MSDW Podcast: Recapping PartnerIn's Vibe January 2026 Event

As 2026 rolls along, Microsoft partners understand that they operate in an ecosystem dominated by AI ambitions. But the channel story goes a lot deeper, and attendees at PartnerIn's inaugural Vibe conference brought a broad range of ideas, experiences, and stories with them.

The event did not ignore AI, and some sessions dove into topics around how partners are incorporating it into end-to-end business processes, data mining, agent development, and security.

But when Microsoft isn't overpowering the conversation, partners also enjoy opening up about other topics like business process standardization, managing consulting teams, creating more effective relationships between ISVs and VARs, and improving sales pipelines.

In this MSDW Podcast episode, we share conversations recorded on-site at Vibe with three presenters: Joel Leichty of Cooptimize, Carol Smock of TechFluent Academy, and Tanya Henderson and Steve Endow of Blue Dragonfly. They each share a bit about what they brought to the event, what they were learning from others, and their outlook on operating in the Microsoft channel in 2026.