AI apps and agents also supports growth through the Microsoft Marketplace—giving you access to global customers, streamlined procurement, and enterprise-ready distribution. From first line of code to go-to-market readiness, the platform is designed to support sustainable, scalable growth with confidence. Ready to build your AI app or agent? When you start with the right foundation, everything that follows moves faster—and with less risk. Start with the fundamentals: realize the potential of building with Microsoft with curated guidance in App Advisor We look forward to seeing your AI app or agent on Microsoft Marketplace!Marketplace offer live? Now make it shine!🌟
Microsoft gives you the tools, best practices, and guidance to boost visibility, drive traffic, and turn interest into real customers fast. And the quickest path? App Advisor. 🚀 Start with App Advisor: Your Marketplace growth playbook App Advisor is your self‑serve hub packed with step‑by‑step best practices, optimization guidance, and proven GTM strategies designed to your help app or agent rise above the noise and stand out to buyers. 🛠️ Optimize your listing Sharpen your sales page with clearer, benefits‑forward messaging Strengthen SEO so your offer is easier to find Enable a trial - the strongest conversion accelerator Offer public plans with clear tiers (Basic / Standard / Premium) to support direct sales Add visuals, screenshots, and short videos to show value instantly 📈 Boost visibility Cross‑link your website, G2 profile, blogs, and social posts back to your listing Understand factors that influence Marketplace search rankings and views Review your category selections - they directly affect discoverability Encourage customer reviews - including from G2, which flows into your listing! 📣 Promote with confidence App Advisor provides guidance around: Ready‑to‑use templates Partner‑tested messaging Campaign ideas to drive awareness and demand Be sure to: Link all channels (website → Marketplace → G2 → social → email) Use OCIDs to see exactly which channels move the needle in Marketplace Insights Double down on what moves the needle 🏅 Unlock Marketplace Rewards When you publish a transactable offer, Marketplace Rewards kick in automatically, giving your listing additional promotional lift. Rewards include: Personalized listing optimization recommendations Marketplace blog and newsletter promotion Extra visibility for your listing Editorial + press release templates GTM enablement that grows with performance Marketplace Rewards + App Advisor = compounding growth momentum. 🧲 Build a product-led growth motion Sales don’t happen by accident - they happen with a smart GTM motion. App Advisor walks you through: Segmenting your target market Defining messaging that resonates with real buyers Building educational content (blogs, case studies, guides, emails) Nailing SEO & SEM basics Creating a conversion‑ready experience that shows quick wins Tracking performance with OCIDs + Marketplace Insights Strengthening your digital presence Encouraging reviews and customer storytelling Running targeted ads to your ideal audiences This motion turns Marketplace visibility into pipeline, and pipeline into wins. 🤝 Expand your reach through channel partners Once you’ve optimized your offer and are promoting it consistently, it’s time to extend your reach even further. Forge relationships with channel partners - let them sell for you. By leveraging channel partners, you can make your solution available for system integrators, distributors and resellers to sell to their customers. You can sell through or with channel partners by leveraging resale enabled offers (REO), multi-party private offers (MPO), or Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) offers. That means: Your offer appears in their reseller catalogs They bring your solution into their customer conversations You tap into existing, trusted partner‑to‑customer relationships You gain scale without extra headcount or marketing spend A small switch. A massive multiplier. Enable resale so channel partners can open doors you couldn’t reach alone. ✅ Where to go next Start with App Advisor to sharpen your listing + GTM motion Add public plans + trial Strengthen SEO and performance signals Track success using OCIDs Publish a transactable offer to unlock Marketplace Rewards Enable REO to let channel partners help scale you globally – go deeper in this REO-focused post. Ready to make your offer shine? Head to App Advisor and get started.
