Microsoft Ignite 2025, hosted in San Francisco, confirmed Microsoft’s transition to an AI-first company.
My co-director Matt Cannon, and I, spent a week in San Francisco joining Microsoft, global partners and other industry leaders to explore how AI is redefining productivity, security and collaboration.
Ignite opened with a keynote from Judson Althoff, CEO of Microsoft’s Commercial Business, introducing the concept of Frontier Firms. The message was clear: AI is no longer an add on; it must be core to business strategy and culture. The vision being that AI will integrate seamlessly into everyday work, and provide intelligent governance, compliance and transparency throughout the business.
Microsoft announced several innovations that reinforced the shift from standalone tools to an agentic AI ecosystem within Microsoft Cloud, Microsoft Security and Microsoft Copilot.
Get up to speed wit this handy Microsoft guide: AI agents — what they are, and how they’ll change the way we work.
A new layer for Copilot Studio that learns organisational context from emails, files and meetings creating a more personalised feel to work.
More information about Worl IQ can be found on the announcement blog.
Copilot is now integrated across Office apps for free, enhancing productivity for all users. Security Copilot is included in E5 licences, embedding AI-driven threat detection and governance across Defender, Entra, Intune and Purview.
To learn more about Copilot Chat, check out the Microsoft product page and to see if the eligible products, check the eligibility page.
Designed for SMBs with up to 300 users, new Copilot SKUs that were launched earlier in December.
This will help make AI powered productivity both affordable and accessible for organisations using Microsoft Business Plans to experience the same premium Copilot features as enterprise businesses.
This announcement was big as it brings the price point DOWN for the majority of businesses.
Information on the new products SKUs can be found on the new Microsoft 365 Copilot Business page of their UK website and pricing can be found on our site.
Two major announcements signal the rise of AI:
Microsoft Agent Factory: Microsoft introduced a structured platform to create and deploy AI powered assistance which will automate tasks and streamline workflows named Microsoft Agent Factory.
Agent 365: A central hub to manage, secure and govern AI agents. Ensuring robust security across multi-tenant environments, critical for partners like us. A bit behind the scenes, the announcement page covers it all.
Beyond exciting product launches, Ignite emphasised partner success and secure AI productivity. Microsoft’s agentic vision aligns confirms that ctm are on the same page when it comes to helping our customers navigate automation in key areas such as billing, compliance and governance. Our directors came away from Ignite excited to embrace these innovations and continue to support our customers by delivering secure, intelligent solutions that help our customers succeed.
Or more accurately, softly spoken...
Microsoft turned 50 years old. Xbox was missing. Microsoft Dynamics didn't get a look in.
But there were some Microsoft Surface devices on display. The Microsoft CoPilot+ PC brand with the native NPUs look interesting, brining AI to the desktop.
Windows Server wasn't hugely mentioned, nor Office, Windows or Azure really. Neither did the landslide of products going end-of-life in 2026 or 2027, including some really important apps we know and love! Don't get me wrong, they all made appearances at the many technical sessions, seminars and breakouts but centre stage, they did not have.
That was left to Microsoft CoPilot... and artificial intelligence.
It feel like AI is everywhere, but Microsoft isn’t just embedding AI into apps, it’s building a connected agent ecosystem with security and compliance at its core and the ctm Information Technology customers can, and will, benefit from this advancement.
For our customers, this means AI at the coalface and behind the scenes, delivered through familiar tools.
There's some really exciting things coming from ctm Information Technology, so watch this space!
Rupert
