Microsoft’s Inspire 2023: 10 Quick AI and partnership announcements you need to know

On July 18 and 19, the event showcased Microsoft’s vision for AI and revealed key partnership opportunities. Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s Chairman and CEO, highlighted the key role of the new generation of AI.

Since the focus for this year was on AI advancements, Microsoft made some big revelations. Some highlights are Microsoft 365 Copilot pre-release pricing details, Microsoft Sales Copilot, Bing Chat Enterprise, and migration to the cloud using Microsoft Aim.

This blog will discuss the 10 noteworthy AI advancements and strategic partnerships announced at Microsoft’s Inspire 2023.

But before all that, let’s understand what Microsoft Inspire 2023 is.

What is Microsoft Inspire 2023?

Microsoft Inspire is an annual gathering for Microsoft partners. It is a chance for them to explore the latest products, connect with other partners, and find opportunities for business growth. Collectively it’s an opportunity for Microsoft to step up its existing products and incept new ideas.

Typically hosted in the United States, the event went virtual in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The theme was “Accelerating AI transformation through partnership” featuring new products like Bing Chat Enterprise, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Azure AI tools, and Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing. But is that all? There are a lot many crucial AI and business partnership announcements. You must know about these to get an idea of where Microsoft is heading in the future.

10 Quick AI and Partnership Announcement From Microsoft Inspire 2023

Out of all the small and big announcements from Inspire 2023, here are the top 10 announcements that you must be aware of —

Microsoft 365 Copilot Subscription

Microsoft 365 Copilot integrates into Microsoft Office apps making tasks strong as a result of integration of language prompt support. Microsoft 365 Copilot acts like a smart friend, always ready to assist you with writing, summarizing, and creating content tailored to each Office app.

Now, you can get Microsoft 365 Copilot for $30 per user per month if you have Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 (Microsoft app packages).

Yusuf Mehdi, from Microsoft, gave a demo in MS Teams, where he showed a PowerPoint presentation and summarized its content by using a single prompt.

Microsoft 365 Copilot has been live since November 1, 2023. The Internet responded with mixed emotions but we must agree it is a great step by Microsoft. While the whole world is running in the rat race for developing new AI tools, Microsoft has focused on implementing the existing tech into their product and eventually making it better.

Improving Sales with AI

AI can be a game changer in the dominion of sales. Implementing AI in the sales sector can be of big help for agents to deal with marketing and sales challenges. Microsoft is leading the way with innovations such as Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, which uses AI to analyze customer data and predict interactions. The tool helps businesses understand and engage their customers effectively and efficiently.

For CRM users, Microsoft Sales Copilot offers productivity tools to simplify sales processes and improve team efficiency. This improves the overall customer experience thereby resulting in highly satisfied customers. Microsoft’s AIM program guides businesses in moving from on-computer to cloud-based solutions with AI-guided support.

To improve sales division further, AI-driven chatbots, integrated with Copilot, are being introduced. These chatbots operate similarly to ChatGPT but are custom-made for handling customer services.

Improve Business Operations with AI capabilities

You can now improve your business operations with AI capabilities by using process automation and mining.

Microsoft’s latest solution, Power Automate Process Mining helps organizations by providing valuable insights organization-wide, simplifying their processes by providing innovative recommendations.

This AI-powered tool offers complete process analysis and automation suggestions, thereby enabling you to improve the efficiency and productivity of the processes.

Power Automate Process Mining was released on August 1, introducing a myriad of features aimed at optimizing business processes. “Out-of-Box” templates and flexible license options assist diverse business needs, ensuring a seamless adoption process.

$100 Million Investment to Support AI Partnership Innovation

Guess what Microsoft just dropped at Inspire 2023? A whopping $100 million investment to boost partner innovation in analytics and AI. Microsoft aims to make life easy for partners, helping them smoothly combine AI into their apps, dig out the good stuff from analytics, and create cool cloud-native apps with AI features.

Moreover, partners can create their own AI copilot solutions using data from their customers or vendors. Microsoft’s not just helping their partners with money, but also helping partners brainstorm new ideas and come up with some fresh solutions. This widens the scope of Microsoft products.

It’s like Microsoft’s way of saying, “Let’s take your game in analytics and AI to the next level, partners!”

Azure Migration Upgraded

In another big news, Microsoft changed the name of its program from Azure Migration and Modernization Program (AMMP) to Azure Migrate and Modernize. Apparently, they didn’t just change the name, the updated program introduces some additional features for assessments and better deals for partners.

Moreover, it supports various workloads like high-performance computing, Oracle, Linux, SAP, and mainframe migrations.

Microsoft plans to invest more to expand the reach and availability of Azure Migrate and Modernize, as announced at Inspire 2023.

New Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program

Microsoft also launched the “AI Cloud Partner Program” at Inspire 2023, desiring to work closely with their AI and Cloud partners. Clearly, the idea is to help partners make AI applications, upgrade existing ones with cool AI stuff, and move services to the cloud quickly.

Without a doubt, Microsoft is also getting into the metaverse trend, planning to add its industrial metaverse to the program by early 2024.

If you’re already a partner with Microsoft, no need to stress. You’ll smoothly move to the new program without doing anything. And guess what? Your perks and titles stay the same. Microsoft’s AI Cloud Partner Program is a strategic move to boost AI and cloud stuff, teaming up with dedicated partners to make it happen. The whole seamless transition is essential to encourage the use of the new program.

New Solutions Partner Designations

The AI Cloud Partner Program introduces a special AI designation for some partners with existing AI designations. This badge can be used in their marketing, this validates their expertise in providing AI services.

Microsoft also revealed some other designations for different skills and specializations. These include a training service designation, an ISV (independent software vendor) designation, and a support services designation.

Epic System Intergration

One of the major highlights of Microsoft’s Inspire 2023 is Microsoft teaming up with Epic Systems, a leading healthcare software provider. They’ve integrated Microsoft’s AI into Epic’s patient information software. As a result, now, it will be easier for doctors to access patient data and respond to messages.

Epic has also used Nuance DAX Express, a voice transcription tool that simplifies and speeds up clinical documentation. The tool uses advanced AI tech, including OpenAI’s GPT 4. It automatically records conversations during visits, reducing paperwork for healthcare providers.

This collaboration shows how AI can be used partnering with various subsystems. As a result, it can offer practical solutions, benefiting both health professionals and patients. The results are being showcased at the Inspire 2023 event.

Seamless Collaboration Opportunities for Marketplace Vendors

Microsoft has introduced “multiparty private offers” in the marketplace, allowing partners to collaborate more easily. This feature is generally available after a private preview, allowing vendors to make joint bids on deals using Microsoft’s commercial marketplace tools. This improved partnership among vendors promotes collaboration and creates opportunities for joint exploration.

With this new feature, businesses can personify beneficial deals involving multiple vendors. Moreover, this announcement will help businesses looking for beneficial deals that involve multiple vendors to collaborate easily.

This update reflects Microsoft’s commitment to providing a platform that supports and improves partner interactions within the marketplace.

The ISV Success Program Is Now Generally Available

Last year, Microsoft started out the ISV Success Program. The program aims to support early-stage independent software vendors (ISVs) in making cool apps, putting them on Microsoft Marketplace, and increasing their sales.

After the recent announcement at Inspire 2023, now, anyone can jump in because the program is open to everyone. And guess what? Early joiners get some awesome perks, like free access to a bunch of Microsoft and Azure services.

Microsoft wants to help out those little coding teams with big dreams, giving them a hand in building strong apps. Interested parties can now apply for the ISV Success Program and enjoy the benefits.