SI Breakout: FY27 Incentives Update

Title: SI Breakout: FY27 Incentives Update

Speaker: Uriel Rootshtain, Senior Director, Partner Incentives, Microsoft

Key Takeaways:

• FY27 partner economics are shifting toward growth and strategic workloads: Microsoft is updating its incentive approach to better align partner economics with areas it considers strategic for future growth, including AI, agents, and key Business Applications workloads.
• Partner incentives are increasingly tied to business outcomes rather than simply participation: The FY27 changes are intended to encourage behaviors that contribute to customer growth, adoption, and the health of the broader Microsoft ecosystem, changing how SIs should think about their Microsoft investment and go-to-market strategy.
• AI and agentic capabilities are becoming more important to the partner opportunity: The incentive changes come alongside Microsoft’s broader FY27 push toward AI Business Solutions, Agentic ERP, Copilot, and agents—indicating that partners should account for these workloads when planning their FY27 practices and investments.
• SIs need to understand the economics behind Microsoft’s strategic priorities: Rather than treating incentives as a standalone financial program, partners need to connect Microsoft’s FY27 priorities with their own solution mix, sales motions, skilling investments, and customer strategies.
• The broader message is to align partner strategy with where Microsoft is investing for FY27:
  The incentives update fits into a larger FY27 agenda focused on building profitable, future-ready AI Business Solutions practices. For SIs, understanding where Microsoft is directing incentives can help inform decisions around which workloads and capabilities to prioritize.