How Microsoft Partners Turn Partnerships into Pipeline
Welcome to the IAMCP Profiles in Partnership, the show where Microsoft Partners, IAMCP members, and business leaders come together to share stories, strategies, and inspiration on how collaboration can propel your business forward. I'm your co-host, Anthony Carrano. In each episode, we dive into real world examples of how IAMCP members and Microsoft partners are working together, forging powerful alliances and turning connections into real business growth. Whether you're a seasoned partner looking for your next big breakthrough or just starting to explore the value of the IAMCP community, this is your place to discover how collective knowledge, trust, and authentic relationships can unlock new opportunities for you and your business. Join us as we spotlight partner success stories, AxiML strategies, and the real benefits of building a network where everyone wins.
Anthony Carrano:Before we get started, let me ask you, what's the one relationship in your network that has made all the difference for your business? And if you can learn the secret to turning every new connection into a win win win opportunity, would you take it? Stay tuned because our guest, Manish Bhardia founder and president at Think AI Corporation and CEO at Aimey,ai shares how the right partnership can transform your business journey. Let's dive in. Well, Manish, welcome back to the podcast.
Anthony Carrano:It's so great seeing you again.
Manish Bhardia:Yeah. Thanks, Anthony.
Anthony Carrano:You know, when I come to think of it, you are actually our our second guest whenever we launch this podcast. So it's fun having you back on. I mean, I know with, you know, with the P2P awards and whatnot, but for those who in IAMCP and in the Microsoft community who don't know about you, I want you to start off, tell us a little about yourself, you know, and your companies.
Manish Bhardia:Absolutely. IAMCP is the reason I was able to grow my business. So going back to 2012, I just attended first meeting and somebody, one of my friend, Brandon Neri, who was longtime IAMCP member said, couple of Microsoft folks are meeting at Microsoft Office. That time it was in LA downtown. I showed up, I realized people are already partnering, sales to sales conversations are happening.
Manish Bhardia:And then I think Ro was mentioning, just show up and keep meeting people. That's what I did for the next six months before I got my first referral. With IAMCP, I didn't have to learn sales marketing. I just needed to learn that be trustworthy, show up and build relationships. So that's how I started getting new business without knowing sales or marketing.
Manish Bhardia:And since then I'm with IAMCP and I have learned now all the sales marketing skills and IAMCP has been a big reason for my growth in business. So I started IAMCP 2013 and I highly recommend all the founders who are struggling with sales or marketing, build relationship and with partnering you can grow.
Anthony Carrano:Well, tell us a little bit about your, you've got, so when we first met, you had one company, now you've got two companies. For those who aren't aware, tell us a little bit about both companies, Think AI and IAMCP, those who don't know.
Manish Bhardia:Yeah, with the just name, you know that we are focused on AI fully. And Think AI we started 2018. So we were early to the AI journey and it's a professional service company. The focus is bring custom data solutions, AI solution, custom development to mid size to large enterprises. And so that's a professional service focused company.
Manish Bhardia:And the other one is Aimey.ai and Aimey is a product. So it's a AI assistant which is focused fully on getting you task related assistant. So what happens is we have tasks in email, text, CRM system, IT system, or your project management system. So Aimey is fully focused as long as it knows about the task, it will remind you, work with others to get it done. So that's the help it's providing because sometimes tasks just sit there or you're waiting on somebody and that could be a simple follow-up which AI can help you or maybe you need a nudge or you need some research done.
Manish Bhardia:So those are all the mundane tasks which AI can do. And Aimey is focused on that.
Anthony Carrano:Excellent. Well, know we're gonna get into the P2P story that was with Think AI and Rudy will kind of get into asking some of those questions. But before we do, I mean, where where I think it's fascinating is like I said, when we when we first met and had you on the show, you were just launching Aimey. You had your book, which I just bought. I recommend people read it.
Anthony Carrano:They'll get a lot out of it. But you were just launching Aimey and now it's been almost eighteen months. So briefly maybe just tell us a little bit about the just the because now you got a company, you got a website for Aimey you didn't have a website when we first were talking. Maybe briefly just share a little bit about Aimey, you know, the company and how that company has, you know, just the inroads and things that you have made there. And then we'll transition, you know, back to the P2P story for Think AI.
Manish Bhardia:Yeah, we are adapting to the fast change which is coming at all of us related to AI. So it all started with AI helping you summarize text or giving you the notes, which is the generative AI. Even the book was about generative AI, which we are talking last year, early like March or April. So 2024, March, April, this was all generative AI. As we came to the 2024, it's all about agents, right?
Manish Bhardia:Or agentic AI. So we had to adopt that also is not just provide the summary because it's not actionable. AI should perform action, not just give me tasks to do, give me things to do or summarize. So then we transform on to Aimey being able to perform some tasks like can it complete some tasks like simple tasks like create meeting agenda or create a status report or just follow-up with somebody that you are waiting on it. So those are the kind of thing we transform.
Manish Bhardia:So AI capability enhanced on OpenAI world on Microsoft world. So we adopted that. So those are the new thing has happened. And the third one is when we went to market, people are like, this is fine, but I still need access to my other data other than what Aimey knows. That came as more of knowledge base, or let's call it enterprise IQ, which Microsoft is also calling work IQ.
Manish Bhardia:So people just don't want a little bit of info, they want more. So that was a revelation we found from customers. So things have changed. Initially, we were just focused on summarizing the notes and we added the knowledge base or work IQ, I would say. And then third is the agent. Let it perform some action, not just sit idle.
Anthony Carrano:Excellent, excellent. Thank you for sharing. And that's just really cool to hear the updates, and I can't wait to when we have you on the next time to hear more updates.
Manish Bhardia:Yeah. It's been exciting. It's very fun.
Anthony Carrano:Excellent. Well, let's I know we're gonna get into the story here. Rudy?
Rudy Rodriguez:Well, if we're gonna have it back again, he we'll have to give him give him credit and make him a regular on the show, won't we? Well, Manish, as, you know, as you know, this podcast is about, you know, p to p stories. And and the story I read that that helped you win this award is really cool story. So in this showcase that we're gonna cover today, can you tell us a little bit about the client, the partner that you work with, the industry, and ultimately the solution that you implemented and the challenges that this client was facing?
Manish Bhardia:Yeah, very interesting. So, Greystone Technologies, one of the partners which was our key partner. So, a little flashback on this is 2016 or 2017. My trophy is not here. We won a P2P US national award, and this was the same partner who had another small business called IT responsive.
Manish Bhardia:So IT Responsive and Think AI had another successful story on business intelligence. And this partner ended up selling his MSP to Greystone, which is much bigger company, like a half $1,000,000,000, 22 MSPs under them kind of scenario. So they're our long term partner and their client is actually in Australia. So this client, does all kind of, gear like, sea sport to the summit sport, like skiing gears or surfing gears, everything. So more like REI.
Manish Bhardia:And they have major initiative of bringing all business data into dashboards, Power BI dashboards. And they had been talking to multiple big five firms. Like I think one of the big five firms was there and they did the proposal and another mid sized company did the proposal and we were brought in through Greystone because they already had the relationship. Otherwise, we would not get in. So this gentleman who is our client in Australia had a couple of calls and my business partner Dave Goyal is pretty strong or he's like a data guru in the whole business intelligence world.
Manish Bhardia:He's ex Microsoft, Johnson and Johnson, and Starbucks, all that he has done. So he understands pretty much all the area on data related complexity. So we had a talk with our client in Australia and they were in talk with multiple big firms as well as mid sized firms and we got brought in by Greystone who already had client relationship. And my business partner, Dave Goyal, is very experienced on data and AI and all kind of data warehouse technology. So he's very well accustomed to that.
Manish Bhardia:And we have done this kind of work already. As I said, 2016 we did that. So we had a good talk. Another factor is we have a hybrid team and sometimes with The US, the India timing does not work, but with Australia it works very well because it overlaps. At least they have five hour overlap on the time zone, so they were open to the hybrid model where we have US direction as well as India team support.
Manish Bhardia:And that was pretty much started as a one month engagement. And so we have some monthly package. He was okay with it to try for one month and grew from it. And then, pretty much it's pretty much hands off for Greystone now. They do their MSP work and they are not at all involved in any of our meetings. They just get update that it's going great. And I think this is third year now.
Rudy Rodriguez:So was there big money savings for your client, if I remember the story correctly? So how did you accomplish all that?
Manish Bhardia:Yeah, I guess it's up to like $1,200,000 They had capital cost occupied in inventory and payback period. So they were able to push that through much better. But the real impact is like, you know, they are saying that $1,200,000 on freed working capital reduced logistics cost and five month payback period. That's what we are able to bring to the table and that actually boosted the confidence in us and in Greystone.
Rudy Rodriguez:Well, that's great. So, you know, you mentioned joining IAMCP and working with, you know, Ro Kolakowski introduced you into working with and possibly through partners. So what was the pivotal moment in your journey that shaped your approach to partnerships today? And how would things look if that hadn't happened?
Manish Bhardia:Oh, I cannot imagine how it would look. It would be very bad. Very bad. I got really lucky. Two things actually, I would say the local leadership of Microsoft, you know, Justin Slagle being in Irvine area and IAMCP, the Irvine meeting happening in Irvine office.
Manish Bhardia:So I was able to go and learn that there is so much resource for a small business from Microsoft side. It's a different thing doing a business by yourself and trying to learn everything. But having a group like IAMCP and then also getting help from people like Justin to know that there is program like customer immersion experience like CIE. You used to get 10 laptops from Microsoft and show what you can do. See, I came from enterprise world, so I knew most of the things what we are trying to sell.
Manish Bhardia:It's just very hard to get customer or showcase to them because they don't have all the skill set or even the technology. So knowing that Microsoft has this showcase of 10 laptops, bring them to office and invite your customer, potential clients and partners and let them experience the technology hands on like Office three sixty five, Power BI. I think that gave me the platform to start interacting with potential clients and partners and go to market. So even though those did not give the business, I knew, okay, this is how we connect with partners and clients. And then in IAMCP, being just that two points, like Rose said, show up is half the thing, half the battle.
Manish Bhardia:So meeting between the meeting I kept doing and even I did not have anything to give to the community. What I did was I connected people. So I knew president, vice president or board members. I think that is one of the best thing we can teach all chapters is even you don't have referrals to give. If you just connect people, that's giving something.
Manish Bhardia:So that's what I kept doing. Anybody would come, I would connect them to the president and vice president because sometimes they don't even know who is the president and vice president. And then I got the referral. So the two things were being there, created the trust, and then giving something or just adding value somehow, whatever way it is possible. Created the scenario where people can trust me and they know I'm just not taking, I'm giving some way.
Manish Bhardia:So then I got some referral and then the biggest lesson again Rudy came to my mind is yes, you can get referral and it can stop also. So then you have to also give referral to get. So give to get is true And that doesn't mean I give you to get referral from you. It could be anywhere. I just need to give some somewhere and it will come back to me. That's the concept.
Rudy Rodriguez:Great lessons. Great lessons. And that's right. Participate, engage and stay engaged. Absolutely.
Anthony Carrano:Yes, that's fantastic. Really appreciate you sharing that. You've obviously had a lot of success with partnering, but let me ask you this though. Can you share a time when maybe like, you know, partnership like a partnership didn't go as planned? Then share like kind of what you learned about like resilience or leadership, you know, from that experience.
Manish Bhardia:Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know one very, very good story here. Sometime we just need to be aware that it may not work. So that's the thing we need to know, which we didn't anticipate earlier time. So we had an existing client, they moved to a new company. He called me right there saying that Manish, I need help with IT infrastructure. Get me somebody. I'm like, yeah, that's very easy. Microsoft, no worries. I have a lot of partners on it.
Manish Bhardia:So I gave one of my best partner on that and that partner somehow didn't want to travel so far kind of scenario. So that didn't work out. So I gave a backup partner and took it easy and you know everybody has a different pace of doing things. This client was under a lot of pressure, so they really wanted things on Thursday or Friday and did not work out. So client ended up going with somebody over the weekend.
Manish Bhardia:That was a very trusted client for us and he called me saying that Manish, I appreciate you giving me this, but I could not go because of these reasons. And that I took as a failure because of course we lost that business for MSP as well as for us, right? Because sometimes MSPs will give us referral commission as well kind of scenario and sometimes we will not get commission. So of course, losing a client is not good. So lesson is, we need to take ownership.
Manish Bhardia:It is our ownership and the client is trusting on us and if something goes wrong, our trust or it is a negative impact on us and if we want to protect that, we want to deliver better on clients, so take ownership. So we have to take that. So we are always wary of that it may not work. So coming back to how do you make it work is with new partners, there is always a challenge that it may not work. We need to know that.
Manish Bhardia:Even we may not work for somebody and they may not work. Even client may not work for a couple of partners. Just need to watch out that and take ownership to make sure, you know, even if it does not work, things don't go so bad that you didn't pay attention. I think as long as you pay attention and it doesn't work, it's okay.
Rudy Rodriguez:Well, I think you're going to like this next question because you're a specialist in AI. You know, the technology landscape is changing on all of us right now. So with AI and automation just reshaping the whole partner landscape, what's one area where you see partners both leveraging and possibly even underestimating the opportunity or the risk of adopting or implementing AI.
Manish Bhardia:I mean, have some very good examples here. So we have the scenario where client wants to try AI and sometimes I see partners are not fully capable with all the options. So one option is of course going with the Microsoft infrastructure of Copilot, Copilot Studio. That itself is enough to do whatever client wants. But Copilot has certain capability and certain use case.
Manish Bhardia:Copilot studio is much more involved and it needs development time. If you want something in between, then tool like amy dot ai or other tools needs to be tested out by partners and be ready to help customers because customers are anyway going and buying these or trying these. So that's the opportunity for partners to put time and understand end to end all the options and within IAMCP they can create partnership saying that, okay, I'm going to do Copilot. Who is going to do the middle area? I said, Aimey.ai or some other tools like, you know, there is mid journey for creating the images, then 11 labs for audio AI, voice AI, and then Co Pilot Studio or similar tools can actually develop the new solution.
Manish Bhardia:Who will do if MSP is not doing then who will do on that side with partnering? So there is more open areas here. They need to go understand, partner and just be ready with client because clients are getting pressure from their competition. They are adopting and becoming faster, more agile. So we need to support our clients. There is a lot of homework here to do.
Rudy Rodriguez:Well, that leads you to the next question, which is we're seeing both technology and customer expectations evolve, right? How do you see the balance between technical innovation, partner relationships, and customer value shifting over the next few years?
Manish Bhardia:Yeah, I guess things are changing so fast. I keep hearing and we are still trying to master that The value based outcomes, people are going from the SaaS model to value based pricing model. So SaaS is what, you know, one year these are the cost and you don't own the infrastructure and you just pay subscription, which is fine. But things are changing so fast. People don't want to even commit one, two years on SaaS.
Manish Bhardia:Now they are like, you deliver the value and we can charge. So we'll have to see, I guess that will be a big play, which is the value based pricing is coming into picture. And then another one, which is more on innovation side is Rudy, like Satya Nadella was saying, right, the AI will be the new interface or Copilot is the new interface, more like conversation. So we are used to clicking, going to Dynamics and clicking various menu items to get the result. Now it's just talk to Copilot or to Aimey and get the answer.
Manish Bhardia:So that changes the landscape where SAS is not the destination to go to do the work. AI is the destination and then AI will go to SaaS and get you the answer. So that is changing. That means there is a possibility that we can talk to customer and really understand how they want to work and give them new way of working. I have one good example.
Manish Bhardia:One of our customers is doing a security compliance check at their job sites, which is construction company. So they used to have this big excel to go with 120 lines of checklist and do that for 20 of the companies. He has 20 Excel. Then he has to create a simple report to say this is out of violation or this is a violation. Can we fix it by end of the month kind of scenario so we can keep our bonus going?
Manish Bhardia:Otherwise, you know, we lose. So we worked with them and they're like, hey, out of 120, only five or six are missing each month. And it's his job all over to work on email, text or call to get those six done from each site, which is like 120 tasks for the month. So now we are taking them to the Aimey interface, just chat based so he can just talk or his manager can just talk, hey, tell me what is available or what are the violations on each job site or what is the violation for this person like John, what is John supposed to do quickly. So now it's become just chat or talk instead of 20xl, which was hidden somewhere in SharePoint and they sometimes know how to get, sometimes don't know.
Manish Bhardia:And that's where the lack of productivity or the work. So this is one example how things are changing. So this was very simple for us and they still use Excel or Planner, whatever they are using. So no infrastructure change, just another interface and becomes easy and more doable.
Rudy Rodriguez:I don't think they're going to miss the 40 clicks and multiple conversations. So that's a great story.
Manish Bhardia:So this is where the option is. I think real value I see is if we can have more conversation with how they're working and bring AI into that, working just as an assistance. And that could be not much change on their workflow, but just got a lot of help.
Rudy Rodriguez:No, that's great, great story, great advice, really understanding how people work and just making them more efficient, how AI can make them more efficient.
Anthony Carrano:So now how, I know we were just talking about like, you know, balancing expectations. I like to kinda along the theme of balancing is, you know, someone who's obviously, you know, very experienced in, you know, partnerships, How do you go about balancing your own company's capabilities with a partner's strengths to ensure that the customer experience, just like a seamless value rather than just like two vendors working side by side?
Manish Bhardia:It's a great question. And I think after trying all these partnerships, I think, found the answer on it, which is what is your biggest strength? Let's play with it because everybody is looking for some expert, guru or somebody who is strong in that area. So, let's just partnership on the strength and not on everything. So, we are trying to connect with many partners and understand what is their strength.
Manish Bhardia:If that is not our strength, I want to bring them in. And when I take them to client, I want to tell to my client also that, okay, this is his strong area. He's really strong on it. Things may go up and down, but we know he's the best in this area. And that way even clients are happy that they got the best we know and partner when they deliver, they also deliver much better than average kind of scenario.
Manish Bhardia:And that's a win win win. We definitely want to have win win win. It cannot be win lose anytime. Anytime there is a one lose coming, that means we are not doing our job. So if we can solve this equation, like a partner is strong in that area, we are bringing that strong partner and client is getting help. So that's a three win. So really looking forward for this win win win all the time.
Anthony Carrano:No, that's awesome. And if I can, you know, just thinking about, you know, it was interesting when you were sharing at the beginning, you know, the interview with this partner with with Greystone.
Manish Bhardia:Mhmm.
Anthony Carrano:The prior company, he said he goes as far back as 2016, I mean, that's nine years of That's working amazing. So can you just share a little bit about what are, you know, as those that are in, you know, working with and through partners, maybe what's just a few tidbits of advice that you would say, listen, to nurture good long term partnerships like you guys have? What are some best practices there?
Manish Bhardia:Yeah, I guess transparency or the trust is the first. People want to work with the people they know, like and trust. So trust is the biggest foundation here, which means making sure the customer, I mean partner looks good in front of customer and be open about anything going wrong or good or bad. So just keeping that on the forefront is the prime focus. So yes, we need to be having trust going on.
Manish Bhardia:Second is play with your strength. So whatever you are strong, just be open to partner and client. Yes, you can help or not. And then if something is lacking, just mention that. And going back to the other point of we have to give, so this partner also with chance, I remember long back I had a big request on MSP need and I was able to pass that lead to IT responsive that time which is now Greystone.
Manish Bhardia:So it was a gift from my side also and I also got a lot of business from them. So always we'll have to keep the relationship both ways. It cannot be just one way, right? So as long as I work hard or we work hard to get them something, I think it's a fruitful relationship for long term. But we have seen one side relationship also again, same thing. High trust, deliver good value with strong capability.
Anthony Carrano:Excellent. Excellent. And I think I know how you're going to answer this, but I'm ask it anyway. Is if another partner listening today wanted to replicate your success, what's one and just one principle or mindset shift you tell them to adopt first?
Manish Bhardia:Yeah, I guess the mindset shift is same thing. We can add value and that could be just anyway. So connect and just find ways to add value. And it could be pretty much that you don't have a connect, but if you can connect that partner with two more, that's the value you added to them. Or some other way, keep that in mind how you can help them.
Manish Bhardia:To be honest, it's a lot of work in the sense to make sure you keep that in mind to add value. Because we get busy, we have to deliver, we have to run our business and then the partner is on the side That's another mistake that happens. You add value, so then you have to be more organized to keep things in CRM and keep adding value. And that's the reason when I show up, what you see, then you can add value, right? So, I keep showing up to the meeting and then I remember, Oh my God, I have not seen him in two years. And then let's see how we can add value.
Anthony Carrano:Well, that's fantastic. Really, really appreciate you sharing a lot of great insights. So I know we'll have both the company website URLs in the show notes. What are some of the best ways for folks to reach out and connect with you?
Manish Bhardia:I think LinkedIn is best. Manish Bhardia at LinkedIn you can find me. And then when you put the site, the contact us has the page email ID as well. So send email and then I'm pretty happy to connect with anybody.
Anthony Carrano:Yeah, absolutely. And just, you know, so y'all know, I mean, you know, Manish I mean, he's serious about that. I was in SoCal this summer for my youngest son had a a basketball tournament. We got together and he took me out for coffee. So he's all about connecting and giving. So I think I owe you a coffee, but we'll figure out. But if you come to Texas, we'll take you out for some barbecue. So we'll we'll figure out.
Manish Bhardia:Oh, yeah. That will be amazing. That will be good. Absolutely.
Anthony Carrano:Well, excellent. Really appreciate having you on. You have a great rest of the day.
Manish Bhardia:Thanks Anthony, thanks Rudy. Glad to be here.
Anthony Carrano:Well, was a great episode and it was so good seeing Manish again. Enjoyed having Manish as a guest the first time and I really felt like this second time was just so much better.
Rudy Rodriguez:No, it's always great to connect with IAMCP Partners, you know, it's always good to learn from each other and grow. One of the things that he brought up in this, I'm going to call it IAMCP Fundamentals, because one of the things that I know, I've been a member of IAMCP for a long time, and one of the things that I always stress was you've got to connect with partners, you will learn from partners, and that'll help your business grow. But one little nugget that he threw in here was, you know, you've got to connect, you know, a lot of IAMCP partners, a lot of people joined, just wanted to get, you know, what you and I, you know, always generously called the Glenngary leads, They always want the leads. But one of the things that he said was, you know, it's not always about giving and getting referrals. It's about how you work that relationship.
Rudy Rodriguez:And one of the things that he did was, I may not have a referral, a direct business referral for you, but I can connect you with people who can help you. And that's a great, great fundamental there, you know, because if you can connect people with maybe people that you know at companies or other partners that can help them, that brings value to that business relationship, and that's where you can help people grow their business. And so, that was a great little nugget that he shared. And so, that's one of the things that I would tell people as part of the IAMCP Fundamentals. You've got to, you know, attend the meetings, you've got to connect with people, you've got to engage, and then, you know, give them value as to what how that business relationship can grow.
Anthony Carrano:Oh, yeah. Absolutely. And you can see it was just really evident. I mean, the thing that just, I was pleasantly surprised just, know, they had this recent P2P story, and how it was with a partner. They had a working and active working relationship with for over nine years.
Anthony Carrano:I mean that's that was impressive to me. I mean, you could see how, you know, not only is he, you know, was he I mean, she's sharing about, you know, his perspective and recommendations, but how they're actually living it out and seeing it in true partnership, making a pretty significant impact on an end customer. And the results they achieve with that customer are really impressive. You can also, you know, as part of that is just with his perspective, I loved how he emphasized when they're approaching it, you know, having a win win win, right? You know, win for, you know, each partner, and then obviously you gotta have a win, you know, for the customer as it's just a good healthy, you know, balanced, you know, approach to that, and I thought it was really good.
Anthony Carrano:And so I just appreciate his perspective. And, of course, I always see the conversations that he has around AI are always fascinating. So, I thought it was just a just a great episode. So
Rudy Rodriguez:Yeah. It's a good time with Manish today. So everyone, thank you for listening to this episode of IAMCP Profiles in Partnership powered by unanimous marketing. We certainly hope you enjoyed this podcast and find it useful and inspiring. If you did, please subscribe, rate, and review us on your favorite podcast platform.
Rudy Rodriguez:One of the best ways to partner for success is to join IAMCP, a community of Microsoft partners who help each other grow and thrive. IAMCP members can find and connect with other partners locally and globally and access exclusive resources and opportunities. Whether you're looking for new customers, new markets, or new solutions, IAMCP can help you achieve your goals. To learn more, visit the website at www.iamcp.org.
