Microsoft FY26 Partner Momentum: AI + Marketplace Creates Perfect Storm (2 Days Until Our Event)
Hi, it's Roman Kirsanov from Partner Insight newsletter, where I deconstruct winning Cloud GTM strategies and the latest trends in cloud marketplaces.
Microsoft's FY26 just launched, and the timing for software companies couldn't be more strategic. Three converging forces are creating a unique opportunity: AI adoption is accelerating marketplace transactions, Microsoft's marketplace sales growth 2X+ year-over-year is reshaping enterprise procurement, and the channel partners are adopting marketplace faster, exactly when companies need them most.
With our Microsoft event in less than 48 hours and the industry's top leaders and practitioners ready to share their playbooks, let's examine what's driving this perfect storm—and why companies are scaling on marketplaces faster than ever before.
But before we dive in, join us this Wednesday, July 23 for "Microsoft Marketplace: Your Growth Engine for the AI Era" online event. It features keynotes from Jake Zborowski, General Manager of Microsoft Marketplace, and Jay McBain of Canalys, plus 10 expert speakers in panels on co-sell acceleration and ecosystem-led sales.
The FY26 Acceleration: Why Now Is Different
Last week’s MCAPS Start for Partners revealed Microsoft's forceful expansion. Nicole Dezen, Microsoft's Chief Partner Officer, announced this as "a record year of investment" in partner incentives.
Microsoft marketplace that connects partner solutions to global buyers 24/7, already driving more than 2X sales growth year-over-year. But three specific dynamics make FY26 the acceleration moment:
Co-Sell focus: One message stood out last week: "If you build on Azure, we want to be in the deal with you," signaling that Microsoft wants deeper co-sell alignment with partners.
AI Convergence with Marketplace: As the marketplace trajectory continues to climb, AI adoption is accelerating it further and driving unprecedented growth in new customers purchasing AI solutions through the marketplace.
Channel Acceleration: Channel-led marketplace sales grew 3.5X last fiscal year, unlocking massive growth opportunity across Microsoft's 500K+ partner ecosystem.
Furthermore, according to Jay McBain‘s research, 86% of partners now call cloud marketplaces an important sales channel. This is mainstream enterprise behavior turning into reality his earlier prediction that "partner-funded deals will reach 50% of all marketplace revenue by 2027".
Companies Proving Marketplace Velocity Is Possible
The speakers at our Wednesday event represent companies that have cracked the code on Microsoft marketplace acceleration. Their results validate what's now possible when strategy aligns with this marketplace upward momentum.
Ada's AI-First Marketplace Sprint
I'm delighted that Mike Mathison, Head of Partnerships at Ada, joins our "Microsoft Success for FY26—Co-Sell and Beyond" panel.
Ada hit $2.5M in Azure Marketplace sales in 9 months, proving how AI businesses can leverage cloud GTM for rapid growth.
Mike Mathison highlights the strategic insight: "we've seen incredible momentum driving marketplace billed sales to help customers transact quickly and efficiently while decrementing their Microsoft Azure consumption credits."
What makes Ada's achievements particularly compelling: they prove AI companies targeting business functions (not just IT departments) can win big in marketplaces.
Founded in Toronto in 2016, Ada is the generative AI platform that empowers customer service leaders to deliver efficient, high-quality support at scale with an AI agent, continuously improving speed and quality across all channels and languages, 24/7.
Snowflake's Global Scaling with Marketplace
I’m excited that Nicole McCabe, Global Strategic Alliances Director for Microsoft at Snowflake will also be speaking at our Co-Sell panel. She is the leader behind an incredible 4X growth in Snowflake's Marketplace Billable Sales since 2022, with 110% YoY increase in FY25 alone.
Snowflake has transacted the largest deals ever in Azure Marketplace across multiple regions – from the US to Ireland, Germany, and Sweden.
Nicole McCabe’s team also leveraged internal resources and tools to build back-end operations to scale Marketplace transactions in Microsoft's FY26.
NetApp's Marketplace Transformation with Partners
NetApp went from minimal marketplace presence to making it their primary revenue engine, winning Microsoft's 2024 Partner of the Year Award in the process. NetApp exemplifies how established companies can transform their entire go-to-market around marketplace-first strategies.
Angelina Gambina - Microsoft Azure Partner Ecosystem BDM at NetApp will join our “Activating Ecosystem-Led Sales” panel to break down how they accelerated their marketplace GTM with channel partners.
Contentsquare's Breakthrough Results
Mike Marzano, Global Head of Cloud, Data & Platform Alliances, Contentsquare will be speaking at our event and hosting our Ecosystem panel. Mike led the transformation of Contentsquare from $0 to $30M+ in marketplace revenue in 30 months.
Contentsquare marketplace results speak volumes. Its co-sell opportunities deliver 81% larger deals, close 11% faster, and generate a 106% increase in ACV compared to direct sales.
As a winner of Microsoft's 2024 Commercial Marketplace Partner of the Year (regional), Contentsquare also exemplifies that marketplace strategies work even for companies selling to CMOs, not just CIOs.
"Microsoft has been a terrific co-sell partner on our most strategic wins. Combined with sales enablement and strong 'better together' messaging, marketplace-first co-sell has helped us identify and close more opportunities—securing bigger deals, faster, and for longer terms," Mike highlights.
The Operational Infrastructure Behind Success
While companies achieve impressive top-line growth on marketplaces, the complexity of integrating the marketplace into GTM and operations has created a new category of supporting infrastructure.
Suger just crossed $2B in B2B marketplace deals flowing through their platform — and their CEO Jon Yoo will be joining our event to share the automation playbooks they've enabled for hundreds of companies.
Jon Yoo identified the fundamental shift early: "that B2B commerce is being rebuilt around cloud marketplaces" and "that sellers need better pipes, faster quotes, and native ways to co-sell."
The operational breakthroughs that Suger enables are impressive.
Contentsquare's results with Suger: 90% reduction in manual tasks and 5X faster co-sell deal registration across AWS and Microsoft Azure.
Top Industry Leaders Complete Our All-Star Lineup
These speakers join our event headliners, including keynotes from:
Jake Zborowski, General Manager of Marketplace Product Management at Microsoft, who leads its marketplace strategy.
Jay McBain, Chief Analyst at Canalys in his keynote will break down key trends and opportunities in cloud marketplaces, partner ecosystems and AI
10 leaders will share insights in our panels on Co-sell and Ecosystem-Led Sales, including:
Elena Kennedy, Senior Global Partner Development Manager at Microsoft, who helped pioneer the alignment between co-sell and the marketplace as a foundation for scalable growth.
Jason Rook, Senior Director of Product Marketing for Commercial Marketplace Channel Sales at Microsoft, who will share his ecosystem sales playbook. Jason sits at the epicenter of Microsoft's channel marketplace strategy and is one of the most experienced and insightful thought leaders on this topic.
Kyle Heisner - Head of Sales & GTM, Suger
Flannery Devine Gibbons - Microsoft Alliance Lead, CDW UK
Debbie Farrell - Partner Director – Cloud & Apps and Datacenter, Computacenter
📅 Join us July 23rd, 9-11:30 AM PT
In just 2.5 hours, 10+ top experts will share insights that could transform your GTM with Microsoft Marketplace and AI in FY26
Get a chance to win 1 of 3 FREE SEATS in our acclaimed Cloud GTM Leader course! (more on this)
With less than 48 hours left, 250+ cloud leaders have already registered! Don’t miss your chance to join them
Why Alliance Leaders Are Joining This Event: Perfect Timing Meets Proven Playbooks
With Microsoft's FY26 just launched and record partner investments announced, there's never been a better moment to master marketplace sales.
That's why I sat down with Mike Marzano, Global Head of Cloud, Data & Platform Alliances at Contentsquare, ahead of our Wednesday event to discuss what alliance leaders need to know about the incredible momentum on Microsoft marketplace and how to capitalize on this shift.
While Microsoft marketplace sales more than doubled year-over-year, the real breakthrough is happening in ecosystem-led revenue.
As Mike explains: "Channel is not new—companies have been building successful channels for decades. This is about evolving those practices into a new frontier."
With Microsoft's 500,000+ partner ecosystem, the opportunity to scale through marketplace partner collaboration has never been greater.
Why This Moment Really Matters
Mike highlights the importance of timing:
"This time of year is always a reset for Microsoft partners. They're positioning what they'll do more with Microsoft, how strategies need to shift, and what they're leaning into."
The convergence of marketplace maturity, AI acceleration, and Microsoft's investments in partners creates unprecedented value creation opportunities on marketplace.
Real Practitioners, Real Solutions
What makes our July 23rd event different?
As Mike puts it: "This isn't a commercial. These are people solving problems—probably the same ones you face—and creating solutions. You get to learn from people who've really done it at massive scale."
See you on Wednesday!