Leveraging Data, AI, and Partnerships for Success with Manish Bhardia
Welcome to the IAMCP profiles and partnership, a podcast that showcases how Microsoft partners and IAMCP members boost their business by collaborating with other members and partners. I'm your co host, Anthony Carrano. And in each episode, I'll be talking to some of the most innovative and successful partners in the Microsoft ecosystem. The International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners, otherwise known as IAMCP, is a community of Microsoft partners who help each other grow and thrive. Members can find and connect with other partners locally and globally and access exclusive resources and opportunities.
Anthony Carrano:Whether you're looking for new customers, new markets, or new solutions, IAMCP can help you achieve your goals. We'll hear their stories, learn from their experiences, and discover the best practices and strategies they use to increase customer loyalty and grow revenues. Whether you're a new partner or an established one, you'll find valuable insights and inspiration in this podcast. We hope you enjoy this podcast and find it useful and inspiring. If you do, please subscribe, rate, and review us on your favorite podcast platform.
Anthony Carrano:And don't forget to follow us on social media and connect with us on our website, www.profilesinpartnership.com, where you can find more information, resources, and opportunities to partner for success. Thank you for listening. And now let's get started with our episode. Before we dive into our interview, let me ask you a question. Do you know who your ideal partner is?
Anthony Carrano:Finding the right partner can be challenging, but it can also be rewarding. In fact, according to a recent study by IDC, Microsoft partners who collaborate with other partners generate almost 2 and a half times more revenue growth than those who don't. That's a huge difference, and it shows the power of partnering. So how do you build trust with partners? Where do you go to find complimentary partners that round out your team?
Anthony Carrano:And how do you ensure success for your customer? These are some of the questions that we'll explore in this podcast with the help of our guest who is an expert in partnering. He'll share their stories, challenges, and successes and give you practical tips and advice on how to partner for success. Are you ready to join us on this journey? Then stay tuned because we have a great show for you today.
Anthony Carrano:Our first guest is Manish Bahardia, the founder and president of ThinkAI Corporation, a leading software development and data services partner with specializations in AI, business intelligence, and chatbots, who has achieved amazing results, such as the one story that you're about to hear in his partnership with an MSP that they joined together to create a BI solution for a major retail supplier. Let's hear what he has to say. Well, Manish, really glad to have you here on the podcast. Appreciate you joining, Rudy and I, you know, today on the IMCP profiles and partnership. Let's start off.
Anthony Carrano:May you can tell us a little bit about yourself and, the company.
Manish Bhardia:Yeah. Thank you, Anthony and Rudy, for having me here. I'm honored. And, as a business, ThinkAI is a 6 year old, data and AI consulting firm. And before that, I was doing SharePoint and, some data work, and my partner is actually IAMCP partner.
Manish Bhardia:So we met together. We had complementary skills, so we joined hands, and then we were thinking about various names. And data kept coming on top. And we said data is great, but how are we gonna do the next step, which is gonna be AI? So that's where we started ThinkAI.
Manish Bhardia:And, our focus is mostly, services. So midsize to small business when they need a lot of reporting or data warehouse. And then AI consulting, that's what we do. And we have a hybrid model. We have a team in US as well as India.
Anthony Carrano:Mhmm. Mhmm. And, so maybe you can expand a little bit more about why did you start the company.
Manish Bhardia:Yeah. Okay. That's a that's a good story. What happened in year 2000, I came to US, and I I was in San Diego, which way, working for Gateway Computers. And then, it was a great experience.
Manish Bhardia:You know, the gateway shops gateway store, they used to call. Just like Apple store, nice thing and all. And they had excellent packaging, but somehow 911 impacted big time to them, and we lost all our job. And then that is the time I moved to LA. And since then, 10 years I have been in LA and now 10 years in Orange Counties in California.
Manish Bhardia:So what happened was I was doing programming, and my managers used to say you connect better with client. So they made me lead or, like, a business analyst, and I like that talking to people even though I was stumbling on English. You know? I was not a native English speaker in India, but I was able to connect. Somehow, the emotion, I was able to connect.
Manish Bhardia:So I thought I thought later, I want to become project manager. So I studied PMP and became project manager, and then I'll I missed the whole technology piece, like, you know, the innovation or the cool things we do with technology. So I said, maybe consulting is better. So that's what I did. I started doing consulting, and then it was fine.
Manish Bhardia:But then I said, I'm talking year 2010, I want to do maybe a consulting firm because, you know, the India and US offshore model was working. I was able to form a small team, and I did that. But in the heart, I was still a techie. I got work first project, I said, this is how project comes. I'm good.
Manish Bhardia:I left my job and then project failed. No payment from client. Reality hits. So I had to go back to job market and, fortunately, got a job at Hyundai that time. So that's when I moved to Orange County area.
Manish Bhardia:And then came IAMCP introduction. 1 of my friend, long time 10 years, back, Brendan Neary, who was in SOCAL, so IAMCP SOCAL, he said, you should check it out. You are in Microsoft Word. And I love the whole concept that it was high energy. First of all, energy in IMCP meeting are little different than other meetings because I have been going to developers meeting, and they are very much focused on high-tech, what is coming in, in technology, how we're gonna code or build solution.
Manish Bhardia:But there is no no business or no consumer or, yeah, no client focused. But IMCP is all about client, you know. Mhmm. Mhmm. And that somehow stick with me.
Anthony Carrano:And so you mentioned since 2010, that's when you joined?
Manish Bhardia:I joined 2012. So 2012 was my first meeting. I was still
Anthony Carrano:Wow.
Manish Bhardia:I did not have the business yet. I was still in the in the, like, consulting mode. And then I did some courses, with IAMCP folks, meaning they were they were having offers within IAMCP specific offers. Like, Justin Slager was the past president. Roe was just the president here in Southern California.
Manish Bhardia:So I I was doing some SharePoint courses, and then I started my business. And and since then, I have been very closely involved with I'm City.
Anthony Carrano:Excellent. Now what, so Think Think AI Consulting, you know, is the company. What's, what's Think AI's, areas of specialization?
Manish Bhardia:Yeah. So most of the, companies when they, hit the roadblock on the data related technology or AI, then they seek out the external vendors or consulting firms. So they either go to high end, you know, slalom, big five, or midsize, or they go to offshore, low, what do you say, rate things. So we sit in between where we have a hybrid model, US consultant as well as India. However, our focus is pretty much on data consulting.
Manish Bhardia:So how you can use multiple system and still have one single source of truth, nice looking dashboards, some decisions, making charts, and now AI, which is like they say, hey. This business function, how they can have AI infused in it? How can we use our workflows and improve AI? How can we improve productivity? So these are the 2 areas we focus.
Manish Bhardia:Mhmm. As a historical, practice, we were also doing a lot of share, you know, basic collaboration, correction, and then making the team productive. So these are the 3 areas we focus on.
Rudy Rodriguez:Manish, I'd like to ask you a question because you've mentioned a couple of good friends of mine, Justin Slagle and Roel Kolakowski, as they're at a at, IAMCP. Can you tell us a little bit about how you got involved in IAMCP? What you know, how and how that has benefited your business? Because I know you have a pretty illustrious career there too, working as a volunteer at IMCP.
Manish Bhardia:Yeah. In fact, one thing I forgot to correct was when, when I started, my business, you know, I was techie, no sales or marketing experience. So when I came to IMCP, I didn't know how people do business or how they they generate leads. But the very first meeting, I'm sitting next to David Gersten, and he's saying, oh, I closed, like, $250,000 deal with, in, like, 3 months. Like, he was just new to MCP as well.
Manish Bhardia:And he met a partner, and they closed the deal, Dynamics deal, and he was super excited, and he became IAMCP fan. And I saw that, hey. If you be a good friend or you show up or you show your integrity commitment, then you can earn business. So it took, like, 6 to 8 months for me to get business. But, I was there, and as Roy used to say, showing up is the most important thing.
Manish Bhardia:Be there. Be dependable. So I started doing that, you know, being there. And then if I didn't know what to talk, then I'll just talk about, hey. Do you know this guy or that guy?
Manish Bhardia:So I'll just start connecting within IAMCP to people. And that way, board started knowing, okay. Manish is here, and he does this. And that's how I got my first referral, in fact, from David Guston. And, then what happened exactly.
Manish Bhardia:I I say, like, a couple of time when I have a sponsored meeting or, you know, I'm I'm the presenter about Think AI. I say ThinkAI is born in MCP. I was a different company before. So MCP has been a very big, factor in my business growth, I will say. In fact, now I feel very confident on sales and marketing.
Rudy Rodriguez:So you've taken advantage of the programs that IMCP puts together. Has that helped you with any staff development as well or not?
Manish Bhardia:I guess the biggest help has happened in the the, you know, business development. So, like, I get a lot of business from partners. And then, yes, I do use, within the IAMCP also, lot of companies as a, like, jointly solutioning or they are my vendor also. So both ways. Getting the business from them, giving business to them.
Rudy Rodriguez:And and has it also helped you in building a better relationship with Microsoft?
Manish Bhardia:Oh, yeah. That is for sure, actually. That angle was a major factor as well. You know, I didn't know much on Microsoft before coming to IAMCP, but Justin Slagle was such a force in SoCal, and he he was in, IAMCP, meeting past as a press president. And he was also in the Irvine office, and we were we would use to meet in that office, and he told all the resources we have at, at assembly level and all the programs, and then inspire connection.
Manish Bhardia:Right? Like, how do you know more about Microsoft programs and all? Yeah. That I mean, without IAMCP or without Justin, it will not be possible to know Microsoft. Just such such a huge huge world.
Manish Bhardia:But, I have been Microsoft developer, meaning Microsoft technology developer, from the start of my career. K.
Rudy Rodriguez:Well, you know, in the story that we're that we're gonna tell in this podcast, in this partner showcase, can you tell us a little bit about the client that you worked with? You don't have to give us a name, but if you'll give us a little bit about, the size of the organization, the industry, the technology that was implemented. We'd like to know more about what that solution entails.
Manish Bhardia:Oh, yeah. That is a excellent question and very relevant to IAMCP discussion because one of the meeting I'm talking in, 2017 or 16, one of the partner came and said, I need a Power BI partner, and that is the time we were just starting on Power BI. Microsoft was starting major on Power BI push, And we were already doing a lot of SQL reporting, SSRS, which is SQL, server reporting services, and the next version is Power BI. Good visualization. So we got connected.
Manish Bhardia:This is a client size of $200,000,000. They do retail, and their end clients are all the big retailers like Walmart, Staples, and, Amazon. And they need to know how is their product doing on the shelf of these big retailers. So our our introduction to this client was through an MSP who is handling all their infrastructure, and they have good connection with the, CTO and the project managers. So we connect, and then they say we are using Sage, ERP.
Manish Bhardia:And they are trying to use some kind of dashboard so they can get data outside the Sage, and they can also connect to the retailer, data back and forth like EDI files, and get a good summary on what's happening on each of the retailer. And that was good problem to solve, but the impact of that was pretty big, meaning our partner did a story, and that's where we won the MCP US p 2 p award in 97 sorry, 2017. I went back a long way. So and, actually, the the impact was close to, like, $1,000,000, saving for the client because they are able to track, goods and timely on tiny timely manner, from their retailers in a single dashboard. So so that that is a kind of work.
Manish Bhardia:But in terms of, client size, Rudy, any anybody between 100,000,000 to 500,000,000 SMC area, I would say, small, medium core corporation, is a good fit where they already have established systems, people. They're lacking the specific skill of data or AI. That can be that is where we can make the biggest impact. In fact, we have seen if a company is little small and they don't understand the complexity or they don't subject matter expert, then the return is not that high. But if you fully understand complexity or your business and you need a solution on technology, then we work hand in hand and provide you a solution jointly, it's a win win.
Rudy Rodriguez:Now you mentioned that you were working with an MSP on this, so this was their client. How did they go about choosing you to come in and talk to their client about a solution like this?
Manish Bhardia:Yeah. So they asked the IAMCP president at that time on who is who are the good partner in the room. And in fact, the president select gave them 2, 3 options. So we were one of them. But still it's a better pool than, you know, working, against partners who you don't know or, on the wide.
Manish Bhardia:So referral is always high closing rate ratio. So that that worked, with us, and then client has been very happy.
Rudy Rodriguez:That's very good. So you also mentioned that you won an IAMCP p to p award for this was it for for this solution? Okay. Can you tell us how that has benefited your business?
Manish Bhardia:Yes. I mean, you know, trust building takes long long time. So within IMCP, you have a trust. You you you get some referral within IAMCP also. So that builds a trust.
Manish Bhardia:And then to the unknown who are really new to IAMCP or non IAMCP connections, they they they can see that you have won. That means you have been doing something right. So it has been very helpful, and in all the our slides, we show that to our clients as well as to our potential partners that we have been doing partnering successful. Because for IAMCP, it's very, clear that p to p works, but none of not, not many of, non IMCP members are sold on that. So they are like, why should I partner?
Manish Bhardia:Right? What is my benefit? So that's where we show that, hey. You can trust us, and we have been successful in doing business together. So that helps us.
Anthony Carrano:So I'd like, Manish, this is this is fantastic. Really appreciate you sharing and your insights. Could you, maybe unpack the story a little bit? I'm specifically, talking about the one in which we were looking at for, like, the the p two p awards for this year. Could you unpack that story a little bit?
Anthony Carrano:Maybe, how you guys came together to kinda, you know, create value for that, you know, specific client?
Manish Bhardia:Yeah. Actually, you have an excellent question, Anthony. It is not always just the client is getting benefit. It is even partners get big benefit if we can define this win win win, meaning, you know, ThinkAI wins, partner wins, and client wins relationship. And I'll give you the specific example.
Manish Bhardia:So this partner is not doing much on Power BI. But then, you know, Azure is such a huge, area of focus for Microsoft as well as partner. But there are so much capability in Azure that not one partner can fulfill. So we, as a software developer or ISV vendor, can only use certain area of, data and AI and, storage bucket of Azure, and then, other partners use the security and backup and other networking area of the area. But as a Microsoft partner, we all want to grow the Azure consumption or utilization of Azure.
Manish Bhardia:Right? So they found us in the area which they don't touch at all, and we were able to sell more Azure for our partner in client space or or, in other way, I would say, client was able to utilize more of Azure capability. So for for this partner, it was pretty much hands off approach. All they have to do is bring us in many deals. So we have not done one deal.
Manish Bhardia:This partner has, been using us for last 8 years, and maybe we will have 20, 30 projects with them. And, this partner grew and got sold to much bigger company. So now he's part of 20 other MSPs and group of companies, and they are also using similar things. So real benefit will be where client gets benefit for sure, but then if we can form much stronger partnership with partners also.
Anthony Carrano:Mhmm. Excellent. Now, as you as you went about, you know, working together, you know, with your partner, what challenges did you have during the engagement? And if so, how did you guys work together to overcome those challenges?
Manish Bhardia:Yeah. Always challenges and trust building is the first one. You know? It's a new new engagement for me and, I mean, in partner as well as and in clientele as well. So we have to target the low hanging fruit or somehow bring the value, to the table fast, like, you know, provide solutions or provide some processes or, examples which we'll stress.
Manish Bhardia:So we will focus on that, and, we have created some material or the way you present your presentation or the way you document requirement or give insights inside the meeting. So we pay attention because we understand, you know, the relationship is delicate or it's not strong in the start. So let's build trust. If anything, just be truthful or straight if it's gonna be right or wrong because world is small and the world goes around, and I'm simply world is small. So we don't want any bad name.
Manish Bhardia:So that's what we focus on, make making sure that we are bringing information, giving value, and being truthful or Mhmm. High integrity.
Anthony Carrano:Now you've you've mentioned this phrase probably about half a dozen times. It's, trust building. Yeah. So maybe, and and you've touched on even throughout, you know, just our our conversation, just ways in which to to build that. You know, could you, just maybe succinctly provide, like, what are maybe the top three things that every partner should do to build and establish trust, with one another within the IAMCP community?
Manish Bhardia:Okay. So in IAMCP, it's very clear formula. I would say first to get involved as a volunteering role or any way you are helping board. Maybe they have role or not. Just get involved, get closer to the board.
Manish Bhardia:So that way, they get to know you personally as well as in some working fashion within IAMCP or business fashion. So get to know people or get, build connections, build relationship. And then, interest building, of course, the example sells or the proof of concept, like, little demo, video, or testimonial. So that is the second one. And then, when when you have referral coming through MCP, that's another big one.
Manish Bhardia:So that's what we focus on, making sure that we are able to show some use case or some case study to client to build trust. Mhmm. And awards and all, of of course, helps. So, you know, when there's MCP Awards or even Inc 5000 or any awards, certifications. Oh, yeah.
Manish Bhardia:I mean, you know, Microsoft is big on certifications. So that's Mhmm. The basic. Right? Like, from Microsoft side, whatever you can do, certification, your designations, solution designations, and all also helps.
Manish Bhardia:So these 3 also build relationship, use cases, testimonials, referrals, and then anything inside Microsoft, you can get certified.
Anthony Carrano:Mhmm. What, so from this, from you know, I'll let you answer one of 2 ways. We can either talk about the specific, you know, situation where you work with the, the MSP, or maybe you can reflect on just your your collective experience over, you know, many years in the in the IMCP community, in the Microsoft ecosystem. What did you what have you learned, you know, from partnering that has enabled your organization to to improve?
Manish Bhardia:Yeah. I mean, I I would say all all the partners in IAMCP are very good businessman or they they care a lot about clients. So that's what I learned that, you know, we need to make clients successful or they care a lot about clients. So as I said, initially, I didn't know how to build relationship or do sales or marketing.
Anthony Carrano:Mhmm.
Manish Bhardia:So within IAMCP, Microsoft gives very good information on marketing and your, you know, campaign. Microsoft is great. Just follow them. They have paid, like, 1,000,000 of dollar to make it for us. Let's follow.
Manish Bhardia:Uh-huh. So don't reinvent. Mhmm. Coming back to IMCP, you can learn how to build relationship, how to care about client, and make them successful. So all the sales related thing, you can learn in IMCP.
Manish Bhardia:So this has been my biggest, learning in IAMCP that you can you can just care about client and win business. And by building partner relationship, you are also learning how you're gonna build client relationship.
Anthony Carrano:What advice would you give to, you know, companies like yours, I mean, regarding partnering? Now I know we talked about trust building, so I know, that's probably number 1, build trust. But what would be some other some other, pieces of advice?
Manish Bhardia:Yeah. This is a great one as well, and we touched little bit on this as, like, Azure example. But I was part of another group, and what that group did was they created a pie of all the possible solution client needs in terms of technology. And that pie had some big pie and very small slices as well. But just to visualize, a big pie is, you know, the networking or infrastructure, then telephony, then ERP, then website, you know, the security software, then comes development like application, then comes data or reporting or AI.
Manish Bhardia:Now AI will become a pie. In Microsoft world also, so 4 different areas. Right? Modern one, application and infrastructure, data and AI, security, and, dynamics. So find complementary partner is the best strategy, or I would say, you know, find, 6 to 8 partners who cover different areas, and we definitely need a marketing team also on that.
Manish Bhardia:And that way, you have your own small group of people who can refer business each other to each other client as well as market to the market. I think that is one big exercise we have to do within IMCP in your chapter as well as across the US. Mhmm. And now, in fact, with Globe, you can do, but even you just focus on US, that's a great strategy. Mhmm.
Manish Bhardia:Because after you got the business, initial business for client, the next will be you either grow business with new client,
Anthony Carrano:which
Manish Bhardia:is gonna be tough, or you can double business in the existing client. Right? Like Mhmm. Grow the account. And how you can grow is with partners.
Anthony Carrano:Yeah. That's fantastic. I love that idea of, you know, building out, a team in in using that pie analogy. What inspired that idea?
Manish Bhardia:You know, this, meeting. Right? And the Okay. The the group leader we used to call group leader, and the group is provider. So they they have a lot of lawyers and CPAs and consultant, and they had a group of technical, folks only.
Manish Bhardia:And, and the group leader would come with this excel sheet printout, and each pie will have the name of partners. Oh, Dynamics, these three partners. Nice. Application development, it's ThinkAI and another partner. Telephony, this.
Manish Bhardia:Security, this. I mean, that was great. You guys can in fact, you reminded me I should go back to that that Nice. Start adding more partners within, you know, in IAMCP level as well. Yeah.
Anthony Carrano:I I love I love that. I'll tell you why I I just that I'm I really appreciate you sharing that. I love that because, you know, as, you know, this is, like, kind of on a side personal note, I, you know, I coach competitive basketball during the school year for a school. Yeah. And one of the things I've learned, I've been doing it for almost a decade now.
Anthony Carrano:One of the things I've I've learned and I, you know, I try to incur you know, drill into my other coaches is that each you know, when you have your team, right, it's important that the players know their role. Right? So, like, a player like Yeah. For example, playing basketball, you can't be great at everything. There's just way too much going on.
Anthony Carrano:Just we're talking basketball. Forget technology for a second. Mhmm. You know? But find the the the 2, maybe the 3 things on the court that you can be the best at.
Anthony Carrano:Right? And then you start assembling that team. Well and I've literally just been having these conversations with my coaches, this week Yeah. About that, getting ready for the upcoming season. So, you know, contextually, you know, based on what you just said, it's like, you know, every every partner, should just think about, okay.
Anthony Carrano:What's what's my team? Right? Where's where are the areas that I've got strength? Where are the areas that I have weakness? And let me find those role players.
Anthony Carrano:Right. Or, you know, role players use you know, can use the pie, you know, example, to kinda fill out, you know, our, our team so we can go, you know, as a business, compete and win. So
Manish Bhardia:Thanks for bringing up the sports. You know? It just becomes very personal when you bring the sport. Right?
Anthony Carrano:Yeah. I'm just.
Manish Bhardia:So I I love that.
Anthony Carrano:Well, it is. And and as more people realize that, I think, you know, what you're what you're talking on is, you know, about is something where I think a lot of times, you know, folks kinda they they they fear, cooperation in that because they're afraid of, like, quote, unquote, like, competition. And it's like, no. There's there's opportunities where, you know, rather than fighting over, you know, little pieces of pie, let's come together to go after a big pie, right, and create, you know, more opportunities for us, by collaborating together. Like, another way of thinking about is maybe we can do more together rather than me just doing my own thing by myself.
Anthony Carrano:Right?
Manish Bhardia:Yeah. This is great, and, we can build a stronger team. And by extended with and your cost is low because these guys are very smart who are customer facing.
Anthony Carrano:Mhmm.
Manish Bhardia:So you you're gonna build your, stronger sales team without paying, you know, 100 and, 200,000 Mhmm. Dollars scenario, which may not be even possible for some partners. But even you hire 100 200 k sales lead, it takes time to get the ROI. Right? Mhmm.
Manish Bhardia:That way, it becomes very powerful thing. I also want to touch, but there is some caution also. You have build your name by doing certain things. Not every partner is same. So what I wanted to say was, this is all great because it should be in one of your growth planning that, hey.
Manish Bhardia:I'm gonna use channel as a one growth area. See, when I'm doing the growth, planning, same thing. I'm saying, okay. Account mining or growing the account, I'll use one strategy, but partner channel is a separate strategy. However, what I'm saying is because you're gonna put time, you have to also put time to ensure that there is not a setbacks for you.
Manish Bhardia:Right? So you'll have to put time, how partner works, and how they're gonna present you, or how you're gonna present them. And if things are not working, then just come on same level. Don't go down. Don't bring your business down.
Manish Bhardia:So you will have to put time on working with partner, building trust much better. Mhmm. Mhmm. And that happens through relationship or, you know, doing some proof of concept faster. So we try to do some work before we present them to client or before we go to client.
Manish Bhardia:So we try to invest some time or cost also.
Anthony Carrano:Yeah. So I know you're doing a lot of AI consulting. What is what are some new and exciting projects, that you're doing in AI?
Manish Bhardia:Yeah. Something very exciting. What we are doing is using generative AI. We are creating a, product named Amy. So Amy is a project assistant.
Manish Bhardia:So just like you think you hire a project assistant, what they are supposed to do is, you know, keep track of all the notes, who is doing what, follow-up on them, if things are getting done, great. If not, then escalate to manager. And that is exactly what Amy does is it listens to notes. She stores the notes in one note in proper areas, assign tasks to people on Planner or DevOps, and then follow-up on that. And if things are getting done, great.
Manish Bhardia:Otherwise, escalate on your behalf to the manager. So we are excited about that.
Anthony Carrano:What, what triggered, you know, or caused you guys to wanna develop, Amy?
Manish Bhardia:Good question, actually. As I mentioned, I was before AI, I was doing SharePoint and collaboration. So I was big on that. In fact, AI Productivity Leap, the book I I I wrote was second book, and, I had written another book before called teamwork and collaboration. Oh.
Manish Bhardia:I thought, what if I can teach AI the whole book? Will it be valuable? Uh-huh. And, yes, it is because, you know, it can be a small junior project manager or a project assistant. And that's the thought here is, can Amy do a job of, project assistant?
Manish Bhardia:So that's how it came.
Anthony Carrano:Are there any particular industries that would benefit the most from Amy, or is it just across the board for for any and all project managers?
Manish Bhardia:Any any project which does follow a good project plan will get get benefit more than ad hoc thing. However, anywhere we have project managers doing longer projects, it's much more beneficial. However, I see this getting used even in the small projects and also we have not decided industry. However, we will start with a bigger industry I mean, longer project industry, which is, like, construction. So we'll start with that as a as a push.
Manish Bhardia:However, it is pretty much open to all industry.
Anthony Carrano:And where can folks find out more about Amy?
Manish Bhardia:Amy.ai.ai.ai.
Anthony Carrano:Excellent. Well, this this was excellent. Really appreciate, you being a guest. I think you provided, you know, just several, I mean, great stories, really key, key tips on building your business through, you know, partnering together. Manish, how how, how can people find out more about you and your company?
Manish Bhardia:Yeah. So Manish Bhardia, b h a r d I a. Bhardia is one of the unique name on the LinkedIn at least. So you can find me on LinkedIn. And, otherwise, just manish.bhardia@thinkaicorp.com.
Anthony Carrano:Okay. Now talking about LinkedIn, I I saw a recent post, where you you actually have a book out. So what tell us a little bit about that.
Manish Bhardia:Yeah. I guess, you know, as the AI, boom or the AI craze has picked up in last, 2 years. As a technology company on AI, also, there are a lot of areas, and the book is especially focused on generative AI, which is, you know, the copilot or the tag GPT is based on the generative AI. So these, applications or the this set of AI technology can give you instant results or quick ROI. So that's what I have tried to summarize in the book is that what are the areas when a partner or a client are thinking about?
Manish Bhardia:What are the areas they should think? So there are 4 areas which they can think about. Sales and marketing, everybody knows, you know, the mail and the, blog post. But then second area is also the customer service, like the chatbot or the web and then operations, internal efficiency. 3rd area is the software development, and the 4th area is r and d.
Manish Bhardia:If you just focus these 4 Mhmm. You have about 75% of use cases. So that's what I covered little bit on the book and some 6 simple example.
Anthony Carrano:And what's the title of the book?
Manish Bhardia:The title is AI productivity leap.
Anthony Carrano:Okay.
Manish Bhardia:Get CX Business Growth.
Anthony Carrano:Okay. And they can find that book, on your LinkedIn profile. Is it also available on the website?
Manish Bhardia:Yes. So this is a Amazon published book.
Anthony Carrano:So Oh, fantastic.
Manish Bhardia:Publishing. So just go on Amazon. You can get Kindle edition or the physical book. So yeah.
Anthony Carrano:Excellent. Well, we'll have we'll have your LinkedIn and company information as well as, a link to the book in the show notes for, you know, for those folks who wanna, find out more about you, and check out and, you know, buy the book. Well, this has been fantastic. Really appreciate, having you on, and, have a great day.
Manish Bhardia:Thank you, Rudy. Thank you, Anthony.
Anthony Carrano:Wow. That was a great interview with Manesh, and I really appreciate a lot of his insights on, partnering and and his early adoption into AI. There were so many fantastic takeaways. Rudy, what were some things that really stood out to you?
Rudy Rodriguez:Well, Anthony, I one thing I really took away from this episode was that Manish really illustrated the benefits of being an IAMCP member. Our slogan is connect, connect, learn, and grow. And the one thing that he taught us was he didn't know a lot about how to how to do business in in in the partner community when he first joined IAMCP. But he met partners at IMCP meetings. He benefited from the programs that taught him sales and marketing programs and Microsoft programs as well.
Rudy Rodriguez:And more importantly, through networking, he built a trust relationship with a partner. They work together to, build a solution for the customer because, ultimately, it's about our customers and the solutions we build for them that makes us a very strong and relevant program in the IT community. And through that, he was able to grow his business. So I thought he illustrated that very, very well.
Anthony Carrano:Yeah. There was 2 things that really stood out to me. I mean, I love the fact that he kept emphasizing, and this kinda piggybacks a little bit, you know, on something that stood out to you about he used the phrase trust building, like, several times, you know, throughout our conversation, and I really appreciated how he he he did mention. He said, listen. Trust building is gonna take, you know, some time, you know, and to your point about you just you gotta you gotta put your toe in the water and you gotta be committed, and he provided some really great practical steps for anybody who's looking, you know, to expand, you know, expand their business.
Anthony Carrano:And, obviously, you know, being a, you know, a long time basketball coach, I really appreciated the team, you know, dynamic part he was he was talking. That really resonated with me about, you know, your your finding complimentary, you know, partners that can expand your team so you guys can do more together and and and and grow, you know, opportunities, you know, versus if you were just to try and, you know, do it by yourself. So I really appreciate that. I hope a lot of folks listening, you know, to this episode take that to heart.
Rudy Rodriguez:I think they will. I think Manish was a is a clear illustration that if you take advantage of these programs, it'll make you a much better, stronger business partner and business person, and you can always continue to learn more about how to do business. And I'd look, look forward to hearing more about how he's using his membership at IAMCP to continue to grow his business.
Anthony Carrano:So thank you for joining us on this episode of IAMCP profiles and partnership powered by DuNamis Marketing. We 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. 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 finally connect with other partners locally and globally, then access exclusive resources and opportunities.
Anthony Carrano:Whether you're looking for new customers, new markets, or new solutions, IMCP can help you achieve your goals. To learn more, visit their website at www.iamcp.org.
