Directions EMEA 2026: A dispatch from the Consultant Zone
Directions EMEA 2026 begins in Paris on October 27. Ahead of the event, MSDW spoke with Dynamics 365 Business Central veteran Martin Karlowitsch about his perspective on this year’s event.
This year, Karlowitsch approaches the event with a particularly entrepreneurial mindset. He recently launched a new ISV called Pulseoniq. Entrepreneurship is nothing new for Karlowitsch, who previously operated the Business Central-focused ISV NETRONIC, and sold it to the Danish ISV Boyum in 2024. Events like Directions EMEA helped to inspire Karlowitsch to get into the channel to begin with, he told MSDW. He attributes his involvement to a first visit to a Microsoft business apps event in 2012.
Karlowitsch is presenting three different sessions at this year’s Directions EMEA. And he is involved in the event’s “zones” concept once again, which aims to connect interest groups together through informal sessions and activities. He explained more about the planning:
I’m the leader of the consulting zone, which I developed together with some really great minds. There are four dedicated sessions. All four of them will be panel discussions, dealing with how AI is changing things. The fourth is about BC and manufacturing. We ran a market survey with international Business Central partners looking at trends with BC for manufacturing, and how open it to AI. The results of this survey will be presented in this panel discussion, discussed with business leaders, looking at AI’s impact together.
Karlowitsch will be joined on stage by fellow channel entrepreneurs. One session, presented together with his friend and ISV WrenchTime founder Ulrich Kaergaard, looks at “fresh founders” perspectives, while another session will be co-presented with his brother, looking at BC in manufacturing.
At this year’s event, Karlowitsch anticipates that AI will be on of the biggest themes, in-line with other recent events.
“Lots of AI can be [implemented] by customers. We’ll look at what you can do to turn it from a threat to an [opportunity],” he said, noting that sessions will focus on how channel partners can make the most of these capabilities.
And he explained that his new venture, Pulseoniq, makes use of AI to accelerate shop floor activities.
We’re making heavy use of AI to create controlled flows to decide what to do next on the shop floor, always comparing actions against long-term targets. In the past we worked with scheduling. Now we’re going where the rubber hits the road on the shop floor to manage and control in a real-time intelligent fashion.
For any still considering whether or not to attend Directions EMEA 2026, Karlowitsch had this to say:
If you’re still undecided, then you haven’t understood Business Central. This is the must-go event. In 2012, I went there to understand the channel and made a decision to invest in building a system. At Directions in general you gain inspiration for your career and your company. Directions has made the difference. Not going is not a good idea.
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