Microsoft Mentors

Most Microsoft Partners know how to scope a project. Define the outcome. Build the solution. Deliver it. Close it. AI is starting to challenge that model. Because what happens when the solution you've delivered needs to be continuously taught, governed, supported and improved? In this episode of Microsoft Mentors, Oli sits down with Pat Ramsden, Director of AI and Cyber at ITRM, to explore how AI is already changing the economics of the traditional MSP model. Customers can increasingly build their own Copilot agents. AI is removing manual work from service delivery. New support requirements are emerging that don't fit neatly into the traditional service desk. That has significant implications for Microsoft Partners. 💡 What You'll Learn in This Episode Why Pat believes AI projects may never have a traditional finish line How customers building their own Copilot agents could change the Partner/customer relationship Why ITRM is exploring dedicated AI support and AI-as-a-Service models How AI could reshape traditional project-based MSP revenue Why AI should augment people rather than replace them How one customer reduced a four-day manual process to around half a day Where AI is already improving ticket triage, sentiment analysis and financial operations inside an MSP Why AI agents may need to be treated like employees from an identity and security perspective How AI is simultaneously creating new cybersecurity capabilities and new attack vectors Why governance remains one of the biggest differences Pat sees between enterprise and mid-market IT The risk of engineers becoming too reliant on AI and losing fundamental troubleshooting skills Why adoption still determines whether AI investment produces genuine ROI How ITRM is thinking about the talent required to build a dedicated AI practice Pat's journey from IT technician to Director of AI and Cyber How he's built up 19 active Microsoft certifications without following the traditional study route 🎯 The Big Idea AI isn't simply giving Microsoft Partners another technology to implement. It could change what an implementation actually is. Traditional projects have relatively clear boundaries. A migration, Intune deployment or infrastructure transformation can be scoped around a set of deliverables, completed and handed over. AI behaves differently. The agent a customer needs today may need to behave differently six months from now. Its knowledge changes. Business processes evolve. New use cases emerge. Governance requirements develop. Users find new ways to interact with it. 💬 Memorable Quotes "With an AI project, there is no such thing as done, in my opinion." "You have to treat it as an employee, you have to continue it. Continually teach it, nurture it, and evolve it." "We don't lead with you should use AI technology, A, B, or C. Because actually the customer doesn't care what gets them to their destination. They just care that they get to their destination." "It's not replaced that person, it's augmented their abilities and given them a bit of time to do more." "I think AI is not only one of our biggest assets, but one of our biggest threats." "The hearts and minds of all these projects are the key part." 📬 Enjoyed the Episode? Subscribe to the Microsoft Mentors Newsletter for practical insight from the founders, leaders and technical experts shaping the Microsoft Partner ecosystem. 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7175453155780915200 🔗 Links & Resources Connect with Pat Ramsden on LinkedIn 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/in/pat-ramsden-11769868/Learn more about ITRM 👉 http://www.itrm.co.uk/Connect with Oli Ridley on LinkedIn 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/in/oli-ridley/ Follow Cloud Decisions 👉 https://www.clouddecisions.co.uk/

Most conversations about AI start with the technology. Which model should we use? Which Copilot licence should we buy? How quickly can we deploy it? The more interesting question is this: What happens to a Microsoft Partner when AI can complete 62% of the technical build? That's the question Alex Jones, Managing Director of Power 365, has been asking his own business. And the answer isn't fewer consultants. It's better consulting. During this episode of Microsoft Mentors, Alex explains how Power 365 has rebuilt its delivery model around AI-assisted development; not to replace people, but to remove the low-value work that has traditionally consumed so much project time. The result? Build cycles are dramatically faster. Pre-sales can move from weeks to days. Delivery becomes more consistent. And consultants spend more time where customers actually see value: understanding business problems, improving processes, managing change and helping organisations realise ROI from Microsoft technology. One benchmark Alex shares is particularly striking. For many Microsoft Partners, that statistic raises uncomfortable questions. If AI is removing large parts of the delivery effort, what happens to traditional consulting models? Alex's answer is surprisingly optimistic. The value isn't disappearing. It's moving. Partners who define themselves by writing code may find the next few years uncomfortable. Partners who define themselves by solving business problems may discover they're becoming more valuable than ever. Because while AI is accelerating software development, customers still need people who understand governance, architecture, business processes, adoption and organisational change. 💡 What You'll Learn in This Episode Why Alex initially believed AI could replace Microsoft Partners, and why he changed his mind How Power 365 built an AI-first delivery model without removing the human element The benchmark showing 62% productivity gains across software build activities Why AI is changing the economics of Microsoft consulting How AI-assisted development is reducing delivery times while improving consistency The importance of maintaining a human in the loop throughout software delivery How AI is transforming pre-sales, discovery and proposal generation Why context is becoming one of the most valuable assets in modern consulting The opportunities, and risks created by citizen developers using AI Why governance, security and business process design matter more than ever How Microsoft Partners can become more valuable by spending less time building and more time advising Why data quality will become one of the biggest barriers to successful AI adoption Alex's journey from the Royal Air Force into Microsoft consulting 💬 Memorable Quotes "We are doomed. There's no way that organisations are going to need any partners moving forward." "There's loads of other value-added things that humans can offer that AI will never be able to offer." "One benchmark that we've run shows about sixty two percent, where we can get productivity on actual build." "The quality of engagements has improved dramatically." "The best form of defence could quite possibly be attack." 📬 Enjoyed the Episode? Subscribe to the Microsoft Mentors Newsletter for practical insights from Microsoft Partner leaders, founders and industry experts shaping the future of Microsoft's ecosystem. 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7175453155780915200 🔗 Links & Resources Connect with Alex Jones on LinkedIn 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-jones-8b9639168/ Learn more about Power 365 👉 https://power365group.com Connect with Oli Ridley on LinkedIn 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/in/oli-ridley/ Follow Cloud Decisions 👉 https://www.clouddecisions.co.uk/

Most Microsoft rollouts don’t fail because the technology is broken. They fail because people never change how they work. In this episode of Microsoft Mentors, Oli Ridley sits down with Mark Reynolds, Founder and CEO of Hable, to unpack the problem Mark spotted while working at Microsoft, and why he left a successful corporate career to solve it. Microsoft customers were migrating to the cloud. The technology was live. The licences were provisioned. But meaningful adoption wasn’t happening. When Mark asked the Partner ecosystem who was responsible for fixing the active-usage problem, the answer was repeatedly: “That’s not our job, mate.” So Mark built a company around making it his job. Eleven years later, Hable has grown into a leading Microsoft Adoption and Change Management partner, helping organisations turn investments in Microsoft 365, Teams and Copilot into measurable business value. This conversation explores Hable’s journey through three major technology eras—cloud, remote collaboration and AI—and the shift every Microsoft Partner and business leader now needs to understand: The technical side of transformation is getting easier. The human side is getting harder. Mark explains why buying Copilot licences is not an AI strategy, why IT cannot own business-wide adoption alone, and why organisations need leadership, digital confidence and department-specific use cases before AI can create value at scale. This is a practical conversation for Microsoft Partner leaders, founders, CIOs and anyone responsible for AI adoption, Copilot rollout or organisational change. 👉 Enjoyed the episode? Like the video, subscribe and share it with someone responsible for turning AI investment into actual business value. 💡 What You’ll Learn in This Episode The active-usage problem Mark identified while working at Microsoft Why Microsoft technology deployments weren’t creating genuine transformation What gave Mark the confidence to leave Microsoft and launch Hable How Hable created a category before Adoption and Change Management had a recognised name Why technical implementation alone does not produce business outcomes How COVID accelerated Microsoft Teams adoption almost overnight Why Copilot adoption is fundamentally different from previous Microsoft rollouts Why giving licences to enthusiastic early adopters rarely transforms an organisation How to move AI adoption beyond the first 16% of employees Why finance, sales and operational leaders must shape their own AI use cases How digital confidence affects adoption at boardroom and employee level Why AI implementation may be fast, but meaningful organisational change still takes time What Microsoft Partners need to understand about the growing importance of ACM Mark’s biggest lessons from moving from founder to CEO Why founders should hire people who think differently from them 📬 Enjoyed the Episode? Subscribe to the Microsoft Mentors Newsletter for new episodes, Microsoft Partner insights and leadership lessons from across the ecosystem: 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7175453155780915200 🔗 Links & Resources Connect with Mark Reynolds on LinkedIn 👉 [Add Mark’s LinkedIn URL] Explore Hable 👉 https://hable.co.uk/ Connect with Oli Ridley on LinkedIn 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/in/oli-ridley/ Follow Cloud Decisions 👉 https://www.clouddecisions.co.uk/ 🏢 About Cloud Decisions Cloud Decisions helps Microsoft Partners and Microsoft-aligned businesses build high-performing teams across Cloud, Data, Security and AI. We combine specialist Microsoft ecosystem knowledge with data-led hiring strategies, helping Partners increase hiring velocity, protect delivery capability and scale sustainably as technology and skills requirements evolve.

A conversation on acquiring Microsoft capability, integrating culture, protecting people, and turning M&A into a real strategic advantage.

Buying Microsoft capability is the easy headline.
Building a business around it properly is the harder bit.
That’s what makes this conversation with David Keeling so useful.
This isn’t just a story about an acquisition.
It’s a story about why businesses make them in the first place.

David talks openly about the gap between wanting Microsoft capability and actually building it. Because in his words, you can’t just flick a switch, hire a few people, and suddenly become a serious Microsoft partner. The ecosystem is too complex, the skills are too specialist, and the credibility takes years to build.

Because this isn’t just about buying revenue.
It’s about buying capability.
Buying trust.
Buying a team that already knows how to navigate Microsoft properly.

David reflects on why Centrality was attractive as an acquisition, how Intercity approached the process with a clear cultural fit in mind, and why so much of the due diligence came back to one question: how do you make sure the capability you’re buying actually stays intact?

There’s a lot in this one for founders, Microsoft partners, MSP leaders, and anyone thinking seriously about growth through acquisition.

Because the truth is, becoming Microsoft-first isn’t just a positioning line.

It has to show up in the people.
The process.
The capability.
And the way the business actually operates after the deal is done.

If you enjoy this episode, don’t forget to like, follow, and subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

Why Intercity chose acquisition rather than trying to build Microsoft capability from scratch

Why becoming a credible Microsoft partner takes years, not months

What made Centrality such a strategic fit for Intercity

Why cultural alignment and people retention mattered so much in the acquisition process

How David approached scaling Centrality with stronger structure, process, and capability

Why Microsoft security has become a much stronger proposition for customers and partners

How Intercity is helping customers unlock value from Microsoft licensing they already pay for

Why proprietary IP and customer-facing tooling can help Microsoft partners stand out

How David thinks about AI adoption, customer maturity, and practical use cases

Why leadership, health, and bringing people with you matter just as much as strategy

Memorable Quotes

“we are now Microsoft First MSP that is absolutely at our core”

“it’s not something that you can flick a switch and overnight… say we’re Microsoft capability”

“that journey to be known as they’re a great Microsoft partner can take… years”

“you’ve got great people how do we make sure that during this process that capability isn’t lost”

“the asset is the people”

“you’re like a Ferrari with no brakes”

Enjoyed the Episode?

Subscribe to the Microsoft Mentors Newsletter for insight-led conversations on cloud, cyber security, leadership, partnerships, and scale across the Microsoft ecosystem.

Links & Resources

Connect with David Keeling on LinkedIn
👉 https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-keeling-bb84a84/

Explore Intercity
👉 https://intercity.technology/

Connect with Oli Ridley on LinkedIn
👉 https://www.linkedin.com/in/oli-ridley/

Follow Cloud Decisions on LinkedIn
👉 https://www.linkedin.com/company/clouddecisions

About Cloud Decisions

Cloud Decisions is a trusted Microsoft Talent Partner, we combine deep ecosystem knowledge with data-led hiring strategies to help organisations scale securely and sustainably in a rapidly evolving technology landscape.

Most businesses don’t fail because they start badly. They fail because they stop adapting. That’s what makes this conversation with Mark Taylor, Founder and CTO of Chorus, such a useful one. Mark didn’t build Chorus in a hot market with perfect timing, big funding, or some polished founder playbook. He built it the old-fashioned way. From scratch. From his parents’ bedroom. By spotting a real Microsoft opportunity early. And then by staying in the game long enough to evolve with the market over and over again. In this episode of Microsoft Mentors, we get into how Chorus grew from a Small Business Server opportunity in 1999 into a much broader Microsoft business spanning managed services, Dynamics, and cybersecurity. But more importantly, we get into the decisions underneath that growth. Because this isn’t just a story about staying around for 27 years. It’s a story about changing before the market forces you to. Mark talks about what it looked like to start as a technical founder wearing every hat, why Microsoft became a day-one strategic commitment, how a small early acquisition unexpectedly helped Chorus move into Dynamics, and why cyber has now become such a major growth engine for the business. He also reflects on one of the harder founder decisions: knowing when the company needs something different from you as a leader. There’s a lot in this one for founders, Microsoft partners, MSP leaders, and anyone trying to build a business with staying power. Because the truth is, long-term growth usually doesn’t come from doing one thing well forever. It comes from knowing what to keep. What to change. And when to let the business evolve into something bigger than its starting point. If you enjoy this episode, don’t forget to like, follow, and subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. What You’ll Learn in This Episode Why Microsoft Small Business Server gave Chorus such a clear starting point in the early days What it actually looks like when a technical founder has to learn sales, finance, operations, and leadership on the job How an early acquisition helped Chorus gain traction in Microsoft Dynamics Why staying tightly aligned to Microsoft created long-term leverage for the business How Chorus evolved from traditional managed services into a multi-pillar Microsoft business Why cybersecurity has become such a major strategic growth area How Chorus turned part of its cyber capability into a channel-led SOC-as-a-service model What changed in customer expectations as the market moved from server uptime to user experience and service speed Why stepping out of the CEO role was one of the right moves for the business What long-term adaptation really looks like when you’re trying to build a company that lasts Memorable Quotes “we had the very specific goal early on that... small businesses, they're going to want this small business server thing.” “you suddenly go, yeah, no, I can do this better. I can do this.” “if we stick to this, let's stick to this and be good at this.” “we now deliver SOC as a service to other MSPs.” “our CEO these days is just perfect for that role.” Enjoyed the Episode? Subscribe to the Microsoft Mentors Newsletter for insight-led conversations on cloud, cyber security, leadership, partnerships, and scale across the Microsoft ecosystem. Links & Resources Connect with Mark Taylor on LinkedIn 👉https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-taylor-1041864/Explore Chorus 👉 https://www.chorus.co.uk/Connect with Oli Ridley on LinkedIn 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/in/oli-ridley/ Follow Cloud Decisions on LinkedIn 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/company/clouddecisions About Cloud Decisions Cloud Decisions helps Microsoft Partners and Microsoft-aligned businesses build high-performing teams across Cloud, Data, Security, and AI.