Partner Blog | Building an AI app and agent factory with Microsoft Foundry
AI is shaping how we live and work. Its potential feels limitless, constrained only by what we can imagine. According to the Microsoft Work Trend Index, 82% of leaders say they’re confident that they’ll use digital labor to expand workforce capacity in the next 12–18 months. AI is emerging as a clear differentiator, fueling creativity, accelerating productivity, and unlocking breakthrough innovation. For organizations delivering AI-powered solutions and services, this is your moment to lead. The demand is shifting from pilot projects to AI transformations at scale, and Microsoft partners who can deliver AI apps and agents at scale will define the future of this dynamic market. According to a survey by IDC, partners with mature Microsoft AI practices outperform others in overall gross margin, 36% vs. 30%. Continue reading hereSecure migration starts with trusted cloud and AI expertise
Modernizing legacy IT environments and moving securely to the cloud are top priorities for customers today. With the cloud migration market projected to reach $1.03 trillion 1 by 2030, representing an approximate 28% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), 2 organizations everywhere seek to strengthen their digital foundations—and they expect migrations to be secure, efficient, and tied to business outcomes. This is where partners make the difference. Your expertise speeds transformation and empowers customers to realize the full value of Microsoft Azure. Why modernizing legacy IT environments is essential Modernization is critical across industries. As software and hardware reach end of support, the risk of disruption rises. Unsupported systems create security gaps and operational challenges because they no longer receive essential updates. Meanwhile, regulatory pressure is mounting. Regulations like the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and mandates in financial services and data management demand secure, up-to-date infrastructure to stay compliant and avoid costly penalties. Modernization isn’t just about reducing risk; it’s about seizing the moment of innovation. Modern platforms support AI, automation, and advanced data capabilities. Customers can move faster, operate more efficiently, and respond rapidly to new opportunities by updating legacy systems. Your expertise positions them competitively at the frontier of AI and intelligent operations. Continue reading hereThe Microsoft Marketplace opportunity for channel ecosystem
Microsoft estimates, based on IDC data, that the total addressable market (TAM) for small and medium enterprises will reach $777 billion by FY26—and is on track to surpass $1 trillion by 2030. This represents more than 400 million organizations worldwide with fewer than 3,000 employees. As organizations look to become AI-first, Microsoft partners play a critical role as trusted advisors in navigating this transformation. Microsoft Marketplace is the platform that scales AI-first transformation, connecting your solutions and offerings to millions of commercial customers. Building on the momentum from Microsoft Ignite and the recent announcement of the reimagined Microsoft Marketplace, we’re excited to introduce the general availability of resale enabled offers. Continue reading herePartner Blog | Build what’s next: Accelerating partner success with Microsoft skilling
This week at Microsoft Ignite, one message came through clearly: capability fuels growth. Across every industry and every role, partners investing in skilling are accelerating innovation, deepening customer trust, and driving measurable impact. Skilling is the new currency of the AI era. As organizations transform, partners are turning knowledge into action, advancing technical and business expertise to lead with confidence and drive customer outcomes. In the past year, more than 2.4 million partner learners have engaged in training across solution areas, and 1.7 million have completed AI-specific courses, a 66% increase year over year. Through the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program, we’re investing in resources that make learning simpler, more accessible, and more aligned to opportunity. From the centralized Partner Skilling Hub to Certification Weeks, in-person training events, LevelUp, and AI-focused bootcamps, partners can strengthen their technical depth, expand sales capability, and build the skills that turn potential into performance. Read the full list of partner announcements from Ignite in Nicole Dezen’s blog. Continue reading hereBuild and connect Microsoft Foundry agents to MongoDB Atlas with new native integrations
MongoDB Atlas is a leading document database that’s rapidly gaining traction among Azure customers due to various deep integrations available across Microsoft platforms. In Aug 2025, we announced the General Availability (GA) of native integration for MongoDB Atlas — a milestone that marked a new era for developers and enterprises building AI-powered applications on Azure. Alongside this, we introduced Semantic Kernel connectors and other integrations to further enhance the developer experience. At last year’s Ignite, we announced the Microsoft Foundry integration with MongoDB Atlas to enable developers to reference vector stores. At Microsoft Ignite 2025, we are announcing the availability of MongoDB Atlas as one of the supported tools in Microsoft Foundry Tool Catalog (preview), allowing agents to connect to live enterprise data and operational systems. With the support of MongoDB MCP Server in the agent building experience, developers can now build agents that leverage MongoDB for both vector search and database operations. This unlocks new possibilities for intelligent automation and contextual decision-making, empowering organizations to create agents that are not only smarter but also deeply integrated with their operational data. Build Agents in Microsoft Foundry and add MongoDB as a Tool The goal is for enterprises to build and deploy agents quickly that can connect to their MongoDB Atlas collections. Discover MongoDB MCP Server in the Microsoft Foundry Tool Catalog Start by browsing the Microsoft Foundry Tool Catalog (preview), which features a growing list of enterprise-ready tools. Search for MongoDB MCP Server to find the landing page. Deploy the MCP Server The local MCP Server can be deployed to Azure Container Apps by following the documentation. Once hosted, copy the remote endpoint for the MCP Server. Add the tool to your agent In Microsoft Foundry, click on create a new agent, provide agent instructions and then click on ‘Tools’ Provide the remote endpoint in the custom tool option to connect to MongoDB Atlas. That’s it! Your Agent is now ready to query your databases. Access more Microsoft Foundry features Agents built in Microsoft Foundry can access a wide range of monitoring and governance capabilities. Organizations can automatically enforce security, compliance, and operational best practices. Every agent-to-tool interaction is authenticated, authorized, and monitored at scale, with unified telemetry and logging available through Azure Monitor and Microsoft Foundry analytics. This gives IT teams full visibility and control, while developers can confidently build and deploy agents knowing that enterprise standards are enforced by default. What Can Agents Do with MongoDB Atlas? Contextual Retrieval: Agents can ground their reasoning in fresh, operational data from MongoDB Atlas, supporting vector search and RAG workflows. Autonomous Database Operations: Agents can go beyond simple queries to perform end-to-end data exploration and management including creation of projects, clusters and database users while adhering to enterprise-grade compliance and security standards. Conclusion The MongoDB MCP Server integration for Microsoft Foundry is a major milestone in enterprise AI enablement. By bridging powerful document and vector data capabilities with secure, governed agent workflows, organizations can unlock new levels of automation, intelligence, and operational agility. Try the integration today Learn more about MongoDB Atlas on Azure. Try out the free cluster today! Get started with MongoDB MCP Server Link to MongoDB BlogPartner Blog | Partners leading the AI transformation: Microsoft Ignite 2025 recap
This week at Microsoft Ignite, we are defining what it means to be a Frontier Firm—organizations that embed AI across every layer of their business. A Frontier Firm is a next-generation organization built for the AI era. These companies blend human judgment with AI agents to scale faster, make smarter decisions, and deliver more value. The foundation for success for Microsoft partners begins with becoming Customer Zero. These partners go beyond selling AI. They internalize and operationalize it and bring meaningful credibility to every customer engagement. This approach builds real-world experience, insights, and transforms the partner’s go-to-market with capability and expertise that differentiates them with customers. By leading as Frontier Firms, these Customer Zero partners enrich employee experiences, reinvent customer engagement, reshape business processes, and bend the curve on innovation with AI, Copilots, and agents across their own organizations. Continue reading herePartner Blog | Securing the future: How Microsoft partners are powering AI-ready organizations
The world of agentic AI is evolving quickly. According to the Microsoft 2025 Work Trend Index Annual Report, 82% of leaders say they’re confident they’ll use AI agents as digital team members to expand workforce capacity in the next 12 to 18 months. That pace of innovation introduces new challenges. As the AI landscape grows, so does the threat surface. This shift creates a critical opportunity for Microsoft partners: to lead with security as the foundation of every AI transformation. By doing so, you enable customers to innovate responsibly and position your organization at the center of lasting trust and growth. In recognition of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, this blog post explores how you can build a stronger security practice and empower your customers to innovate safely, backed by Microsoft partner resources, incentives, and solutions. Security is the foundation of innovation Innovation without strong security isn’t sustainable. The average cost of a data breach now exceeds $4.4 million globally, and beyond the financial cost, weak security erodes trust. As Amy Webb, CEO of Future Today Strategy Group, noted in this year’s Work Trend Index, “As multi-agent systems redefine the workplace, the challenge will be to integrate and manage them securely and effectively.” When partners lead with security, they unlock real business outcomes. Organizations using Microsoft Security Copilot are already seeing tangible results, including a 17% reduction17% reduction in breaches and up to 60% in cost savings. Our own Customer Zero journey at Microsoft reinforces that security and innovation go hand in hand. When security is embedded into every layer of AI transformation, it strengthens the relationship between IT and engineering. It enables teams to co-develop solutions and deliver innovation faster while reducing risk. As a Microsoft partner, you play an essential role in helping customers build secure foundations for AI transformation. We’re committed to supporting you with playbooks, tools, and incentives you need to turn security expertise into customer outcomes. Accelerate secure AI transformation at every stage Partners who lead with security become trusted guides for their customers. Through the Microsoft Security Customer Win Formula, you can access practical resources mapped to each stage of the customer journey—from early discovery to long-term management—and position yourself as a strategic resource your customers can turn to as their business needs and challenges evolve. 1. Build trust as Customer Zero Differentiate your practice by attaining a Solutions Partner designation for Security, and further validate your expertise through certifications and specializations. Plus, achieving an MXDR verification signals to customers that you have the skills to safeguard their AI and cloud environments. Continue expanding your capabilities through the Partner Skilling Hub, where you’ll find self-paced learning paths and instructor-led training to stay current in a constantly evolving threat landscape. 2. Develop an informed pipeline with customer insights Effective security transformation starts with listening. Leverage Microsoft intelligent propensity tools to identify customers ready for secure AI adoption: SPARK: Intelligent data models that predict customer propensity for Microsoft solutions CloudAscent: AI-powered targeting for small and medium-sized business (SMB) customers Microsoft 365 Lighthouse: ML-driven recommendations for customer acquisition, retention, and growth You can also accelerate demand generation with ready-to-launch, customizable campaigns in a box tailored for Security solution plays. Partners using these campaigns are already generating high-quality leads and engaging decision-makers faster. Explore the Partner Marketing Tool Guidance for more information. Continue reading herePartner Blog | Azure updates for partners: November 2025
We’ve moved beyond the era of experimentation. Across our partner ecosystem, I’m seeing a decisive shift from exploring what’s possible with AI and cloud to executing with focus, scale, and sustainable impact. Azure Accelerate and momentum in the Microsoft Marketplace give partners like you a strong foundation to align investments and deliver outcomes that matter. Microsoft Ignite is where those insights become action. It is where ideas become practice and where partners shape what is possible for customers. From November 18–21 in San Francisco and online, you will hear directly from our product leaders, preview the latest in Azure and AI innovation, and connect with peers who are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Make time for ancillary events, interactive roundtables, and the Partner Hub to build new skills, expand your network, and explore hands-on opportunities to advance your work. I’m especially looking forward to the sessions on AI-powered innovation in Azure, my session on how partners can accelerate growth with Azure, and the hands-on labs. There is always a moment that sparks new ideas that I can take back to my team. If you have not registered, do so today. Plan your agenda, pick sessions that stretch your thinking, and come ready to take fresh ideas back to your customers. Here’s a look at other recent updates designed to help partners move faster, innovate more, and deliver greater value with Azure. Continue reading here Be sure to follow our Azure discussion board for updates and new conversations!Partner Blog | Unifying the data platform for real-time insights
Every organization is looking for quicker insights, stronger security, and new ways to drive innovation with AI. The real challenge lies in connecting and preparing the data that makes those outcomes possible. Across industries, customers are realizing that data sprawl and disconnected systems limit what AI can do. To unlock the potential of their data and deliver real-time impact, they need a modern data foundation that’s integrated, governed, secure, and ready for AI. This post is part three of our Cloud and AI Platforms blog series, detailing how partners can accelerate customer transformation across the Microsoft Cloud. In part one, we looked at the market opportunity created by AI and cloud innovation. Part two focused on migration and modernization as the foundation for AI-powered growth. Now we turn to the next phase of that journey: building a unified data platform that connects every source, fuels intelligent applications, and drives measurable outcomes. Microsoft partners are at the center of this opportunity. By enabling customers to unify their data estate with solutions like Microsoft Fabric, Azure Databricks, and Microsoft Purview, partners are critical in helping organizations turn information into action and insight into innovation. Unify the data estate Bringing all data together across on-premises, cloud, and industry-specific sources is the first step toward intelligence at scale. With Microsoft Fabric and Azure Databricks, partners can create an open, lake-centric foundation that simplifies analytics and operational data for AI. Continue reading herePartner Blog | Building Frontier Firms: How partner skilling accelerates innovation and growth
For partners, skilling is more than a support function. It’s the economic engine helping you grow, compete, and differentiate your business in the age of AI. New Microsoft research shows that project-ready and workload-aligned training directly accelerates partner success by increasing win rates, improving deal velocity, and unlocking higher margins. Skilling also serves as the foundation for building Frontier Firms, organizations that are defining the next wave of AI-led innovation through IP development, co-creation, and outcome-based solutions. Through the Partner Skilling Hub, Certification Weeks, LevelUp, and regional initiatives, partners are building the expertise needed to lead AI transformation and deliver measurable customer impact. Continue reading here
