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Is your business ready for 2026?

Welcome back to the Ultimate Guide to Partnering® Podcast.

This episode is something special.

It was originally recorded as the kickoff conversation for our May Ultimate Partner LIVE event—a powerful session that featured none other than Nicole Dezen, Microsoft’s Chief Partner Officer, and a true champion of the ecosystem.

Now, we’re bringing it to you, our amazing Ultimate Partner Podcast community.

In this candid and insightful conversation, Nicole shares Microsoft’s unwavering commitment to its 500,000+ strong partner ecosystem—especially poignant as the company celebrates its 50th anniversary.

We explore how partners are not just part of the Microsoft story—they are the story.
From driving innovation to fueling growth in the era of AI, this dialogue makes clear that partners are at the heart of Microsoft’s transformation agenda.

You’ll hear about the company’s FY26 strategic priorities—known as MCAPS—including renewed focus and record investment in the SMB segment, and the role of partners in shaping what’s next.

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Partnerships are Microsoft’s Core: Microsoft’s foundational commitment to its partner ecosystem is deeply ingrained in its 50-year history and remains central to its future strategy.

AI is a Partner-Led Opportunity: Partners are crucial to driving AI transformation, with Microsoft actively supporting and incentivizing those who leverage AI for customer solutions and business growth.

Substantial Profitability for Partners: The Microsoft ecosystem offers significant financial returns, with partners earning multiple dollars for every dollar of Microsoft revenue, boosted further by generative AI.

Strategic Alignment with Microsoft Priorities: Partners can maximize their success by understanding and aligning with Microsoft’s five MCAPS priorities, which guide both Microsoft’s internal sales and partner incentives.

Targeted Investments for Ecosystem Growth: Microsoft continues record investments in its partner ecosystem, with a strong focus on empowering partners, especially those serving the high-growth small and medium enterprise (SMB) segment.

“Customer Zero” Enhances Partner Credibility: Partners are encouraged to use Microsoft technologies, particularly AI tools, internally (“Customer Zero”) to build authentic experience and credibility for customer engagements.

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Transcript:

(0:00 ) So I wanna take this moment to welcome a friend, (0:03 ) an incredible leader, somebody who leads the largest, (0:09 ) imagine this, the largest ecosystem in our industry (0:12 ) is the Microsoft ecosystem, (0:14 ) with over 500,000 partner organizations. (0:19 ) Nicole Deason has done an outstanding job (0:22 ) of taking this organization to the next level. (0:26 ) In fact, we recognize, Nicole was on my podcast last year, (0:29 ) we were up here in Redmond, (0:30 ) we recorded a really great interview.

(0:32 ) If you haven’t had a chance, (0:33 ) you can find that on our YouTube channel. (0:35 ) You can find that incredible discussion that we’ve had. (0:38 ) I’ve asked her back because a lot of things (0:40 ) are happening at Microsoft.

(0:41 ) And I also wanted to recognize her. (0:43 ) Like see, we did this Partner Leader of the Year Award (0:46 ) at the end of 2024, and we recognized Nicole (0:48 ) for how she’s reshaped Microsoft’s landscape, (0:51 ) how she’s really tightened up Microsoft’s focus (0:54 ) and strategy, and I wanted to have her back today, (0:57 ) A, to recognize her up on stage (0:59 ) for her outstanding leadership, (1:01 ) but also have you hear from her (1:03 ) about her point of view as partners (1:06 ) and how Microsoft thinks about this ecosystem (1:09 ) and its approach to support this incredible thing (1:11 ) that was created over 40 years ago. (1:14 ) Microsoft was the first company (1:15 ) to really embrace partnerships, (1:18 ) and still is at the very forefront of it.

(1:20 ) And so I’m excited to have Nicole join us. (1:23 ) Nicole and team, but we also have a little something (1:27 ) we’re gonna bring out here. (1:28 ) So here comes Nicole.

(1:30 ) Nicole, so good to see you. (1:31 ) So good to see you. (1:32 ) Thank you for having me.

(1:34 ) I love having you. (1:34 ) Thank you so much. (1:35 ) I love your jacket, too.

(1:36 ) Obviously, I’m really into the green, okay. (1:38 ) Yeah, I love the green. (1:39 ) I love the green.

(1:40 ) I need to wear more green. (1:41 ) We have a little gift for you. (1:44 ) I try and lift it.

(1:45 ) They told me it weighs about 300 pounds. (1:46 ) Okay, well, I’ll do it. (1:47 ) Here, we’ll do it together.

(1:48 ) We’ll do it together. (1:49 ) So this is just our recognition (1:51 ) for all the work that you’ve done (1:53 ) and all the support you’ve given (1:54 ) these partners in the room, (1:55 ) and the thousands and thousands of thousands (1:58 ) that will be watching us, (1:59 ) listening to your amazing guidance and leadership, (2:03 ) and so glad that you could spend some time (2:05 ) with us this morning and kick off our event. (2:07 ) Thank you.

(2:07 ) This is a really nice honor. (2:09 ) Thank you so much. (2:10 ) We’ll proudly put that there.

(2:12 ) You’ve done an incredible job, (2:13 ) and we’re excited to have you for a little fireside chat. (2:18 ) We have some people in the room. (2:19 ) We have a bunch of people on the live stream as well.

(2:22 ) So we got to do this in a studio. (2:24 ) It’s a little bit different, (2:25 ) but I wanted to have the opportunity (2:27 ) to spend some time here with you (2:28 ) because I think there’s some really incredible things (2:30 ) we need to talk about here. (2:32 ) First off, we haven’t even talked about this yet.

(2:35 ) I was saving this for you. (2:37 ) Microsoft’s 50th anniversary. (2:38 ) Yeah, so exciting.

(2:40 ) I mean, it is incredible that it’s been 50 years now. (2:43 ) It’s amazing. (2:44 ) It’s really hard to believe, (2:47 ) you know, 50 years of so much heritage.

(2:50 ) And, you know, when I think about our 50 years, (2:52 ) I think of it as 50 years of partnership. (2:54 ) So massive, massive thank you to all of our partners. (2:58 ) Our success is absolutely based (3:02 ) on all of the work we do with our partners (3:04 ) and organizations like yours, Vincent.

(3:05 ) Thank you so much. (3:06 ) Thank you for your support as well. (3:08 ) We feel that as well, these partners wouldn’t be here.

(3:10 ) We wouldn’t even have this thing called partners (3:12 ) if it wasn’t for Microsoft. (3:13 ) You know, we’re incredibly fortunate here. (3:17 ) The company was founded in this heritage of partnership.

(3:21 ) It’s in our DNA. (3:23 ) And every single one of our three CEOs (3:26 ) has proudly focused on partnership. (3:31 ) And, you know, Satya always says, (3:32 ) this company has always been (3:34 ) and will always be a partner-led company.

(3:36 ) It’s pretty exciting. (3:38 ) You know, when I, if you think about (3:40 ) where the company started, (3:42 ) we started with this really bold vision (3:45 ) that technology could change the world. (3:47 ) And it certainly has and continues to, you know.

(3:52 ) And I heard your very nice introduction, by the way. (3:55 ) Thank you. (3:55 ) You know, Microsoft is so proud (3:57 ) to have 500,000 partners in our ecosystem.

(4:01 ) It’s remarkable. (4:02 ) We actually, we grew the size of our partner ecosystem (4:05 ) 20% year on year in the last year. (4:08 ) That’s fantastic.

(4:08 ) And there’s a whole bunch of reasons why. (4:11 ) And, you know, it’s really exciting (4:12 ) to see the excitement and enthusiasm (4:15 ) for everything we’re doing. (4:16 ) And, you know, you and I go way back.

(4:19 ) And it started in this company. (4:21 ) Well, you know, I’m sorry we were five. (4:22 ) You were a lot younger than I was.

(4:25 ) But, you know, it started with building (4:28 ) and selling Windows PCs in the office, (4:32 ) still going strong today. (4:34 ) And then we sort of evolved into cloud migrations. (4:37 ) And then, of course, now it’s all about the era of AI.

(4:42 ) And, you know, our partners are really the backbone (4:45 ) of AI transformation, solving complex customer challenges (4:49 ) around the world. (4:51 ) Microsoft has always been really deeply committed (4:53 ) to partner success. (4:55 ) And I love just seeing how amazing it is (5:00 ) to see our partners thriving in this time.

(5:04 ) We, just last year, we did some IDC research. (5:07 ) And the research told us that for every $1 (5:09 ) of Microsoft revenue, our services partners (5:12 ) earn $8.45. (5:14 ) Wow, that’s outstanding. (5:15 ) And our software partners earn $10.93. (5:18 ) And it’s one of the measures we hold ourselves to.

(5:20 ) It’s really, really important that we can create (5:23 ) a healthy, thriving, profitable ecosystem for our partners. (5:28 ) Then you add g