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MVP Roundtable

A highlight of the MVP initiative during the summit was an exclusive roundtable discussion with Julia Liuson, President of Microsoft’s Developer Division and GitHub. On the evening before the summit (April 22, 2025), Julia met with a group of 16 MVPs (along with a few members of the top hackathon teams) for a private, closed-door roundtable at Microsoft’s Beijing office. The goal was to create a dev-focused, authentic dialogue where MVPs could share their insights and feedback directly with one of Microsoft’s top executives, and hear Julia’s perspectives as well.

MVP Participation and Key Roles played

The engagement of over 30 MVPs and RDs was extensive, with more than 15 MVPs and RDs from China contributing actively as hackathon judges, theater speakers, booth presenters, workshop helpers, expert 1:1 facilitators, and event facilitators. MVPs/RDs served in a variety of key roles to make the summit a success, including:

• Theater Session Presenters: MVPs/RDs led modern workload and D&I “theater sessions” in the Connection Hub (expo area), delivering mini-talks and demos on AI related MW development best practices and real-world solutions onautism. Their sessions – covering topics like using GitHub Copilot, Azure OpenAI, and cloud-native AI apps – provided practical value and learning for over 100 attendees on each session.


• Workshop Coaches: MVP experts acted as co-trainers in hands-on workshops. Nine in-depth workshop sessions (on Copilot Studio, Azure OpenAI, and GitHub development topics) were held, training around 1,000 developers on cutting-edge AI skills. Several MVPs worked alongside Microsoft engineers as coaches in these 75-minute labs, helping participants with coding exercises and Q&A.


• Hackathon Judges & Mentors: MVPs/RDs played visible roles in the summit’s AI Hackathon. Two veteran MVPs (who are also RDs, Xu Lei and Zhu Yiting) were invited as special judges for the Hackathon finale along with CTO China Qing Wei and Julia Liuson. Additionally, a number of MVPs mentored the finalist teams during preparation, providing guidance on Azure services and AI APIs. This dual involvement – as judges and mentors – ensured the competition was meaningful and fair, and it spotlighted MVPs’ technical leadership.


• MVP booths: 10 MVPs present at MVP program booth on local user groups and the MVP program itself, signing up over 200 developers interested in joining community activities after the event. RD presents on security booth for whole day.


• Event Registration: 20 MVPs helped event promote and successfully recruit 200 in person attendees registration  

Through these roles, the MVP community helped augment the summit’s content and interactivity, acting as force-multipliers for knowledge sharing. Their presence underscored Microsoft’s community-driven approach, with MVPs effectively bridging Microsoft’s product teams and the broader developer audience. Overall impactful attendees: 50% of attendees.

Voice from MVPs and attendees

Learning together on workshop.

“The best way to learn is from those who do.” – An attendee (developer) commented that seeing MVPs in action was highly motivating. This underscores the value of having community experts as teachers. It validates Microsoft’s strategy of involving MVPs: their real-world experience makes learning more tangible. In one session, when an MVP live-coded a bot using Azure OpenAI on stage, the room erupted in applause – a direct payoff of that “learn by doing” approach.

Community discussions with Julia Liuson“We felt heard by Microsoft.” – Multiple MVPs expressed appreciation for Julia Liuson’s roundtable and overall receptiveness to feedback. “It’s not every day a top executive sits down with us for two hours,” one MVP said, “Julia’s visit really showed that our opinions matter.” This quote reflects a boost in MVP morale and loyalty. By hearing MVPs out and even acting on some suggestions quickly, Microsoft earned goodwill. Another MVP quipped that they “came with a list of tough questions, and Julia answered all of them – except those under NDA!”, highlighting the openness of the dialogue.

MVP booth attracts many developers.

“Inspired to do more.” – A newly awarded MVP mentioned that participating in this summit has “inspired me to do even more for the community.” It is important as it shows the ripple effect of such events. The MVP said interacting with peers and seeing the recognition they got (e.g., applause from attendees, personal thanks from Microsoft leaders) was a huge motivation. It energized them to return to their city and plan local meetups to spread the knowledge further. This exemplifies how the summit’s impact will continue to reverberate through subsequent community activities.

“Community is our superpower.” – This refrain was heard during the MVP booth demo and after-party. MVPs rallied around the idea that by working together and sharing knowledge, they amplify their impact. One MVP says during after party of Summit, “Individually we are experts, but together, as a community, is how we truly make a difference.” For Microsoft, this is exactly the culture of knowledge-sharing it aims to foster.

Next Steps

• The Imagine the Future Summit initiated a wave of momentum for Microsoft’s AI initiatives and community engagement in the region. The partnership with MVPs proved invaluable – and will be a cornerstone of future strategy.


• Microsoft’s mission statement of “empowering every person and organization on the planet to achieve more was vividly on display at this summit – with MVPs empowered to empower others. The next steps outlined will help institutionalize this approach. 


• The summit may have wrapped up, but its legacy is very much alive: in next year event projects started, knowledge shared, and communities energized – enhance to the collaborative effort between Microsoft and its MVPs.


• Amplifying the MVP Program: Off the back of this exposure, the MVP program in Greater China is gaining more support. Microsoft plans to increase the number of MVPs in strategic areas (e.g., AI, Data Science) by identifying and nominating top contributors who surfaced at the summit.