Internal · Microsoft · not for partner distribution

For WW Partner Tech Managers · EPS + GCPS

Frontier
Consultancy

A partner enablement motion. Your partners ship AI-first faster, starting with themselves as customer zero.

Giel Cuijpers · Marvin Heilemann · Johan Wallquist

EMEA Partner Solution Architects · Frontier Consultancy programme

FRONTIER · PTM SESSION

01 / 18

17 mo

Average ERP implementation

Long, costly engagements with uncertain outcomes erode customer trust and ROI.

30–40%

Higher cost than necessary

Traditional migration & modernization workloads carry avoidable cost. Paid by your customer.

AI-First Delivery

The new partner playbook

Agents, MCP and Copilot reshape how implementations are scoped, built and run. Partners that adopt early have a delivery advantage.

What partners are telling us

Shortage of skilled consultants. Pressure to reduce repetitive delivery work.

Customers expect agentic capabilities to extend M365 Copilot into Line of Business.

Key user education and adoption remain the biggest risk to go-live.

Partner skillset must evolve for the AI era, or risk being out-paced.

FRONTIER · THE HOOK

02 / 18

DO

Read each stat card number out loud. Pause on the AI-First Delivery card and name it as a strategic shift, not just a third stat. Scan the pain grid without reading every line verbatim. Then pause and ask if the picture matches their portfolio. Wait for a response.

SAY

Three stat cards, left to right. Seventeen months average ERP implementation. Thirty to forty percent higher than necessary is the cost paid on traditional migration and modernization work. The third card is a label, not a number: AI-First Delivery. Agents, MCP, and Copilot are reshaping how projects get scoped, built, and run, and the partners that adopt early have a real delivery advantage over those that don't.

Below that, four pain points your partners are raising with us. Skills shortage and pressure to cut repetitive delivery work. Customers wanting agentic capabilities extending M365 Copilot into line of business. Key user adoption still the biggest go-live risk. And the partner practice needing to evolve before it falls behind.

Does this match your portfolio? If we've got the picture wrong, say it now. Every slide after this one compares against these four.

📅 Today: where your team’s time actually goes

Strategic

35%

Delivery

40%

😴 Boring Work

25%

Architecture & Design

Fit-Gap Analysis

Stakeholder Alignment

Sprint Planning

Configuration & Dev

Integrations

Testing & UAT

Status Reports

ADO Updates

Meeting Notes

Deployment Logs

Backlog Grooming

😴 The boring work nobody wants…

📊 Status reports & slide decks

📋 ADO work item updates

📝 Meeting notes & minutes

📄 Release & handover docs

🔄 Sprint board maintenance

📂 Backlog triaging

📦 Deployment coordination logs

🔍 Tracking blockers across tickets

🤖

AI + MCP
handles this

GitHub Copilot
Azure + ADO MCP
Dataverse + ERP MCP
Security Copilot
Copilot Studio

⇓

🚀 Time flows back to real work…

💡 Deeper solution architecture

🎯 More client workshop facilitation

⚡ Faster feature delivery

🔧 More integration testing depth

🧩 Better fit-gap & process design

📈 Higher sprint velocity

✅ With AI + MCP: where your team’s time should go

Strategic

45% ▲ +10%

Delivery

50% ▲ +10%

😴 5%

💡

On a typical 10-person delivery team, 25% boring work = 2.5 FTEs spending their day on tasks AI can do.
That's a direct hit on partner margins and consultant retention. With Azure, ADO, GitHub, Dataverse and Security MCPs in play, that time flows back to client-billable work.

~12%

of total project effort
reclaimed per engagement

FRONTIER · WHAT IT COSTS PARTNERS

03 / 18

DO

Land the 25% number hard and pause briefly. Name three or four of the boring-work tags before moving to the middle column. Close on the 12% stat from the bottom right.

SAY

The boring work slide. Twenty-five percent.

On a typical ten-person delivery team, that 25% is 2.5 FTEs spending their day on work an AI can handle. Status reports, ADO updates, meeting notes, backlog grooming, deployment logs. Things consultants do because someone has to, not because they're the right person for it.

The middle column shows the swap. Azure, ADO, GitHub, Dataverse, and Security MCPs take that work off the consultant's plate. What flows back to the right: deeper architecture, more client workshop time, faster feature delivery, better fit-gap analysis.

Bottom bar shows the target state. Strategic capacity grows from 35 to 45 percent. Delivery from 40 to 50. That five-percent sliver on the far right is what you can't fully automate.

Twelve percent. That's the share of total project effort a partner recovers per engagement. You can put a billing number on that.

AI-First Framework

🤝 Pre-Sales

RFP agents, personalized demos, solution blueprints

🚗 Delivery (Success by Design)

AI-assisted configuration, coding, testing, training, go-live

🛠️

Tools · MCP Servers

Standardized AI access to Azure, Azure DevOps, GitHub, Dataverse, CRM, ERP, Microsoft Security and Microsoft Learn. Secure, real-time, agent-ready.

~40 tools across 7 categories

🧠

Knowledge · IQ Layer

Work IQ, Fabric IQ, and Foundry IQ bring enterprise context into every Copilot, agent, and custom GenAI experience.

Grounded in customer data

🤖

Clients · Copilots & Agents

M365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot, Copilot Studio and 1P/3P/Customer agents. The new UI for business applications.

Apps → Copilot · Workflows → Agents

FRONTIER · THE MOTION

04 / 18

DO

Walk the two lifecycle phases quickly. Name the three pillars without reading every tag. This slide is a framework overview, not a deep dive. Keep pace.

SAY

This is the motion: what partners learn to actually deliver.

Two phases at the top. Pre-sales and delivery. Left side covers the partner's AI-assisted sales work: RFP agents, personalized demos built from customer data, solution blueprints. Right side is the delivery lifecycle from initiation through go-live.

Three pillars hold it up. Tools: roughly forty MCP servers across Azure, ADO, GitHub, Dataverse, ERP, and Security. Knowledge: Work IQ, Fabric IQ, and Foundry IQ, grounding every Copilot and agent in actual customer context. Clients: M365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot, Copilot Studio, and custom agents, which is where AI shows up to end users.

Worth being explicit about what this is not. The framework applies Microsoft's existing stack. What changes is how the partner's delivery team structures their work around it.

Frontier Consultancy|Approach

Taking an AI-first approach to partner delivery revolves around a data-driven approach using Clients, Tools and Knowledge.

Scenarios below are potential use cases, not productized capabilities.

🤝 Pre-Sales

🚗 Delivery (Success By Design)

▶

↗️

Initiate

Get ready to start

🛠️

Implement

👥

Prepare

Deploy

⚙️

Operate

Live

Design

Build

RFP agent

Draft RFP / RFI responses

Personalized customer demo

Based on customer data & public info

Fit gap analysis

Match customer processes with Process Repository

Customer Kickoff

Including Copilot training

Solution Blueprint

Draft, review, evaluate

Task initiation

Populate DevOps from Blueprint

Generate FDD, TDD, IDD

Using workshops & ADO as input

AI-assisted coding

AI-assisted configuration

Using knowledge and MCP

Test plan

With evals defined

Configuration documentation

Generated from application

Data migration

Using Fabric IQ and MCP

Training documentation

Generated from application

Go-Live

Planning & readiness assessment

Ops measurement

Agent that measures batch actions and transactions

⇅

★

Tools | MCP servers

★

Knowledge | Work IQ · Fabric IQ · Foundry IQ

★

Clients | M365 Copilot · GHCP · Copilot Studio

⇅

FRONTIER · APPROACH

05 / 18

DO

Don't try to walk every bubble. Give the two-phase arc, then name two or three examples at specific phases. Close on the foundation bar. Two minutes max.

SAY

Here's the full picture. Where AI shows up across the engagement, end to end.

Two phases at the top: pre-sales on the left, then delivery running through Initiate, Implement, Prepare, and Operate. The bubbles are potential use cases at each phase.

A few examples worth calling out. On the pre-sales side, a personalized customer demo built from the prospect's own data. In Initiate, a Solution Blueprint drafted and reviewed by the consultant rather than written from scratch. Then in Implement, AI-assisted configuration and coding running in parallel, both fed by the MCP servers in the foundation bar.

That foundation bar at the bottom is the constant across all three tracks: Tools, Knowledge, and Clients. Every scenario above it depends on that layer.

One note: the bubbles are potential use cases, not a committed feature list. Some are productized. Others are still being built. The slide says that in the top right.

☁️

CAIP · Cloud & AI Platform

For Azure-led partners building modern apps, data platforms and AI on Azure. AI-first delivery for migration, modernization and greenfield work.

Kainos UK Reply BE Accigo SE · started Qubix / Cronos BE Knowit SE

💼

AIBS · AI Business Solutions

For Dynamics 365 and Power Platform partners. AI-first delivery across CRM, ERP and the business applications stack.

Kainos UK Reply BE Accigo SE · started Qubix / Cronos BE Knowit SE

🛡️

Security

For partners delivering security projects. AI-first practice for Defender, Sentinel and the broader Microsoft Security portfolio.

In scoping · partner conversations starting

Shared foundation

Same AI-first delivery framework underneath. Same partner-facing toolkit. Each track applies it to its own practice context.

GitHub Copilot CLI VS Code · Copilot MCP servers Azure AI Foundry GitHub workflows

FRONTIER · THE TRACKS

06 / 18

DO

This is your handoff from Marvin: he led on AIBS, but Frontier covers all three solution areas. Name each track. Land the shared-foundation band hard. Same framework, same toolkit, applied to each partner practice. Walk the partner pills on the two live tracks. Flag Accigo SE as the first workshop started.

SAY

OK, so what Marvin just walked you through, the AI-first delivery motion, that's not unique to AIBS. The same shape works across all three of our solution areas. Here's how it lands.

Three tracks. Underneath, one framework. Underneath that, one toolkit. Copilot CLI, VS Code, MCP, Foundry, GitHub workflows. The kit doesn't change track to track. What changes is the partner practice context we apply it to.

CAIP is Azure-led partners. Modern apps, data platforms, AI workloads. Migration and greenfield. That's the track I run, and it's live. Pilot cohort in motion right now.

AIBS you just heard the version of. Dynamics and Power Platform partners. AI-first delivery across the business applications stack. Also live, also in motion.

Security is in scoping with Madalina. Defender and Sentinel, the broader Microsoft Security portfolio. Partner conversations are starting. Not there yet, but it's close.

Pilot cohort is five partners on each of the two live tracks. Kainos UK, Reply Belgium, Accigo Sweden, Qubix and Cronos Belgium, Knowit Sweden. Accigo SE has started, that's the first workshop in motion. The rest are in planning. Same partners sit on both CAIP and AIBS because most of them deliver across both practices. This is the cohort we want to scale the motion through. Add a partner from your portfolio, send a name.

Outcome 1 · near-term, every project

Better project economics

Faster delivery and higher quality on AI-first work. Less plumbing and fewer rework loops, which protects margin on every engagement. Visible on the next AI project the partner ships.

Outcome 2 · longer arc, the runway

Start of a hybrid business model

The customer-zero project is where the runway starts. Reusable assets accumulate across engagements. Project hours start sharing the stage with outcome kickers and recurring IP. The motion shifts what the partner can sell, not just how they deliver.

Mechanism

Customer-zero makes both real. Partners learn the motion by running it on themselves, and ship their first piece of reusable IP at the same time.

Microsoft win Why this scales for us

ACR pull-through

Every customer-zero project runs on Azure. Real consumption from day one, not a forecast.

QBR-able stories

Concrete partner delivery numbers you can quote upstream. Abstract ambition turns into proof points.

Partner-led AI motion

Stronger partner-led AI delivery in your region. Capacity multiplied through the channel.

FRONTIER · WHAT PARTNERS GET

07 / 18

DO

This is the pivot slide. Read both outcome cards out loud. Say the customer-zero connector sentence slowly. Land the Microsoft-win footer with weight, not as throwaway. Total time roughly 2:30.

SAY

Here's where the partner decides yes or no. Two things they get out of doing this with us. One mechanism that makes both real.

The first one is the easy one. Their next AI project lands better. Faster delivery, higher quality, less rework. Margin holds where it usually leaks. Visible immediately, on the work they're already doing.

The second one is the interesting one. The customer-zero project produces their first reusable asset. Over time more accumulate, and they start to build an IP portfolio of their own. Project hours stop being the only thing they sell. Outcome kickers come in. Recurring revenue from reusable assets comes in. What the consultancy can charge for changes shape.

None of this happens overnight. It compounds. But the foundation gets laid the moment they ship their first reusable piece, and that's on day one.

That's where customer-zero comes in. The partner learns AI-first delivery by running the motion on themselves first, on their own internal project. Same week they pick up the practice, they pick up their first piece of IP. One project, two outcomes.

Underneath all of that is the Microsoft side of the deal. Own box, not a footnote. ACR pull-through, because customer-zero workloads run on Azure. Real partner stories with delivery numbers we can take into QBRs. A stronger partner-led AI motion in your region, capacity scaled through the channel. Lead with the partner outcomes when you talk to them. The Microsoft side is the reason this scales for us.

🎯

Named delivery sponsor

Someone who owns consultant time and can clear internal blockers. Not just an alliance contact.

🏗️

Scope-able customer-zero project

Internal use case, real users, visible value. Achievable inside the programme window.

🚀

Frontier-minded

The partner is eager to adopt new patterns and shift delivery practice. Not just attend training.

👥

Mid-size delivery practice

Roughly 10–50 consultants in the relevant practice. Big enough to invest, small enough to move.

FRONTIER · WHICH PARTNERS FIT

08 / 18

DO

Frame this as a profile your teams apply, not you personally. Walk all four gates as a checklist. Land the footer: if all four are true, bring them forward.

SAY

Four gates. This is a profile your teams apply, not you personally. Your delivery and AI leads sit closer to these partners than anyone in this room. So walk it with them. Decide together which ones to bring forward.

Gate one. A named delivery sponsor on the partner side. Somebody who owns consultant time and can clear the way internally. An alliance contact isn't enough. We need the person who actually runs the delivery team.

Gate two. A customer-zero project they can scope. Internal use case, real users, visible value, achievable inside the programme window. If they can't name one, the motion has nowhere to land.

Gate three. Frontier-minded. This is the one that does the work for us. The partner has to want to change how they deliver. A single workshop doesn't move a practice on its own. The hunger has to come from inside delivery leadership, and your teams have the best read on whether that hunger is there. This is the gate that separates real candidates from polite interest.

Gate four. Mid-size delivery practice. Ten to fifty consultants in the relevant area. Big enough that the investment is worth it, small enough that the practice can actually move.

Four gates true? Bring them forward. We help you score the rest from there. The signals that strengthen the case: active pipeline in AI, Dynamics, Security, or Azure, and a willingness to reuse what they build across future customer work.

1

Bring an EMEA partner forward

A partner from your portfolio who fits the four gates and is ready to have the conversation tomorrow. We run a 30-minute fit call. Giel or Marvin for AIBS, Johan for CAIP, Madalina for Security. One name moves this forward.

2

Join the EMEA team

AI-peeled, Frontier-minded people who want to co-own a track or capability as we scale. Architect, technical, GTM, programme. Role-agnostic. The motion is established. We need more hands as it grows.

Born in EMEA. Scaling discussions ongoing with Americas and APAC, EPS <> GPSC. If your region wants in, tell us.

Post-workshop motion is shaping with the first cohort. Deep dives, co-delivery, GTM, TTT. Direction is clear, shape is WIP.

aka.ms/frontierconsultancy

Screenshot it now. After the call: a partner name, or a hand raised to join.

Johan Wallquist

CAIP

Giel Cuijpers

AIBS

Marvin Heilemann

AIBS

Madalina Dobre

Security

FRONTIER · TWO ASKS

09 / 18

DO

Land both asks cleanly. Read each card once. Don't soften the EMEA framing: ask one is for EMEA partners, ask two is for EMEA team volunteers. Read the context band aloud so the WW scaling story and the WIP post-workshop note are on the record. Read the URL slowly and ask for a screenshot. This closes the main deck.

SAY

Two asks to close. Both shaped for EMEA, by design.

First ask is the partner ask. Bring someone forward. From your portfolio, passes the four gates, ready to have the real conversation tomorrow morning. Thirty-minute fit call with the right person on our side. Giel or Marvin for AIBS. Me for CAIP. Madalina for Security. If you do one thing for us this week, send a name.

Second ask is the team ask. We need more hands. The motion is built, the first cohort is running, and the partner pipeline is going to grow faster than the four of us can scale with. If you've got people who are AI-peeled, Frontier-minded, want to co-own a piece of this as it grows, send them our way. Architect, technical, GTM, programme. Role-agnostic. The work is real, it's visible, and it travels.

Two things to know on the way out. This started in EMEA, but the scaling conversation is already open with the Americas and APAC, across EPS and GPSC. If your region wants in early, tell us. We'll route. And the post-workshop motion, what happens after the first customer-zero ships, is still shaping with this first cohort. Deep dives, co-delivery, GTM, train-the-trainer. The exact shape is being built with the partners as we run it. That's intentional, not a gap.

One URL: aka.ms/frontierconsultancy. Deck, storyboard, partner landings, contact info. All of it lives there. Screenshot it before we move on. And after this call: send a name, or raise a hand. Either one moves it forward.

For the deck when it's shared

Appendix

From here on: recorded demo, scope boundaries, current pipeline, the post-workshop motion in detail, and the Microsoft side of the value. Pull anything forward in Q&A, or skim later when the deck lands in your inbox.

FRONTIER · APPENDIX

10 / 18

Bonus · what this looks like for partner consultants

Still frame from the ZAVA work-order management walkthrough

5 min 31 sec · ZAVA DIY · Work Order Management · AIBS track

FRONTIER · DEMO (BONUS)

11 / 18

Bonus · ZAVA work-order management walkthrough

FRONTIER · DEMO (BONUS)

12 / 18

Bonus · guardrails so we don't over-promise

Not a sales motion

Frontier Consultancy is partner enablement. The partner does the work. Microsoft enables and amplifies.

Not a one-off workshop

It's a programme: training, customer-zero project, productized IP. Multi-month engagement with the partner's delivery team.

Not a substitute for partner certifications

Designations, specializations, MCT all stay relevant. This sits on top, focused on AI-first delivery practice.

Not run by Microsoft on partners' behalf

Partners run their own customer-zero project. We coach. We don't ship for them.

FRONTIER · WHAT THIS IS NOT (BONUS)

13 / 18

DO

Read all four cards. Pause noticeably after the fourth one about Microsoft not doing the delivery work. That one tends to prompt questions.

SAY

Four guardrails. Use these when partners or peers ask what the programme is.

First: Frontier Consultancy is partner enablement, not a sales motion. The partner does the work. Microsoft enables and amplifies. We don't sell on their behalf.

Second: this is a programme, not a one-off workshop. Training, then a customer-zero project, then productized IP. Multi-month engagement with the delivery team.

Third: certifications all stay relevant. Designations, specializations, MCT. This sits on top of those, focused on AI-first delivery practice.

Fourth, and the one worth dwelling on: Microsoft does not run the partner's customer-zero project for them. We coach. We don't ship for them. If a partner expects us to do the implementation work, the programme won't produce the right outcome. Set that expectation early.

Bonus · current partner workshops by track