The month of July means another Microsoft fiscal year begins, and for partners in the Business Applications arena it also means another trip to Bellevue, WA to attend Dynamic Communities’ annual partner gathering. The 2nd iteration of the Biz Apps Partner Executive Summit, which will soon be known as the AI Business Solutions Partner Executive Summit beginning next year, had a very nice attendance bump and LOTS & LOTS of AI urgency. Like 2024, it was time well spent.
Gone are the days of Microsoft Inspire, when Microsoft partners the world over came to North America to kick off a new sales year, so Dynamic Communities CEO John Seifert decided to host Microsoft business applications partners near Redmond instead. The 25-hour ‘immersion’ as he calls it, begins at lunch on a Wednesday and ends just after lunch on a Thursday. Most sessions are held in the same large room with all attendees, and numerous folks from Microsoft as well as some of the largest reseller firms in the Dynamics space are there to speak and network with SIs and ISVs. Quite honestly, the hallway conversations are beyond superb and well worth the plane ride from the east coast by themselves! I had several good ones while out west.
As expected, the event contained numerous discussions centered around AI – shocking, I know – and the push for more AI opportunities was presented with a strong sense of urgency, to say the least. Microsoft indicated that if AI is mastered within partner firms, those firms will win externally with customers faster. AI is coming on quickly, so waiting ‘until tomorrow’ to start may very well be too late!
One panel on the first day featured some of the largest firms in our industry. At one point, the moderator indicated that Microsoft firms that didn’t have AI as a key component in their growth strategy would not be in business 12 months from now. Personally, I had a hard time accepting that given the longevity of many in the room whom I’ve known for a long time, but I also thought the largest firms in our space have already had Microsoft knocking at their doors to lead on all things AI. The panelists spoke about where they’re at with AI and how they’re executing plans to become a ‘frontier firm’ faster than immediately.
Day Two had SIs and ISVs separated for a portion of the morning, which was great. ISV sponsorship was robust, so there were a lot of us in attendance! We had our own panel of ISVs and SIs, but the AI messaging was still abundantly clear. I visited several ISV sponsor tables and enjoyed dinner with a couple of others. There were lots of familiar faces and that’s always a plus.
The Hilton Bellevue won’t be large enough for the 2026 event, so a larger hotel around the corner will house next year’s gathering. AI was so prominent that a new conference name was rolled out as well! Look for the 3rd annual AI Business Solutions Executive Partner Summit around the same time next year, and with even more partners making the trip to the Pacific Northwest. ‘Super Early Bird’ pricing is already on the event website, and I know I’ll be back for this once again next year.
Bonus event coverage via my chat with Carol Livingston via her ISV Talks podcast!
