Partner Blog | The new Copilot is here: The opportunity for Microsoft partners
AI at Work is entering a new phase as customers look beyond individual productivity gains to AI that can take on complex work, build solutions, and automate business processes. The next evolution of Frontier Transformation is about matching the right mode of intelligence to the task at hand. Today, Microsoft is advancing that vision with the new Copilot, an evolution of the Copilot app that connects the tools people rely on with the next generation of capabilities they'll need to build, customize, and scale AI across work. The Copilot app now includes three new capabilities: Home, where Chat and Copilot Cowork come together with the full power of Office; Code, powered by the same underlying technology as GitHub Copilot, extending solution-building to more knowledge workers; and Autopilot, a persistent, proactive, and personal agent that keeps working even when you're not. Together, these new capabilities expand what customers can do with Copilot and the platform partners can build on. We are also introducing platform innovations including Microsoft IQ, Microsoft Copilot Managed Runtime, and an evolving commercial model with usage-based billing and FinOps for AI. For Microsoft partners, the opportunity extends well beyond the product experience. Today's announcements advance Copilot across three connected dimensions: how people use AI, how customers adopt it commercially, and how partners build, extend, secure, govern, and manage it. That creates opportunities across AI advisory, security and governance, agent development and deployment, FinOps for AI, adoption and change management, software development, and ongoing managed services. Learn more about today’s product announcement from Jared Spataro, Chief Marketing Officer, AI at Work. (live 9/25) What is new and why it matters for partners One Copilot experience brings AI-powered work together The new Copilot gives people access to the right capability for the work they want to accomplish: Home is the new starting point, bringing Chat—for questions, lookups, and drafts—together with Cowork, where work is delegated and returned as a completed result. Within the Home tab, Office in Copilot brings the full power of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint into the app, creating and updating real, editable files that stay live for the whole team. Code turns natural-language ideas into apps, dashboards, automations, and workflows, with Copilot Managed Runtime providing the governed hosting infrastructure to run and share them inside Microsoft 365. Autopilot, previously called Scout, is a cloud-hosted digital teammate with its own identity, memory, and workspace that takes on work and keeps it moving within the permissions and boundaries the organization sets. Together, these capabilities let people match the right tool to the job, while staying in the flow of work. For partners, this creates opportunities to move customers beyond assistive productivity into business process transformation, grounded in the organization’s own data, and governed by the permissions and controls IT already sets. Continue reading herePartner Blog | Partner Center Technical Corner: August 2026 edition
Welcome to the August edition of Partner Center Technical Corner. This month’s updates are designed to empower you to identify growth opportunities, manage customer and subscription scenarios with more predictability, strengthen customer confidence through specialized capabilities, and gain greater visibility across Partner Center. Several of these updates put AI directly into the workflows your teams use every day. From sales recommendations to designation progress guidance, Partner Center is making it easier to move from insight to action. For a look at what is coming next, review the Partner Center Technical Roadmap and resources at the end of this post. Turn insights into growth AI-powered growth recommendations Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners now have AI-powered sales recommendations and business insights designed to identify potential growth opportunities, prioritize customer engagement, increase adoption, and grow revenue across your customer portfolio. The first wave of recommendations focuses on upsell, seat expansion, Copilot monetization through free-to-paid conversions, Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat activation, Enterprise Agreement (EA) to CSP migrations, and targeted promotions. Recommendations are available through the Partner Center agent and the Customer Overview page, and each includes business context so you can evaluate the next best action. Browse promotion details directly in Partner Center You can now browse and download active promotions inside the Pricing workspace. The Benefits page includes a sortable table with product, SKU, discount, term, billing cycle, and eligibility details. Selecting a row opens a full details panel, making it faster to identify upsell and renewal opportunities and confirm whether a promotion applies before placing an order. Continue reading here Be sure to follow our CSP discussion board to connect with subject matter experts and other CSP partners!This is the moment to shape what’s next for your hosting business
For hosting partners, today’s market shifts are more than a challenge—they’re an opportunity to modernize with intention and grow into what’s next. Customers are looking for partners who can deliver continuity today and a credible modernization path for tomorrow. By acting early, you put yourself in a stronger position to preserve what works, modernize at a sustainable pace, and expand into higher‑value services—without disrupting existing relationships. Here’s a clear path forward: Start with clarity. Check out the one‑pager, “Turn hosting market disruption into a growth opportunity,” to align your organization on why now is the time to shift from traditional hosting to a services-led model. Plan with confidence. The e‑book, Navigating the Next Era of Hosting, breaks down the Microsoft Adaptive Cloud strategy: how to run workloads where they make sense, manage them as a single environment, and grow into differentiated services. Transform with support. Go from planning to action with the Microsoft Datacenter Optimization (DCO) site, which includes ongoing transition guidance, tools, FAQs, the Hybrid Cloud Partners podcast, and more. Get started with the one-pager.Extended service terms enforcement is now in effect
As of May 4, 2026, we've aligned renewal and end-of-term options to create a more consistent and predictable experience. Customers and partners now have clear choices at expiration: renew to a new term, cancel at end of term, or temporarily extend service through a paid extended service term (EST). As a reminder: Subscriptions that meet all three of the following criteria will automatically transition to EST at expiration: Purchased or renewed on or after April 1, 2025 Expires on or after May 4, 2026 Auto-renew is set to off If EST is not a desired end-of-term option, partners can select “cancel” or “renew” before the subscription’s end date. Selecting “cancel” as an end-of-term option means the subscription ends on its expiration date, and the customer will lose access to the service. Partners should prioritize renewal discussions with customers in advance of a subscription's end date and discuss the best option for their business needs before the end of their service to avoid unexpected billing. Learn more about EST, available resources, and how to export a list of EST subscriptions.Partner Blog | What's new for Microsoft partners: July 2026 edition
Your voice continues to shape how the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program evolves. This month’s update brings together the announcements, investments, and resources partners need now, so you can prioritize where to focus, what to skill, and which motions to scale as AI becomes central to more customer workloads. These updates reflect partner opportunity across the Microsoft ecosystem, grounded in partner feedback, and aligned to how customers are evolving their cloud and AI strategies. Spotlight Join us this month for MCAPS Start for Partners Join us for MCAPS Start for Partners, on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, starting at 7:00 AM Pacific Time. This digital event is designed to give partners a fast start to FY27; the event will share guidance on Microsoft priorities, innovation, investments, and go-to-market motions. Hear from Microsoft leaders and partner voices on where Microsoft is investing, what is changing, and how to activate AI-led growth opportunities. Whether your organization serves small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), enterprise customers, or both, your teams can use the event to align early, reduce rework, and move faster into the year ahead. Don’t miss the Microsoft Partner FY27 GTM Kickoff Event Join us on July 28, 2026, to learn about the go-to-market (GTM) priorities and initiatives planned for FY27 across Microsoft AI Business Solutions, Microsoft Commercial Cloud and AI, and Microsoft Security. Sign up for a double-click on priorities shared at MCAPS Start for Partners and kickstart your GTM plans and tactics for the new fiscal year. Continue reading blog hereMicrosoft Partner Code of Conduct Update
Microsoft is updating the Partner Code of Conduct (PCoC) to clarify expectations for partner compliance, effective August 1, 2026. What’s new The following provision is being added to the Governance section of the PCoC: Microsoft Partners may be required to participate in, and successfully complete anti-corruption and remediation programs related to this Partner Code of Conduct or other Microsoft partner programs or offers. Such remediation programs may address Partners’ business controls, training, and assistance obligations. These programs and trainings are separate and additional to any standard compliance training required as part of the Partner Code of Conduct. Microsoft Partners will fully cooperate with assigned anti-corruption and remediation programs, which may include, but are not limited to, Remediation Standard, Remediation Extended, and MCAPS Finance Partner Compliance programs, or successor programs. What this means for partners No immediate action is required; this update is for awareness and clarification. As a reminder, Partners are expected to: Maintain effective compliance controls Cooperate with Microsoft during investigations Participate in assigned remediation programs whenrequired Why this matters This update clarifies how Microsoft and partners will continue to work together to address compliance gaps and strengthen trust, transparency, and accountability across the partner ecosystem. Review the updated Partner Code of Conduct terms. You may also access the current Partner Code of Conduct until the new terms go into effect on August 1, 2026.
