Europe’s Microsoft Partner community continues to expand at a pace unmatched by other regions, and nowhere is that more evident than at Directions EMEA, the annual conference for Partners building their businesses around Dynamics 365 Business Central.
“I was in Vienna last year for Directions EMEA, and there were 3,200 Partners at that event, which is considerably higher than what showed up in Vegas for Directions North America in April,” said Bob McAdam, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Tasklet Factory and co-host of Enterprise Software Podcast. “So, the Europeans have a lot of momentum.”
That momentum reflects a broader shift across the EMEA region.
According to IDC research sponsored by Microsoft, European Partners have seen sustained double-digit revenue growth (18 per cent in 2021, with another 20 per cent expected in 2022) driven by AI adoption, Copilot integration and the rapid transition to cloud-based business applications.
Poznań 2025: A meeting point for innovation
This year’s event, Directions EMEA 2025, takes place November 4-6 at the Poznań Congress Centre in Poland, between Berlin and Warsaw. The venue marks the conference’s return to Eastern Europe for the first time since Prague in 2022.
Last year’s event in Vienna set records with 3,200 attendees, 300 sessions and more than 200 speakers under the theme AI Ready. Organizers expect even higher numbers this year as Microsoft deepens its investment in Copilot and agentic AI technologies within Business Central.
Partners leading the AI transition
AI will again dominate the 2025 agenda. Microsoft used the 2024 conference to introduce the Sales Order Agent for Business Central, an autonomous assistant that can convert customer emails into sales orders, and expand Copilot capabilities for marketing, reconciliation and document processing.
Partners across EMEA are now building their own AI-driven extensions around these innovations.
“The European show is probably bigger than the US show because NAV and BC started out as a European product,” McAdam said.
Microsoft confirms that Business Central adoption remains strongest in Europe, where the product originated as Navision in Denmark before Microsoft acquired it in 2002.
A Partner-first event
Directions EMEA is unique among Microsoft ecosystem gatherings. It’s organized by Partners, for Partners.
That structure gives attendees direct access to product teams, technical deep dives and peer-led sessions on go-to-market strategy and customer success. It also provides unmatched opportunities for ISVs and CSPs to form alliances and exchange best practices.
The event remains the largest independent Partner conference for SMBs in the Microsoft ecosystem.
The value of in-person collaboration
Despite the growth of virtual events, McAdam emphasized that in-person connections remain irreplaceable.
The industry, as a whole, seems to agree.
According to Bizzabo’s 2025 Event Benchmark Report, 57 per cent of organizers report higher attendance at in-person events than the previous year, and 54 per cent of attendees plan to attend more in 2025, citing networking as the top benefit.
“Being there in person with Microsoft and with your peers makes a difference,” McAdam said. “It’s where new collaborations start.”
Expanding the learning ecosystem
McAdam pointed to the growing network of regional training events such as Days of Knowledge and BC TechDays as examples of how Partners can now engage year-round.
“BC training around the world is readily available to anyone who wants to get smarter on Business Central,” he said.
Both events are run by the Directions for Partners community, offering technical sessions for consultants and developers seeking to stay ahead of Microsoft’s product cadence.
Sustained Partner growth
IDC forecasts EMEA public cloud spending to grow at 20 per cent CAGR through 2028, with software and services expansion above 10 per cent annually.
Meanwhile, Microsoft’s new Marketplace for AI Apps and Agents unifies AppSource and Azure Marketplace into a single storefront, simplifying how Partners publish, sell and co-market their solutions.
Together, these shifts point to a Partner ecosystem that’s evolving from pure resale toward IP creation, AI-driven services and long-term managed offerings.
The road ahead
With Copilot maturing, AI entering daily business use, and Partners across EMEA expanding into new industries, McAdam said Directions EMEA remains the single most important gathering for Business Central professionals.
“Community, education and networking. Those are the pillars,” he said. “And if you’re a Business Central Partner, there’s no better place to get all three.”
