Acumatica Ascent: A New Chapter in Partner Learning

With all of the dramatic changes taking place in the business and technology landscape, the skills required to sell, implement, extend, and support Acumatica are changing as well.

That was the motivation behind  Acumatica Ascent 2026 (August 17-20, 2026). This inaugural Acumatica partner education event revolved around one simple idea: technology alone doesn’t determine customer outcomes — capability plays a critical role in this equation.

Even before day one commenced, we knew we could go deeper in a focused, partner-only environment giving partners a chance to step away from the day-to-day grind and concentrate on building the capabilities their businesses will need next through role-based learning, hands-on workshops, peer discussions, and content designed specifically for the people who work with Acumatica every day.

Here’s a look at how this first-ever partner-training and networking event went.

How Ascent Works

Ascent took place at the beautiful Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center. For three days, Acumatica partners, from VARs and ISVs to Alliance Partners and Service Partners, listened to insightful keynote messages and participated in hands-on interactive sessions and workshops. They had their choice of more than 60 breakout sessions, each one offering strategies, skills, and practices partners could apply to their own businesses.

According to Acumatica’s Georg Gottschalk, VP Global Education, the role-based learning and hands-on sessions were equally well received.

He adds: “The hands-on sessions were especially valuable because partners want to leave with something they can apply immediately. That is an important principle for us. Learning should translate into capability, and capability should translate into better execution for partners and better outcomes for customers.”

The Value of Bringing All Partners Together in One Setting

During Ascent, Acumatica’s partners were given abundant opportunities to engage in conversations that Georg says never ceased.

“Consultants were comparing delivery approaches, partners were talking about vertical specialization, and people were openly sharing where implementations succeed and where they get difficult. That exchange of expertise is exactly the kind of community we wanted Ascent to strengthen.”

The fact is, no single part of the ecosystem has the entire answer. VARs understand implementation and customer realities. ISVs bring deep specialization. Service partners see different delivery models. Alliance partners bring another perspective on scale and market opportunity. Bringing those groups together creates an exchange of expertise that is difficult to manufacture any other way.

“That matters because the strength of the Acumatica ecosystem isn’t simply the number of organizations in it,” Georg says. “It’s the collective capability that exists across them — and how effectively that capability can be shared.”

The Topic That Took Top Billing

Though there were many and varied conversations that took place during Ascent, one topic generated the most interest and discussion among attendees: AI.

AI was everywhere, not simply as a product topic, but as a capability question. Partners are asking what AI means for their own practices, how their teams need to evolve, how they prepare customers, and how AI changes the way knowledge and expertise are delivered. That made it one of the most interesting conversations at Ascent because it sits at the intersection of technology, people, and business transformation.

There was tremendous excitement but also very practical questions about readiness, skills, governance, and how to turn AI into something useful for customers. One idea we introduced at Ascent was that our education strategy now has to support both people and machines. Historically, we focused on teaching humans. With AI, we also need trusted, structured knowledge that machines can consume.

That’s why the knowledge infrastructure we are building matters. Beacon, our learning platforms, structured product knowledge, and our AI Repository are increasingly connected pieces of the same strategy: make trusted Acumatica knowledge available in the right form, to the right person — or system — at the right moment.

After Ascent: What We Learned and What We Wanted Partners to Take Away

With the completion of our first-of-many Ascent events, we asked attendees their thoughts on the experience. Of the 130 that responded, we learned that:

• 96% walked away with an “improved perception of Acumatica” and the investment we’re making in the channel with this event.
• 6% gave the event an excellent rating.
• 6% gave the event a very good rating
• 2% gave it a good rating.

But that wasn’t all we learned. There’s a real appetite for deeper, role-specific learning and for opportunities to learn directly from peers, which is why we’re establishing Ascent not as a standalone event but as a part of a continuous capability-building system.

Ascent creates intensity and community while Beacon delivers trusted knowledge, Acumatica University provides structured learning, customer education extends capability to our customers, and our growing use of AI will make that knowledge increasingly accessible in the flow of work.

Says Georg, “Ascent can become the moment each year when that system comes together, where we build skills, exchange expertise, challenge ourselves, and then take that capability back into the ecosystem.”

The first Ascent was the beginning of that community, and the most important thing about it? It doesn’t end when everyone goes home.

We want partners to take what they learned, apply it inside their practices, share it with their teams, and continue building capability. We also want that investment to extend to customers. One example is the Customer Education Advocate Program we introduced at Ascent, which helps partners bring more customers into structured onboarding and education.

Ultimately, stronger partner capability and stronger customer capability reinforce one another. Both lead to better implementations, greater adoption, and stronger long-term customer outcomes.

If you would like to learn more about this partner event designed to drive partner excellence or how to become an Acumatica partner, our team is standing by.