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\n **C**are to guess how many AI agents Microsoft is running inside its massive IT environment?\n <\/p>\n
\u2018The opportunity for partners around delivering a managed service to help customers get value out of their agents, tune their agents, secure their agents and govern and manage them is massive,\u2019 Microsoft Commercial CEO Judson Althoff tells CRN.<\/p>\n
\n **C**are to guess how many AI agents Microsoft is running inside its massive IT environment?\n <\/p>\n
As the \u201cproud owner of IT inside Microsoft,\u201d Commercial CEO Judson Althoff didn\u2019t want to guess; he needed to know. So last November as the company was preparing to launch its new Agent 365 observability and control plane offering to users in the Microsoft Frontier early access program, he asked his team to run the technology internally first to see what it would find.<\/p>\n
The results, even for a company with the technical wherewithal of Microsoft, were stunning: 500,000 AI agents generating 65,000 responses per day over a 28-day period.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a technology company, we were even overwhelmed by the amount of agents happening and being used in our environment, so you can only imagine what our customers are going to go through,\u201d said Althoff in an interview.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s that sense of overload that Althoff says opens the door to a huge opportunity around AI agents for Microsoft solution providers, not only to guide customers through the workplace AI revolution, but to do so at scale in a secure, trustworthy way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe opportunity for partners around delivering a managed service to help customers get value out of their agents, tune their agents, secure their agents and govern and manage them is massive,\u201d Althoff said. \u201cMost of the commercial customer base out there is not going to be equipped to be able to handle managing these agentic processes, so [we\u2019re looking at this] both from a build opportunity and a manage opportunity. It\u2019s why I\u2019m convinced that the opportunity for our partners has never been greater.\u201d<\/p>\n
Althoff\u2019s vision for how Microsoft\u2019s global channel ecosystem of around 500,000 partners will succeed in the AI era is for them to marry technical depth, industry expertise and repeatable, recurring revenue through managed services.<\/p>\n
\u201cAI success really is not about the best model; it’s not about the best silicon,\u201d Althoff said. \u201cIt is about intelligence and trust and unlocking that for our customers. And our partner ecosystem is really the only way we\u2019re going to actually get out there and achieve it. I view it actually as a competitive advantage for Microsoft to have the partner ecosystem that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, Microsoft has \u201cpivoted our entire portfolio of capabilities around delivering an intelligence platform and a trust platform,\u201d Althoff said.<\/p>\n
To support that pivot in the wake of agentic AI, Althoff\u2019s call to action for solution providers is to build practices that embed AI deeper into a customer\u2019s business.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur partners have a massive opportunity to go build practices, to build out those agents by line of business, by industry, connect them back into Copilot so you get these end-to-end agentic business processes, and then have the opportunity to govern and manage those scenarios on behalf of our customers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The work Microsoft and its channel partners have done to focus on building up services capabilities, particularly over the last 10 years, positions them well to succeed together in the AI era, said Althoff, who stepped into his role about eight months ago after serving as Microsoft\u2019s executive vice president and chief commercial officer since 2021.<\/p>\n
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\u2018Our best partners are the ones that have gone out and built real, bona fide service practices or brought companies in to build in organically those kinds of capabilities.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2014Judson Althoff, Commercial CEO, Microsoft<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like we have been telegraphing for a decade that where this is all headed is in service delivery. \u2026 Our best partners are the ones that have gone out and built real, bona fide service practices or brought companies in to build in organically those kinds of capabilities, and I feel like that industry knowledge\u2014that core expertise and development and the core long-term service ability and managed services\u2014is what is going to prevail in this new AI world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Opening Up AI Model Choice Across Copilot And Foundry<\/p>\n
Microsoft\u2019s investment in solution provider capabilities around AI agent monitoring through tools like Agent 365 helps enable safer AI deployments through agent governance and granular data access controls and also provides a way to track customer ROI, said Althoff.<\/p>\n
Agent 365, for example, shows Microsoft and third-party agents as well as their behaviors in the environment.<\/p>\n
This comes as Microsoft has been working hard for the better part of the past year to open up Copilot to expand AI model choice as well as integration with other cloud platforms.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can connect to agents built with any model that sits on top of our Foundry platform, and our Foundry platform has over 11,000 different models in it,\u201d Althoff said.<\/p>\n
And while Microsoft, of course, sees Azure as the cloud platform of choice, customers have other options.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf [customers] build agents on the Google platform or the [Amazon Web Services] platform, it\u2019s very easy to connect them back into Copilot now and then manage them with Agent 365,\u201d Althoff said.<\/p>\n
Now Microsoft is training and educating its partner base to build up the skills required to support core practices around this build-and-manage paradigm, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think that for partners, the biggest imperative is to learn the adjacent skills,\u201d Althoff said. \u201cThe good news is they\u2019ll already come from a place where they understand Microsoft 365 quite well, and so amassing the AI skills around that to then implement Copilot and build out the agent flows around it is a natural progression for them. And then I think the hardening of the managed services opportunities around the business model is something that we would encourage them to do as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Microsoft\u2019s E7\u2014made generally available May 1 as its first new enterprise license in about 10 years since E5\u2014gives partners a new route to unlocking more AI applications, security and governance tools for customers further along on their AI journeys.<\/p>\n
\u2018Client Zero\u2019: How Solution Providers Leverage AI<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the opportunity for Microsoft solution providers of all sizes to reinvent themselves internally through AI tools.<\/p>\n
London-based EY is one of Microsoft\u2019s largest and closest global services partners, employing more than 10,000 Microsoft-certified professionals worldwide, winning more than 50 Microsoft Partner of the Year awards since 2020, including the Global Advisory Partner of the Year award for six consecutive years.<\/p>\n
On May 21, EY and Microsoft revealed that they will jointly invest more than $1 billion over five years to accelerate enterprises\u2019 AI transformation, with a team of EY practitioners and Microsoft forward-deployed engineers (FDEs) collaborating on AI products and services in core business functions at scale. EY is working to scale Copilot access to its 400,000 employees worldwide.<\/p>\n
EY\u2019s AI experimentation acting as \u201cclient zero\u201d pays off in customer conversations because the firm\u2019s internal case studies create trust in its capabilities, Janet Truncale, global chair and CEO of EY, told CRN.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s very important for us when we go on and we talk to our clients that we have that credibility because we\u2019re doing it to ourselves,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
EY deployed Microsoft 365 Copilot to more than 150,000 employees, about 40 percent of its global workforce. The firm has seen a 15 percent boost in productivity through Microsoft 365 Copilot, the EY.ai AI platform and EYQ conversational AI assistant. EY leveraged Microsoft Copilot Studio to build an EY PortalOne agent that provides instant access to more than 21 million EY publications, legislation, templates and other documents.<\/p>\n
More than 80 percent of EY professionals use EY.ai EYQ, and more than 80 percent have completed foundational AI training, according to the solution provider. EY.ai has helped with experimentation and development of more than 50,000 AI agents.<\/p>\n
In another example, EY has leveraged Azure AI Document Intelligence to reduce manual workload by up to 90 percent, processing about 80,000 federal and state tax forms spanning 720,000 pages of structured and unstructured data.<\/p>\n
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\u2018The real power of this alliance relationship [with Microsoft] will be as our clients are transforming more significantly and embedding AI into their core processes, their workflows.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2014 Janet Truncale, Global Chair, CEO, EY<\/p>\n
The firm has leveraged AI capabilities in Microsoft\u2019s Power Automate for its PowerMatch system, which will soon clear 1.5 million client payments a year, increasing the percentage of payments automatically matched and cleared from 30 percent to 80 percent. Only 5 percent of payments now need manual processing. PowerMatch should save about 230,000 hours a year for EY once rolled out globally.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe real power of this alliance relationship will be as our clients are transforming more significantly and embedding AI into their core processes, their workflows,\u201d Truncale said. \u201cThat\u2019s the biggest unlock that I see for us [with] Microsoft: our clients pivot[ing] from this bolt-on to built-in use case to really [having it] embedded. That’s where this alliance relationship will continue to accelerate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another of Microsoft\u2019s biggest solution providers transforming for the AI era is Stans, Switzerland-based SoftwareOne, which has 13,000 employees across 70 countries and has won multiple Microsoft Partner of the Year awards, including eight in 2025.<\/p>\n
The solution provider delivers 24-hour support via more than 3,000 Microsoft-certified professionals in 12 global delivery centers, according to SoftwareOne. It holds six Microsoft solutions partner designations and 15 advanced specializations.<\/p>\n
Melissa Mulholland, co-CEO of SoftwareOne\u2014No. 49<\/a> on CRN\u2019s 2025 Solution Provider 500\u2014said her company is evolving from licensing-focused advising to an outcome-based approach.<\/p>\n \u2018I always say we\u2019re a trusted adviser to the customer. Where that\u2019s shifting is from licensing advisory to AI advisory and AI economics. This is something very core to who we are.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2014 Melissa Mulholland, Co-CEO, SoftwareOne<\/p>\n \u201cI always say we\u2019re a trusted adviser to the customer,\u201d she said. \u201cWhere that\u2019s shifting is from licensing advisory to AI advisory and AI economics. This is something very core to who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n Internally, SoftwareOne has a 97.7 percent adoption rate with Microsoft 365 Copilot, exceeding the 70 percent industry average. The solution provider said it has seen 4.8 hours saved per month per employee through intelligent automation of routine tasks, meeting summaries and content creation.<\/p>\n And SoftwareOne has seen more than 3,500 AI agents created in-house through Microsoft\u2019s Copilot Studio and Azure AI Foundry offers. This includes the Q-Bot agent for automating supplier questionnaire completion\u2014which took task time from 20 minutes to 10 seconds\u2014and an auto-dispatching agent to automate customer email triage and routing.<\/p>\n Some of its most impressive publicly disclosed case studies include leveraging Microsoft 365 Copilot to save users within insurer Ascot Group up to four hours per week on average and saving Prague Airport staffers up to two hours a week through Copilot.<\/p>\n Smaller MSPs See AI As Business Model Evolution<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just global systems integrators that are tapping into the Microsoft AI opportunity.<\/p>\n One of Microsoft\u2019s smaller solution providers positioning itself as an AI maestro is Allen, Texas-based 5K Technical Services\u2014an honoree on CRN\u2019s 2026 MSP 500<\/a> and home to seven full-time employees.<\/p>\n CEO Corey Kirkendoll said that he\u2019s using Microsoft AI tools to reinvent internal marketing, business operations and service delivery, taking those learnings back to his customers, many of them small and midsize businesses.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have got to eat our own dog food,\u201d Kirkendoll said. \u201cIt positioned us in a very unique way to have conversations with our customers about what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n He hopes to leverage AI to evolve beyond the MSP business model, a model that the AI era might commoditize as traditional IT processes become automated through AI agents.<\/p>\n Kirkendoll is exploring an \u201cAI pathways\u201d business he\u2019s building out separately from his traditional business to help customers develop their AI road maps, emphasizing business process training, employee buy-in and culture transformation for sticky AI transformation.<\/p>\n \u201cAI pathways, if it\u2019s done correctly, and where we are today, will far surpass anything we\u2019ve ever done on the MSP side\u201d with fewer resources, he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the cool part.\u201d<\/p>\n Another smaller solution provider making waves in AI is Luis Alvarez, CEO of Salinas, Calif.-based Microsoft solution provider Alvarez Technology Group\u2014an honoree on CRN\u2019s 2026 MSP 500 with around 24 full-time employees.<\/p>\n Alvarez and his team are leveraging Copilot reporting and dashboards that manage customers\u2019 AI estates and show the return on AI investments.<\/p>\n He recalled talking to an attorney client about his $500 hourly rate. If a $30-per-user-per-month Microsoft 365 Copilot license saves him just 45 minutes of billable time a year, it effectively pays for itself.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople do realize very quick ROI,\u201d Alvarez said.<\/p>\n How Microsoft Is Helping Partners Navigate AI Disruption<\/p>\n SoftwareOne\u2019s Mulholland holds the distinction of working with Althoff and his team not only as a solution provider executive but as a Microsoft employee of 12 years, leaving in 2020. In her final role as Microsoft\u2019s director of cloud enablement and profitability, she helped train more than 3 million people and drove more than 100,000 certifications across the ecosystem.<\/p>\n Moving to the solution provider side of the Microsoft ecosystem has given Mulholland a greater appreciation for the help Microsoft has provided licensing-based partners transitioning to the consumption economics brought by cloud computing, she said. Microsoft\u2019s training and skilling resources help remove risk from solution provider investments in this latest technology wave.<\/p>\n \u201cThis change management across an entire partner ecosystem, which is so embedded into Microsoft, is delicate,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s where the trust comes in in how we work together.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018One of the things that we\u2019re really proud of at Microsoft is the breadth and depth of our partner ecosystem and the fact that they light up our platform innovation with their unique capability to deliver value to customers.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2014Nicole Dezen, Chief Partner Officer, Corporate VP, Global Channel Sales, Microsoft<\/p>\n As Nicole Dezen, Microsoft chief partner officer and corporate vice president of global channel sales, told CRN in an interview, \u201cOne of the things that we’re really proud of at Microsoft is the breadth and depth of our partner ecosystem and the fact that they light up our platform innovation with their unique capability to deliver value to customers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re putting the finishing touches on our FY \u201927 plans right now, and partners are at the center of everything we\u2019re doing,\u201d Dezen said. Microsoft\u2019s 2027 fiscal year starts July 1.<\/p>\n Althoff \u201cis very deep on the work that we do with partners, very committed to ensuring that we are finding ways to deliver growth with and through our partners in the ecosystem, and ensuring that partners can build healthy, durable, profitable businesses with Microsoft,\u201d Dezen said.<\/p>\n In recent years, Microsoft solution providers have had to navigate major, complex changes including the rollout of new commerce experience (NCE<\/a>), the launch of the solutions provider designation point system<\/a> that replaced the classic Gold and Silver tiering system and now the availability of E7 licenses.<\/p>\n The upheaval brought by AI to their customer base and their internal operations is another challenge partners face.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\".\/media_1aa39f88722be2ffae04993ea9a3bd0218fa8d5a5.png?width=750&format=png&optimize=medium\")
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