The PartnerTalks Podcast with Rick McCutcheon

Distributors transitioning to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central are under increasing operational pressure, especially when it comes to managing backorders, inventory reservations, and protecting margins. In this episode of PartnerTalks, Rick McCutcheon speaks with Jesse Clem from Cavallo about where these challenges show up and how distributors can address them more effectively. Jesse shares...

In this PartnerTalks episode, recorded ahead of DynamicsMinds, we sit down with Sven Mahn of Sven Mahn IT GmbH & Co. KG to explore a remarkable journey from concrete work to leading a modern Microsoft-focused consulting company. Sven shares how his team works across Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management, the Power Platform, Dataverse, and emerging AI-driven development practic...

Field service management is one of the biggest growth opportunities in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central ecosystem. In this PartnerTalks episode, Rick McCutcheon speaks with James Koursaris, MBA, General Manager of Praxedo North America, about how Praxedo helps organizations modernize field service operations after outgrowing manual scheduling, spreadsheets, and inflexible deployment mod...

In this episode of PartnerTalks, host Rick McCutcheon speaks with Scott Burkhardt, founder of Poize2, about why the real work in Dynamics 365 Business Central often begins after go-live and how managed services are becoming central to the Microsoft Partner business model. Burkhardt explains why many ERP customers underestimate the effort required to maintain, optimize, and continuously improve clo...

In this episode of PartnerTalks, host Rick McCutcheon speaks with Duffy Cohen, Vice President of Partnerships at Velixo, about the evolving role of financial reporting in Dynamics 365 Business Central and why the ERP-to-Excel workflow remains a major opportunity for Microsoft Partners. The discussion explores the widely used three-layer reporting model, where ERP data flows from Business Central i...

In this episode of PartnerTalks, host Rick McCutcheon speaks with Gustavo Roland of Evenica about how Partner-to-Partner collaboration is helping retailers reduce risk in complex Dynamics 365 Commerce implementations. The discussion explores how implementation risk increasingly stems from workflow configuration and cross-system dependencies rather than software defects alone. As organizations depl...

In this episode of PartnerTalks, host Rick McCutcheon speaks with Cecilia Flombaum, Ecosystem Lead for Business & Industry Solutions at Microsoft, about how AI is fundamentally reshaping the role of Partners in enterprise technology adoption. Flombaum explains why AI differs from previous platform shifts such as the move from on-premises systems to the cloud. While earlier transitions primarily ch...

In this episode of PartnerTalks, host Rick McCutcheon speaks with Lee Witkop, CEO of Boyer & Associates, about how Microsoft Dynamics partners are moving beyond basic Copilot enablement toward retrieval-first AI agents that deliver governed insights directly within Microsoft 365. Witkop explains why many mid-market organizations are prioritizing practical AI use cases that respect security roles a...

In this episode of PartnerTalks, host Rick McCutcheon speaks with Karolis Aleknavičius, co-founder of ERP Mechanics, about how relationships and strategic ISV partnerships are shaping growth opportunities in the Microsoft Dynamics ecosystem. Aleknavičius shares the story behind ERP Mechanics, from an early focus on technical recovery and integration work within Dynamics environments to delivering...

In this episode of PartnerTalks, host Rick McCutcheon speaks with Natalie Lemke, Founder and CEO of RUX Software, about building a vertical-focused ISV for asset-heavy industries on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Lemke shares her journey from ERP customer to consultant to product builder, explaining how early experience with Microsoft Dynamics NAV shaped her belief in the power of indust...

In this episode of PartnerTalks, host Rick McCutcheon is joined by Michael Dohr, COO of mscrm-addons, to discuss the company's expansion into Dynamics 365 Business Central and what it means for partners struggling with document and report customization in ERP projects. Known for its popular Documents Core Pack and automation tools in Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and the Power Platform, mscrm-a...

In this episode of PartnerTalks, host Rick McCutcheon speaks with Heather Cook, Principal Customer Experience Manager at Microsoft, about the powerful return of in-person professional events and why face-to-face networking continues to shape careers across the technology industry. Drawing on her work with the Microsoft 365 engineering community, Cook explains how consistent participation in confer...

In this episode of PartnerTalks, host Rick McCutcheon welcomes Bob McAdam, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Tasklet, for a timely conversation on Microsoft's push for Partners to operate at the technology frontier. As AI and Copilot move from buzzwords to real-world deployment, Microsoft is challenging Dynamics partners to lead customers with practical innovation, not just messaging. McAdam share...

In this episode of PartnerTalks, host Rick McCutcheon sits down with Shannon Mullins, six-time Microsoft MVP and CEO of A BC Consulting Group, to unpack one of the biggest realities facing Microsoft Business Central partners today: before AI, most ERP customers still need to get to the cloud. Drawing on 25 years of experience spanning Dynamics GP through Dynamics 365 Business Central, Shannon expl...

In this episode of the PartnerTalks podcast, host Rick McCutcheon speaks with Eric Fink from Microsoft's SMB Channel team about what it takes for partners to grow an AI solutions business. Eric explains how Microsoft defines success for SMB partners, how partners should think about productivity versus full AI transformation, and what Microsoft means by Frontier partners. The conversation covers Dy...