Kathy Gibson reports from Sage Future for Partners in Amsterdam – Mid-market customers are under pressure to modernise their businesses using technologies like cloud and AI.
This is driving Sage to reimagine what it can be and should be for its customers and partners, says Dirk Bleeker, chief commercial officer of Sage.
The company’s new strategy will simplify what Sage sells and how it sells it. The company will also have to change the way it works, Bleeker says.
“We create the confidence that businesses are built on; that helps them get critical work right, with accurate and secure data.
“Our vision is to be the essential platform for the people who need to get it right. We want to be the first place executives go when they need to get it right.”
Sage’s growth going into 2027 will be built on clear strategic choices, Bleeker adds.
“We have a more deliberate product strategy, focusing on Intact and X3 as the destination products of choice.”
These platforms already contribute about 80% of Sage’s mid-market penetration. “So if you want to build a mid-market partnership for the future, then these franchises are for you,” Bleeker says.
With new products and features coming down the line, Bleeker says Sage partners have the opportunity to grow their footprint with customers.
The new capabilities include AI modules and agents, along with new IT solutions created by partners, he adds.
Bleeker unveiled a new partnership between Sage, Mastercard and Ayden that bring payments into the products. This feature will be available in France initially, but scale across EMEA in the coming months.
“We are also modernising all of our products, creating experience and economic values that bridge the desktop, cloud and AI eras.”
The final element of Sage’s strategy going into 2027 is to lift its ambition from migration to destination, Bleeker says.
“We have literally hundreds of thousands of customers locks into classic products.
“But we will soon have cloud and AI destinations, and aim to unlock that opportunity.”
To make this a reality, Sage is bringing more balance into its product roadmap, Bleeker explains.
“When it comes to the migration experience, AI must allow more. I am going to make a bold statement, and say that in the near future most mid-market customers will not be paying for implementation – it will be part of the subscription.”
Bleeker points out the market is changing, and Sage needs to ensure it gets its partners and customers there first.
“Customers are not willing to wat six to 12 months for implementation. They want less risk along with more confidence that the solution will work.
“By increasing the time to value, we can get our mid-market customers live in weeks or days.”
Bleeker adds that the opportunity lies not just in migration, but in winning new customers and acquiring new opportunities for higher-margin services.
“We are building a platform to double down on growth,” he says. “How we serve our customers will change – and partners must lean into that to capture new opportunities.”
And this is the final piece of the Sage strategy, Bleeker says. “To unlock migration at scale we need the partners, the trusted advisers, to embrace opportunities to help customers move into the future.”
The migration opportunity will scale fast in 2027, he adds. “This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for every partner. The building blocks are falling into place. There is a lot of work to be done to deliver on the strategy, but we are committed 100% to help partners navigate the changing world.”
Bleeker concludes that the strategic choices Sage has made boil down to delivering the product strategy, turbocharging the product expansion and migration, and reimagining what this means for customers as they build scalable foundations for the future.
“This is the most exciting time to work in this industry,” he says. “Going into 2027, the possibilities are endless.”
Delivering on the product roadmap
Krish Vitaldevara, chief product officer at Sage, unpacks the company’s product roadmap.
“Partners have been very clear about what is working and what is not, and what we can do to grow together,” he says.
All of Sage’s product offerings, including Intacct and X3, are built on the domain expertise of customers, so there is a deep understanding of what their needs are, Vitaldevara explains.
Partners are key to the company’s delivery model, he adds. “We really believe in this. Every market-leading product needs an ecosystem, and the only way that innovation gets to customers at scale is through partners.”
The software vendor has also embraced the move to AI and agentic AI, and it is informing all parts of the business.
“How we build software, how we distribute it, and our own business models – these are all going to change,” Vitaldevara says. “And it is happening so fast: this is a very exciting time to be in the industry.
“It is an incredible opportunity for customers and partners.
“I believe we can deliver against the opportunity with products that are market leaders. I think we can also innovate faster.”
But it’s not always about products or even innovation, Vitaldevara points out. “It is about offering choice, speed in delivery the product and about consistent delivery. It is about changing how we operate, and being accountable for what we deliver.”
Partners are very clear that they want a vendor that moves faster, he adds. “The want faster innovation and faster implementation.
“So that is what we are going to do in the coming year: focus, build and deliver.”
Vitaldevara says Sage is ploughing significant investment into its destination products Intacct and X3, but is also investing in agentic AI and fintech solutions across the whole portfolio.
“We recognise that many partner business are built on the established products so we are also modernising them with new features and compliance, and adding more services.
“We are not focusing solely on new customer acquisition, but also helping our established customers with practical pathways to the destination portfolio.”
that is cloud-connected and AI-first.
Vitaldevara adds that Sage is very clear about its roadmap, and has committed to delivering on it.
“And we use AI across all levels of development, from what we deliver to how we build products that innovate, and helping us to move faster.”
Using AI in to take solutions to market means Sage partners have a simpler time with implementation and seamless migration, Vitaldevara adds.
“Across the board, our focus is to reduce friction for customers and partners. We need to make implementation easier, to reduce the time to value. If we reduce the friction, that create growth for Sage and its partners.”
The solution lies in using AI and agents for onboarding and migration, which eases the process for both existing users moving to destination products and new acquisitions.
Vitaldevara outlines three fundamental promises that Sage is making to partners as it enters 2027. “We will co-innovate with partners. We commit to transparency ; we are very clear about the roadmap and AI strategy and will continue to be. And we are serious about execution: innovation on its own won’t reach customers at scale, so we will execute with velocity and consistency.”
Agentic AI services and integration
Adding agentic AI workflows is not only speeding up processes, it is introducing completely new ways of working, Vitaldevara points out.
“Agents are taking on more of the work and driving decisions – all with with explainability and traceability, while keeping humans in control.”
Sage is also opening up its agentic platform for partners to build their own solutions, and make them available for other partners on the Sage marketplace.
“This will extend the portfolio, and let partners build solutions and intelligent services.”
An AI Gateway and software developer kit are available for partners to use.
AI Workspaces for Sage Intacct
Sage’s vision for AI Workspaces for Sage Intacct builds on the existing portfolio of purpose-built finance agents and the growing range of partner-built agents available through the Sage Agent Marketplace. Together, these capabilities are laying the foundation for more connected always-on agentic finance platform experience in Sage Intacct.
Finance Intelligence Agent let users ask questions about Sage Intacct data in natural language and examine trends in financial performance. Sage-built agents support tasks across accounts payable, period close, assurance, time entry and nonprofit benchmarking. AI Workspaces are being developed to bring these agents, alongside partner capabilities, into the context of finance work, with relevant information, tasks and approval steps.
- AP Agent helps process invoices, match them with purchase orders, identify exceptions and route work for approval, so teams can focus review on items that need attention.
- Close Agent helps teams monitor close tasks, spot exceptions and track progress across period-end activities.
- Assurance Agent helps identify potential risks and control issues, supporting oversight and audit readiness.
- Time Agent helps identify missing time entries and supports project allocation, giving teams better visibility of workforce and project costs.
- Sage Nonprofit Benchmarking Agent helps nonprofits compare financial health with similar organisations and identify differences in funding and operational efficiency.
The Sage Agent Marketplace is available now, giving customers a way to find partner-built agents for specialist finance workflows. Customers can subscribe and activate agents within Sage Intacct and assign permissions through the agent management console.
Through Sage Copilot, they can invoke Marketplace agents alongside Finance Intelligence Agent. Sage’s direction is for partner agents to contribute to AI Workspace experiences as they develop. The first AI Workspace, focused on accounts payable, is planned to enter limited rollout with selected customers in November.