By Liz Mangini

Image by Nicole Todd

So, your solution has a story to tell. But most people won’t have the time—or patience—to read a wall of text about its benefits and features. A solution brief is the answer. It distills key details into a format that’s easy to read and hard to ignore. These two-page assets pack a punch: they reinforce benefits, highlight features, and position your offering as the best choice. Use them to grab attention at events, re-engage leads, or convince your audience to take action. 

In short, a solution brief is your pitch in its most polished form: clear, sharp, and informative. To nail this format, you need tight, focused messaging, smart design, and the right amount of white space. Here’s how to make your solution brief shine. 

Start with why, then move on to how 

It’s tempting to dive straight into all the bells and whistles, but your audience needs context first. Why does your solution exist? What problem does it solve? Once you’ve established that, you can provide a few details about the coolest features to hold your reader’s attention. 

Tighten up your marketing message 

Less is more in a solution brief, which means your messaging should focus on the most essential points. To get there, zero in on your differentiators, benefits, and core features. (If that sounds daunting, don’t worry—2A can help!) 

Develop a framework and stick with it 

A framework is a useful way to organize a brief, but don’t overcomplicate things by using too many approaches. Whether you’re presenting your solution as a step-by-step journey, a three-phased approach, or a problem/solution pairing, pick one framework and stick with it. 

Keep the design clean and engaging 

A solution brief is as much about how it looks as what it says. Use plenty of white space to make your content easy to skim. Pair your copy with visuals that support your message, such as charts, icons, or product screenshots. 

Focus on the next step for your customer 

A solution brief should do more than educate—it should drive action. What do you want your customer to do next? Contact your sales team? Download a demo? Visit your website? Be clear and specific about next steps. 

Bonus tip 

Creating a great solution brief takes expertise. At 2A, we’ve perfected the art of pairing short, punchy copy with clean, impactful design. Let us help you create an asset that communicates your value and drives results. 

Reach out to get started! 

By Jane Dornemann

Image by Suzanne Calkins

Gossip (for nerds) 

• Trazillionaire Elon Musk has upped the ante on his lawsuit with OpenAI, because he apparently has nothing better to do before he starts running our government so deep into the ground that it touches the Earth’s lava core. He claims that both Microsoft and OpenAI have prevented competition from surviving in the market—in addition to prioritizing profits over the public good. Kind of like…releasing self-driving cars that burst into flames and run people over…BUT I DIGRESS.
• The principal just walked in and asked Microsoft to step outside—the US Federal Trade Commission has its sights set on the technology company’s anticompetitive practices, which include Azure’s restrictive licensing. In a couple months, I’m sure the Department of Government Efficiency will be thrilled to help. 
• Remember all those AWS employees who were “so excited” about the return to the office (RTO)? Well, they might be surprised to hear that a bunch of “distraught” employees wrote an open letter to CEO Matt Garman being like, WTF, dude. The RTO deadline is in January, which is also when the TikTok ban starts, so I hope you like misery. 
• Between January and August of this year, Amazon cut its US advertising budget by 20%. Including its AWS arm, Amazon’s budget for all types of promotional costs has decreased by millions. 
• Increased spending on AI will slow Microsoft’s growth this quarter. Financially, the company can’t address its AI capacity constraints until the second quarter. 
• It hasn’t been announced yet, but Microsoft will use HarperCollins books to train a mysterious AI model. Authors can opt in for the low, low price of one human soul. 

Wheelin’ and dealin’ 

• Amazon doubled its investment in AI startup Anthropic with another $4B in funding. Moving forward, Anthropic will use AWS Trainium and Inferentia chips to train and deploy its largest AI models.
• This is just in time to give US intelligence the power of generative AI, along with Palantir. The press release can’t actually tell us what the CIA will do with this technology, so hats off to the author, who somehow managed to craft six paragraphs of absolutely nothing but filler text.
• On the other side of the spectrum, the press release about the expanded partnership between AWS and MongoDB tells you waaaay more than you want to know.
• Nokia will provide routers and switches for Azure datacenters in an extended agreement between the two companies. This is funny because Amazon sued Nokia a few months ago for patent grabbing. Which happened a year after Nokia sued Amazon for patent infringement—and blogged about it! Let’s all just sue each other back and forth forever until we die.
• AWS announced a Generative AI Partner Innovation Alliance that will help customers build their own AI solutions. It’s launching with nine partners, one of them being a government intelligence and weapons systems contractor, which makes complete sense because we are the worst.
• Cognizant is partnering with AWS to deliver smart manufacturing capabilities for the industrial sector. Maybe they can smartly manufacture a way for me to get out of this country.
• Technology and communications company Lumen will supply AWS with its fiber network to improve datacenter connectivity. In turn, Lumen will use AWS solutions, including those for generative AI, to modernize its systems.
• Outbrain has agreed to improve its advertising platform by scaling its operations on Azure and enhancing its services with generative AI solutions from Microsoft.
• Money launderers, we just wanna get to know ya. Is green your favorite color? AWS is partnering with Binance to help the crypto platform better screen customers using an AI integration. This comes after a shakeup in Nigeria, where one Binance exec escaped detention and left the country while another was thrown in prison for “suspicious cash flows.” But, please, focus on the customers.
• Europeans want a more compliant cloud. They’ll get one by the end of 2025, when the AWS Europe Sovereign Cloud launches, complete with regulatory-friendly partner solutions in its Marketplace.
• It’s now easier for AWS customers to extend their on-premises Nutanix environment to the cloud. Thank you, Nutanix!!!!!
• A collaboration between Microsoft and Kyndryl makes it easier for customers to extend their on-premises environment to Azure. 

World domination 

• Microsoft ran out of places to shove Copilot, so it has expanded to a larger market—the limitless universe. In partnership with NASA, “Earth Copilot” will help us collect petabytes of data from observation satellites and make it easier for the general public to access it.
• If you Google news out of Sunbury, Ohio, you’ll mostly find obituaries and an inordinate number of animal-hoarding instances (What? Why? How?). Aside from that, you’ll learn that AWS is going to open a $2B datacenter there, which will be finished in 2028.
• AWS is giving away $110M in free computing power to researchers so long as they use Trainium AI chips. 

Ma’am, I’m going to have to call security 

• I need to learn how to code or something for Microsoft’s bug bounty program, which is awarding $4M to those who uncover security flaws. Look, if I win this thing and go on vacation and return to work suddenly looking a decade younger, I did NOT get a facelift, I just rested…with whoever Lindsay Lohan has been resting with. And if I DID get a facelift…no I didn’t.
• As I write this, millions of personal data points are up for grabs, thanks to developers who used Power Pages to build a website without implementing proper access controls. 

New stuff 

• It was a party at Ignite, starting with Microsoft’s unveiling of a custom AMD processor for virtual machine instances and two Microsoft-made chips, which is very demure and mindful of them.
• Azure AI Student has been packaged with other services and rebranded as Azure AI Foundry.
• Azure Local is a new cloud computing platform that allows companies to extend Azure to their on-premises and edge environments.
• Microsoft launched not one, but two infrastructure chips, meant to accelerate AI adoption and increase security.
• Leaving no stone unturned and no career unthreatened, Microsoft is building AI agents for lots of specific tasks, from real-time translations using your voice to processing invoice approvals and customer returns. Does Microsoft know that we, uh, need to like, buy food and stuff? To live? Pretty please, may we?
• It also introduced new AI models for industry. It has been building these pre-trained, fine-tuned models with big partners such as Siemens and Bayer.
• Fabric Databases, an addition to Microsoft Fabric, provisions autonomous databases in seconds.
• Redis can now be fully managed by Azure.
• Not on my 2024 bingo card (then again, neither was the CEO of the Worldwide Wrestling Federation becoming the head of education), but AWS will make it possible for Amazon Q to integrate with Microsoft Office 365.
• AWS App Studio is now generally available. It uses generative AI to build enterprise-grade apps. 

Professional Pivots 

AWS has hired Julia White (who killed Mr. Body in the library with the candlestick) as the company’s new chief marketing officer and VP. She previously spent 20 years at Microsoft and several years at SAP. 

Best Friends Forever 

• Splunk’s security observability and security platform is now available on Azure. 
• AI governance company Saidot can now integrate with Azure AI. 

New to Azure Marketplace 

• IBM subsidiary Apptio’s Targetprocess solution, which helps finance teams plan and manage budgets
• DataChant’s BI Pixie, which sounds like a little booster for Power BI
• Awardco, for employee recognition and rewards
• Shift Technology offers several products for property and casualty insurers
• Red Hat’s Enterprise Linux AI, a foundation model platform
• Cribl, which is too close to an offensive term for my comfort, is a data engine for IT and security
• IntelePeer’s SmartAgent and SmartOffice, which offer AI-powered communications automation 

New to AWS Marketplace 

• Jitterbit, which is also now an AWS Partner, a SaaS service that solves “hyperautomation issues”
• SugarCRM’s Sugar Sell and Sugar Market
• AttackIQ, which provides breach and attack simulation solutions
• Coder, an open-source platform for self-hosted development environments 

By Kelly Schermer

Image by Nicole Todd

I’m the type of auntie that loves to give a holiday bundle—from Bomba’s mix-and-match socks to monthly KiwiCo STEM boxes—there’s something special about giving a gift that keeps you top of mind with the ones you love all year long. (Not to mention, I really despise shopping, so anything that makes it easier and less frequent is my jam.)  

Recently, many of our clients have started to adopt the bundle approach to marketing assets too. It’s a great strategy that takes a lot of the hard work out of planning, improves ROI through asset reusability, and helps drive toward a well-defined goal. Just think: With one SOW, you get a clearly defined plan for the quarter (or year) and a timeline for putting it into motion that you can easily share with your leaders and colleagues. It’s a great way to get budget allocated to your projects early and complete your goals on time without having to start fresh with every piece.  

Take for example, a PMM who came to us and expressed their interest in establishing a few key personas as industry thought leaders. We developed a bundle centered on a podcast series. It includes a podcast name and logo, social GIFs, podcast-based blogs, and email summaries.  

Not exactly what you had in mind? Not to worry! We’ve developed a number of bundles based on popular themes we see among our B2B tech clients. Each one addresses the sales lifecycle of the target customer while maximizing the shelf-life of the hero assets. Some of the more dynamic bundles are *ahem* bundled to better curate the target customer’s experience.  

Here are two you may wish you had gifted yourself before the big event season we just finished:  

Keynote bundle 

Get them there 

• Promotional social cards or GIFs 
• Invitation to event, email 

Wow them in person 

• 1-min keynote hype video/animation  
• 60-min presentation deck  
• Speaker talk track 

Ride the momentum 

• Summary and highlights, email 
• Deep dive into offerings, ebook 

Event booth bundle 

Put your best foot forward 

• Booth graphics 

Draw them in to talk 

• On-screen booth experience 
• Product demo video 

Earn space on their desk 

• Swag 
• Digital datasheet via QR code 

As you start planning for the spring, let’s talk about how a bundle can help you be more efficient and focused.  

By Olivia Witt

Image by Nicole Todd

Partner marketing is a balancing act. Between the partner, the client, and sometimes even a shared customer, everyone has their own take on the story. The goal? To show why “better together” isn’t just a tagline: it’s proof that collaboration creates value. But too many voices or messages can turn a clear story into a tangled one. 

That’s why video works so well. It’s not only about telling the story; it’s about showing it—visually, emotionally, and powerfully. Video helps focus the message, align the stakeholders, and encourage audience connection. And production style is just as important. The style of production you choose will shape both how the story is told and how it’s received. 

Whether you’re dealing with distributed teams, tight budgets, or the need for high production value, there’s a way to make it work—and make it resonate. Here are three approaches to turn scattered input into a cohesive, compelling story. 

1. Remote: Making it work from anywhere 

In a world where teams are increasingly distributed, remote video capture is more than a convenience—it’s a strategy. Remote production democratizes storytelling, letting stakeholders contribute from anywhere—ideal for global teams or time-sensitive projects. 

Platforms designed for high-quality remote footage, paired with tools such as producer mode, ensure that remote doesn’t mean amateur. With behind-the-scenes direction, we can guide the process while keeping the primary footage professional and polished. The result? A story that feels cohesive and connected. Remote video removes barriers, making it easier than ever to showcase diverse perspectives. 

2. In person: High-impact collaboration 

When your message needs that extra level of authenticity, in-person production is the gold standard. Nothing captures chemistry and collaboration quite like a room full of people working together. Whether it’s a joint interview or a handshake caught on camera, the energy of in-person interactions is hard to replicate. 

In person is ideal for high-impact moments, such as event coverage and customer testimonials, that showcase strong partnerships and authentic collaboration. And by choosing the right location—whether it’s a vibrant event space, a sleek studio, or even a factory floor—you can enhance the emotional resonance of the story, making it unforgettable for viewers. 

Curious about what goes into pre-production for an in-person shoot? Check out our five pre-production tips. 

3. Hybrid: The best of both worlds 

Not every story fits neatly into one box. Hybrid productions offer the flexibility to craft something unique and tailored. Combine the personal connection of in-person footage with the inclusivity of remote interviews, creating a well-rounded narrative. 

Each method—remote, in person, or hybrid—offers unique advantages. The key is how you use them to create a seamless narrative. 

Great partnerships deserve the spotlight 

At 2A, we help partners turn complexity into clarity, and collaboration into compelling stories. No matter where your team is or how many stakeholders are involved, we know how to bring it all together. At the end of the day, the best partnerships don’t just tell people they’re better together. They show them. 

We’d love to show you how. Reach out to learn more! 

By Andrea Swangard

Image by Nicole Todd

Animations can significantly boost audience engagement. This is especially crucial in a digital environment, where capturing and retaining audience attention is increasingly challenging. And animations are versatile. They convey complex messages concisely, telling compelling brand stories, showcasing product features effectively, and explaining intricate concepts clearly and memorably. From script to design to motion—the experts at 2A find the perfect timing, transitions, and interactions to communicate your story effectively. 

Here are the top five ways animations enrich your brand experience and help you meet your marketing goals. 

1. Get attention 

You’ve got a product launch or new features rolling out, and you want to drive excitement and anticipation. Cue an eye-catching animation that showcases your product with exciting visuals, voiceovers, and music. The right combination of sound and scenery can move your viewers—literally—getting them to groove to your content, or at least feel immersed and intrigued. Animations can be especially effective when used on the homepage of a website and as a video before a keynote presentation. Get your product noticed wherever your audience is, in a way that complements static assets. 

2. Simplify the complex 

We’re a cloud marketing agency that works with tons of tech clients—we know that products and processes can be complex. Motion design helps demonstrate capabilities and explain features when words can’t tell the whole story. An animated visual can make technical information more approachable, and more fun! 

3. Improve onboarding and adoption 

Even when a process isn’t complex, motion design helps visual learners understand and retain information. Animated assets such as demos can show the product in use, providing instructions and walkthroughs. This gives users a real-life example of what to expect, how to navigate, and how to maximize their use of a product. 

4. Ensure brand consistency 

Animated videos are flexible and can work for a wide range of use cases. Maybe you have a booth at an event and need a way to spell out key information when audio isn’t possible. Or, maybe you want shorter, image-driven video clips for social media. Motion graphics work well across a variety of platforms and devices, ensuring a consistent brand presence for websites, mobile, social media, email campaigns, and digital signage. This lets you reach diverse audiences through different channels while maintaining your brand’s visual style, maximizing the reach and effectiveness of your campaigns. 

5. Jumpstart your marketing efforts! 

In cloud marketing, speed is a priority. Motion design doesn’t involve as many production pieces as traditional video does, and reusable elements like characters, sounds, and templates allow for quick and scalable video creation. Limited budget or turnaround time? Both? The nimble nature of motion design means you get engaging assets that are ready when you need them. 

Want to see how 2A’s motion designers can make your cloud marketing more captivating? Reach out! 

By Katy Nally

Image by Thad Allen

The countdown has begun! That big event you’ve been planning for is finally almost here. (I’m looking at you, re:Invent and Ignite 😉.) You’re in the home stretch, the last inning, the [insert sports metaphor] and everything is falling into place.  

But, like all big events, inevitably something will change at the last minute, and you’ll have to pivot. That’s where we can help! We know you’re on a tight timeline, but we’re ready to create those quick-turn assets you need for a homerun experience. From building hype with a teaser blog, to leaving a lasting impression with a sleek solution brief, our team can hit the ground running.  

As you think through your event checklist, consider these assets to win big with your audience. 

• Teaser blog: Generate some buzz for your sessions with a blog that previews what’s coming. This is a great way to position your presenter as an authority on the subject and draw a bigger following. 

• Deck design: Get some oooos and ahhhs from your audience with the deck of their dreams. Our deck experts can polish your slides—fast, and we’ll deliver the same outstanding design whether it’s a keynote, session, or breakout.  

• Slide animation: Make sure no one in the audience falls asleep with slides that morph, turn, and practically leap off the stage to wave hello.  

• Recap blog: Give all those GA and public preview announcements a place to live with a recap blog that hits home the highlights of your presentation and directs readers to your solutions. 

• Social GIFs: Keep that event energy going well after you wrap with animated social GIFs that showcase big announcements in a bite-sized form.  

• Solution brief: Tell ‘em what you told ‘em in a glossy, two-paged solution brief that serves up the best parts of your solution. 

 Now let’s get going!  

By Katy Nally

Image by Jenni Lydell

Does this sound familiar? 

Your partner program is thriving. Your product has a ton of new opportunities to reach customers. And your business is poised for growth. The only catch? Your go-to-market (GTM) strategy for all these new partners hasn’t really caught up. It seems like your newly onboarded partners simply go forth into the marketing ether and…poof. You don’t really know what they’re telling customers or how they’re positioning your joint value prop. You’re just badging them and hoping for the best. 

Scalable assets to the rescue!

So, how do you ensure partners are nailing your joint value prop and have the resources to secure new business? With scalable assets! Yes, the same scale that applies to your product. Scalable content often takes the form of ebooks, emails, solution briefs, and landing pages, with dedicated space for the partner to describe their offering alongside your locked marketing message. 

When you’re so focused on getting partners off the ground, that last-mile task of creating marketing materials for customer pitches and co-sell motions is often an afterthought. As the agency that helps B2B tech companies build partner programs and joint GTM assets, we know how to design scalable assets that lighten the load for your marketing team. For large cloud providers and midsized tech companies, we’ve created materials that support dozens of partners at a time. These joint assets can be in the partner’s branding or yours, and they tell your combined story.  

A win-win for you and your partner

They’re a nice win-win for both sides: Partners get a glossy piece of content connecting them to large cloud providers, while you get controlled messaging and sales reach through partners. Not only does this approach help your marketing team, but it also pulls partners back from the ether. It gives them a script to follow so they deliver your value prop consistently and persuasively every time.  

So, if you have partners who need some support—and your marketing team could too—it’s time to create scalable marketing assets. Let’s build a plan together. 

By Jane Dornemann

Image by Suzanne Calkins

Gossip (for nerds) 

• This month, Satya Nadella was like “Stoppppp giving me money” but the Microsoft board was like “Shut uppppp here are some cash wads to dry your tears.” Yes, it’s true: After asking for a pay reduction, Nadella instead got a 63% raise totaling $79.1M. It would have been $5.5M higher but he lost that incentive because of the company’s security issues. 
• AWS CEO Matt Garman said employees who don’t like the return to the office (RTO) mandate should make sure the door doesn’t slam their booties on the way out. 
• The response to “Well, then just quit” was “OK”: The company’s VP of AI dipped, along with a top exec in telecom for AWS. And a survey found that 73% of employees are thinking about leaving. Nah-uh, says Garman, who insists, in a conveniently leaked transcript, that 90% want—nay, are excited about!—RTO. 
• While Amazon is recalling people to the office, Microsoft EVP Scott Guthrie says don’t worry lil babies, I gotchu…with one caveat: Productivity must not drop. If it does, the floggings will continue until morale improves!!! 
• A flogging is exactly what Google is asking the EU to issue Microsoft, claiming that the cloud provider is giving Windows customers a choice between buying Azure or facing a 400% markup. 
• OpenAI will release its next-gen AI model, Orion, on Azure by December 2025. The model is expected to have 100 times more power, and be an “ultra-advanced model that approaches Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).” 
• That’s great and all (Is it, really?), except Azure’s CTO says the company is about to hit the power grid limit, tee hee. AI demands so much energy that the company may need to connect multiple data centers if it wants to train these advanced models. Energy needs underlie Microsoft’s nuclear energy efforts and its new virtual machines optimized for AI. 
• Meh, OpenAI is going full honey badger and doesn’t care—the company is telling Microsoft to move faster or move out of the way, and will start “lining up data centers and AI chips” outside of Microsoft. The New York Times says the bromance is starting to fray. 
• Despite this activity, some analysts think that interest in AI will dwindle as market demand corrects itself, forcing OpenAI to sell to Microsoft in the next three years. Or is this already happening? A Wall Street analyst with Oppenheimer lowered his projections for Microsoft in 2025 because Copilot sales fell below expectations. 
• Oh, look, exactly what I said would happen is happening. Researchers found that Whisper, OpenAI’s transcription tool that’s used by some medical centers, is whispering a whole bunch of CRAP. Eight out of every 10 audio transcriptions contained completely made-up chunks of text that were never spoken, including “racial commentary, violent rhetoric, and imagined medical treatments.” 

Wheelin’ and dealin’ 

• When the military industrial complex says it’s too expensive, you know it’s too expensive. Yes, we’re still stuck on the Microsoft Goggles that cost $80,000 each. The Army said the price has to come down mucho if it’s going to order 121K of them. A deal would earn Microsoft $22B over a decade, also known as Satya Nadella’s next totally unwanted bonus that he absolutely must accept despite his protests. 
• Solutions provider Presidio signed a “huge deal” with AWS, applying its consulting services to the implementation of advanced AWS technology such as ML and AI. The duo will also develop industry-focused solutions. 
• Digital Domain has moved to AWS so it can build industry-specific Autonomous Virtual Humans. Because autonomous real humans must do pesky, work-disrupting things such as eat, sleep, shower, and feel feelings. 
• Smartsheet is partnering with AWS to connect with Amazon Q Business. This will let businesses answer queries on projects and other Smartsheet-related data. 
• Microsoft and NetApp collaborated with Tessell, a database-as-a-service platform, to create Copilot for Cloud Databases. 
• In China, now only enterprises, not individuals, can subscribe to OpenAI, which this article says will affect independent developers in the country. 
• Oncology technology company Ontada is collaborating with Microsoft using Azure AI to process unstructured oncology document components. I love document components! 
• Rezolve AI, which offers AI-powered solutions for commerce and retail, is using Azure to support its Brain Suite, helping increase digital customer engagement. 
• When the Beatles wrote you say you want a revolution, what they were REALLY talking about was Microsoft’s partnership with Medline to design a healthcare supply chain resiliency solution.
• AWS and SentinelOne are building on their existing partnership to improve AI-powered cybersecurity using the cloud provider’s AI infrastructure and SentinelOne’s Purple AI solution, which sounds like Prince invented it. 
• Databricks is using AWS Trainium AI chips so users can develop custom LLMs with Databricks’ Mosaic AI platform. 
• Behavioral health technology provider Kipu Health is using AI services from AWS to reduce customers’ administrative workloads through transcription note-generation and chart summaries. 
• Omnichannel payment solutions provider Valor PayTech migrated to AWS. 
• To address the lack of diversity in cybersecurity, AWS and the NFL are collaborating to provide more support and inroads for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. 
• Smarsh, a communications data and intelligence platform, is working with AWS to bring AI to financial services for risk detection and compliance automation. Wow, that solved my insomnia right away. 

World domination 

• The US Department of Defense awarded a $7.2M contract to AWS for a “zero trust pilot” of AWS Virtual Private Cloud for the Pentagon. 
• The UK government signed a five-year agreement, or 1,825 tea times, with Microsoft to bring AI to the public sector as part of a broader modernization push. In Italy, Microsoft will invest 4.3B Euros over two years in regional AI infrastructure, but it must do so at top volume while fervently gesticulating its hands. 

Ma’am, I’m going to have to call security 

Whoopsies! Microsoft lost a month’s worth of security logs for some of its customers. Which means there’s nothing to return to for…idk…root-cause analysis. 

New stuff 

• When it comes to nuclear power, mini meltdowns sound so much cuter than full-scale meltdowns. In an agreement with Dominion Energy, AWS will spend more than $500M to build small modular reactors that, with any luck, will be run by leprechauns (who will hopefully be piss tested every morning). 
• In a bid to capture some of Salesforce’s market share, Microsoft launched 10 ready-for-use autonomous AI agents for Dynamics 365. This comes just weeks after Salesforce announced its own autonomous agents, part of “the third wave of AI” that will move businesses beyond chatbots. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff (who looks like a hitman nearing retirement in this picture) slammed Microsoft’s new product, calling it “Clippy 2.0” and claiming “it doesn’t work.” In lieu of these pre-built agents, organizations can now create their own using Copilot Studio. 
• As Microsoft and Salesforce beef up their autonomous agents, AWS has added capabilities for Amazon Q in Connect. The big reveal? Companies can customize smart assistants’ responses to brand guidelines, womp womp. Things don’t stop there—how about some Salesforce Contact Center with Amazon Connect? This keeps joint customers from having to do the integration themselves and allows them to use one platform for both solutions. 
• Meanwhile, Google signed a $2.7B deal with Character.AI to drive forward its own agentic AI line of business. Google is basically paying a lot of money to hire the notable AI brainiacs leading Character.AI and to license the company’s technology. 
• Microsoft is coming to rescue us from AI’s bad side with new product capabilities that will correct hallucinations in real time. 
• Drasi is Microsoft’s new event-driven platform for data processing. It helps businesses track data activity to better understand changing needs. 
• IT admins can now use AWS Chatbot to manage AWS accounts from third-party apps such as Microsoft Teams and Slack. 

Professional pivots 

• It may have lost some, but AWS also won some: Pilar Schenk, formerly a COO at Cisco, is now VP of sales operations. And Jon Jones, formerly VP for GTM at AWS, is now VP and global head of AWS Startups. 
• OpenAI yoinked Microsoft’s VP of GenAI research. The company is being transparent about the fact that this move is focused on furthering AGI efforts. 

Best friends forever 

It was like Chrismukkah for the AWS Partner network this month. 

• Insight, which helps businesses migrate to the cloud, achieved AWS Premier Tier Service Partner status. 
• Matellio, a custom software-engineering studio, and Cloudtech, a cloud-modernization services firm, both achieved AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner status. 
• Kasada, which helps defeat automated cyber threats, earned its AWS Security Competency. 
• Education technology company Everspring and appointment scheduling platform Coconut Software are now AWS Partners. 
• Cloudelligent, a managed services provider, achieved AWS Migration Competency status. Not to be confused with CloudHesive, which had its WAF validated by AWS (why does that sound inappropriate?). 
• Observability and OTel provider Embrace has joined the AWS ISV Accelerate Program and is also slapping its goods in AWS Marketplace. 

New to AWS Marketplace 

• Zoom’s Contact Center, so you can say “Sorry, I was on mute,” but now you can say it on AWS 
• Arduino Cloud, an all-in-one platform for building IoT applications 
• Zimperium, a mobile security provider 
• StackGen’s Generative Infrastructure from Code, which eliminates developer bottlenecks 
• Finzly’s FedNow Service, an instant payment service 

New to Azure Marketplace 

• Addlly AI, a customizable, zero-prompt AI playground that simplifies content generation 
• Ascendion AVA+ GenAI Core Platform, which helps businesses customize AI for use cases
• SqlSafeKeep, a compliance solution for developers and data scientists
• Mattermost, which offers secure collaboration and communication for government and other critical sectors 

By Nora Bright

Image by Jenni Lydell

Bringing in a marketing consultant can be a great way to tackle short-term tasks or get a fresh perspective on strategy. But how do you know that your consultant has what it takes to get results? 

2A regularly interviews marketing consultants for our Embedded Consulting practice, assessing whether to add them to our talent network and consider them for client opportunities. Over the years we’ve refined a screening process that identifies consultants that will deliver results for clients. Whether you’re seeking expertise in product, partner, digital marketing, or another marketing area, the following questions can help you secure the right consultant:  

1. What do you like about consulting? 

Whether your potential consultant appreciates the flexible hours or the autonomy to choose their projects, make sure they love freelance work. You want to know they’ll be available to work with you in the future—and aren’t likely to ditch you mid-project for a full-time gig. Also, people who love what they do are generally more pleasant to work with! 

2. How long have you been consulting? 

From making decisions independently to staying organized when working with multiple clients, it takes a specific skill set to run a successful consulting business. Ideally, your consultant has experience in their marketing specialization as both a consultant and an FTE, as full-time work is a great environment for professionals to build expertise. 

3. How do you prefer to communicate with clients? 

You want your consultant to have a thoughtful approach to client communication. And, know that they’ll work well with your team’s communication style. Do they enjoy face time, or prefer to talk over email or chat? You’ll likely appreciate someone who wants to get on a call once in a while but can also work independently.  

4. How would you approach this project? 

The right consultant will have experience with projects similar to yours, and have an approach in mind. This question is also a good way to test their listening skills, and to make sure you’re aligned on scope. Look for a response that shows they understand your needs and demonstrates their expertise as they walk through the steps they would take.  

5. Is the scope achievable within the time frame? What potential pitfalls do you see? 

Less experienced freelancers might hide their concerns about a scope of work to secure a new client. You want someone who is experienced enough to spot potential issues, and confident enough to share them with you. And if your proposed scope isn’t realistic with the time or resources you’ve allotted—you’ll want to know that now. 

6. Can you provide examples of work? 

Consultants who do great work are happy to show it off. It’s never a bad idea to ask for examples! 

7. Can you provide references? 

Checking references is an important step in the hiring process, even for freelancers. Ask for a quick call instead of an email, so you can hear the reference’s enthusiasm and tone of voice. Phone calls also make asking follow-up questions easier. 

Are you interested in hiring a marketing consultant or other contract or temporary hire? 2A has a network of excellent candidates that have already been vetted. Reach out, and we’ll fast-track the consultant-finding process for you! 

By Olivia Witt, Mollie Hawkins

Let’s face it: running an AI startup is hard enough without having to worry about how to explain what you do and why it’s important. Between the jargon, technical complexity, and the need to stand out in a busy market, it can feel like no one quite “gets” you or your brand. The last thing you have time for is perfecting your marketing message (ah, that seemingly low-hanging fruit). But even the most groundbreaking AI needs more than just great features. Without a clear, compelling message, your genius can get lost. Pitching your AI products to new customers in clear, easy-to-understand ways has never been more important. Enter your new best friend, the messaging and positioning framework (MPF).  

Turning AI speak into human speak 

AI might be the future, but that doesn’t mean everyone understands how it works—or why it’s valuable. If you’ve ever tried explaining your product to someone outside the tech world, you know it’s easy to lose them in a sea of buzzwords, or cliché one-liners like “Join the AI revolution!” But here’s the deal—if people don’t understand your product, they won’t buy it. The magic of MPFs is they take the complex and make it crystal clear. We help translate your genius into language that connects with both investors and customers, without dumbing it down or losing your voice. 

AI is smart—your messaging should be too (and maybe a little fun) 

AI messaging can sometimes feel complicated and confusing, but that doesn’t mean your startup has to follow suit. At the end of the day, your brand messaging should match your core business value propositions—what are you selling, and what action do you want your customers to take? You don’t have to bore them to tears with messaging that they don’t understand (or relate to). An MPF helps you bridge the gap between “what we do” and “why it matters” to your audience. 

MPFs are all about giving your brand personality and character, distilling technical language into concise value statements. We help you communicate not just what your product does, but why people should care. Are you building AI that’s fast, user-friendly, or are you saving people time? We make sure those points shine through in a way that grabs attention and feels approachable. 

Standing out without shouting 

There are a lot of AI companies out there, and it’s easy to blend into the background if you don’t have a strong message. Your cool features aren’t enough if no one understands why they should care. We’ll work with you to highlight exactly what makes your product different. Whether it’s your focus on ethical AI, a killer feature, or the fact that your solution actually works in real-world scenarios, we help craft messaging that sticks without resorting to empty buzzwords or overused tech lingo. 

In fact—that’s our specialty. MPFs are our jam. We get everyone on the same page, because we know what it’s like when product says one thing, marketing says another, and sales is winging it. We help align your whole team with a clear, consistent, and unified story that everyone can get behind. No more mixed signals or confusing handoffs. 

Your product may be brilliant, but that’s just half the battle. With 2A in your corner, your AI startup gets more than just a snazzy tagline—you get a framework that lets you confidently tell the world what you do, why it matters, and why they should be paying attention. Ready to make your audience care as much as you do? Reach out to us anytime!