Microsoft Ignite 2025 brought more than 20,000 leaders to San Francisco – and another 200,000 online – to explore how AI is reshaping enterprise transformation. This year was especially meaningful for us: it was the biggest global tech event where we showed up as a combined organization, and it was also where we were recognized as one of the first partners to receive Microsoft’s Frontier Partner Badge for excellence across all solution areas. Our presence across keynotes, sessions, and customer engagements previewed the unified capability and leadership we will formally bring to market next year.
Throughout the week, Microsoft introduced advancements in contextual intelligence, governed agent ecosystems, and multi-model flexibility – all reinforcing a future where AI becomes deeply integrated into how organizations operate.
“Ignite 2025 showcased that AI is no longer a technology conversation, but an operational imperative,” said Co-CEO Melissa Mulholland. “We are uniquely positioned to help customers turn intelligence into measurable impact. Our combined strengths across security, scale, and solution delivery allow us to meet customers where they are, accelerate where they need to go, and guide them toward becoming true frontier firms.”
Microsoft introduced a comprehensive business-context intelligence layer designed to unify data and strengthen enterprise reasoning.
Together, these layers move AI beyond accessing data to understanding the business itself.
With more than 1.3 billion agents expected by 2028, Microsoft delivered the governance structure needed to scale responsibly with Microsoft Agent 365.
Microsoft Agent 365 introduces:
To accelerate enterprise adoption, Microsoft also introduced Agent Factory, a unified metering and orchestration layer that enables enterprises to build and measure automated workflows with clear ROI.
Copilot continued its rapid expansion across the enterprise:
With the addition of Anthropic’s Claude models alongside OpenAI’s offerings, Azure now provides the broadest multi-model strategy in the industry. Claude gives organizations an additional set of advanced-reasoning capabilities – supporting richer analysis, more capable agents and more adaptive workflows – all within Azure’s governed, enterprise-ready environment. And with Anthropic committing $30B in Azure compute, this partnership reinforces Microsoft’s focus on scale, resilience and responsible AI development for the next generation of business applications.
Ignite highlighted the partners shaping the future of enterprise AI. As a combined organization, we represent one of Microsoft’s most strategically recognized partners worldwide. Crayon was named the 2024 Microsoft Scale Solutions Partner of the Year and SoftwareOne was a finalist for the 2025 Partner of the Year Scale Solutions Award. This year, Crayon was recognized as the winner of the 2025 Microsoft Asia Partner of the Year Award, with additional 2025 country-level recognition in Bulgaria, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. SoftwareOne was named the 2025 Microsoft Secure Productivity Partner of the Year, along with country-level awards in Colombia, Hong Kong SAR and Puerto Rico.
Melissa Mulholland, Co-CEO SoftwareOne – Partner Keynote
Melissa joined Microsoft’s global SMB and Channel leadership to discuss the modernization needs of mid-market organizations – from scalable architecture to secure AI foundations. She spotlighted the company’s 98.6% Copilot adoption rate, supported by our Compass Rose methodology and customer-zero approach.
Regina Manfredi, President North America, SoftwareOne – AI Cloud Partner Program session
Regina underscored the strategic strength of our dual business model – combining direct and channel capabilities. She emphasized the importance of building organizational “AI IQ” and how internal implementations allow the combined power organization to deliver proven, repeatable approaches to customers.
Oliver Berchtold, COO, SoftwareOne – Secure productivity fireside chat
Fresh from accepting the Secure Productivity Partner of the Year award, Oliver shared practical insights from real AI transformations. His core message resonated deeply: “The tech stack is always the shiny butterfly, but the human element is the hardest part.” He provided examples from recent enterprise projects where our company balanced regulatory requirements, governance frameworks, and large-scale process automation.
Microsoft announced enhancements that directly support partner-led AI transformation:
These investments reflect Microsoft’s commitment to partners leading the frontier era.
Ignite highlighted enterprise impact at scale:
Our company’s customer engagements mirror this momentum as organizations transition from experimentation to operationalized AI.
As one of the first major events where the combined organization appeared together, Ignite 2025 showcased the unified strength, expertise, and leadership that we will fully bring to customers next year. With dual Partner of the Year awards, around 13,000 experts across 70+ countries, and a proven customer-zero approach, our company is ready to guide enterprises through the frontier era of AI.
Contact us to schedule an executive briefing and explore how the combined organization can help you build, secure, and scale AI across your enterprise.
Contact us to schedule an executive briefing and explore how the combined organization can help you build, secure, and scale AI across your enterprise.
