LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 5, 2025--
Reply, [EXM, STAR: REY] thanks to the expertise of WM Reply and Valorem Reply, has been promoted to the Prioritised Tier of the Copilot Jumpstart Partner Program, the highest level of Microsoft recognition for Copilot-related expertise. This recognition reflects the ability of Reply’s Microsoft-focused companies in driving the group’s Copilot practice and delivering cutting-edge solutions based on Microsoft’s latest AI technologies.
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Reply is a key partner within the Microsoft ecosystem, with proven expertise across Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and the Power Platform. As a Prioritised Tier Partner, WM Reply and Valorem Reply are now positioned to deliver even greater value to clients through a validated Copilot offering. This includes enhanced support, early access to new Microsoft innovations, and tailored solutions that address specific business needs, while deepening the collaboration with Microsoft.
Reply has already begun implementing Copilot projects across various sectors, including strategic initiatives with clients, including Valorem Reply playing a key role in the successful deployment of Microsoft Copilot solutions for Lumen Technologies, a leading telecommunications provider in the United States, and WM Reply in the UK delivering Vodafone's rollout of Copilot to over 68,000 users. Leveraging their deep expertise in AI and cloud technologies, Reply supports organisations integrating Copilot to enhance operational efficiency and accelerate digital transformation.
In support of broader Copilot adoption, the Reply’s company also created the Copilot AI-scape Room, a gamified learning experience designed to accelerate internal understanding and uptake of Microsoft Copilot within organisations. The latest edition, titled “ App to the Future ”, is an interactive, time-travel adventure where players use Microsoft Copilot and Azure AI to solve puzzles, uncover clues, and rescue missing agents scattered throughout history—ultimately restoring the timeline to complete their mission. Developed by WM Reply and Valorem Reply, the experience is available at the Reply offices in Seattle, Milan, and London.
“Achieving Prioritised Tier Partner status demonstrates our commitment to innovation and excellence in delivering AI-powered solutions. We are honoured to be among the first partners to attain this level of recognition from Microsoft and look forward to continuing to provide cutting-edge Copilot solutions to our clients,” commented Filippo Rizzante, CTO of Reply.
With this recognition, Reply and its Microsoft-focused companies – WM Reply and Valorem Reply – further strengthen their role as a key partner for Microsoft, supporting the adoption of artificial intelligence in a concrete and responsible way, through technologies and solutions designed to deliver immediate value for their clients.
Reply
Reply [EXM, STAR: REY, ISIN: IT0005282865] specialises in the design and implementation of solutions based on new communication channels and digital media. Reply is a network of highly specialised companies supporting major industrial groups operating in telecom, media, industry, services, banking, insurance, and public administration sectors in defining and developing business models enabled by big data, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, digital media and the Internet of Things. www.reply.com
This achievement further strengthens Reply and its Microsoft-focused companies; WM Reply and Valorem Reply, as strategic partners within the Microsoft ecosystem, highlighting their leadership in integrating human creativity with artificial intelligence to drive business transformation.
OBBUERGEN, Switzerland (AP) — Vice President JD Vance on Monday said his lengthy talks with senior Iranian officials in Switzerland created a “good foundation for a successful final deal” as they seek a permanent end to the war that the U.S. and Israel began in late February.
Vance and U.S. officials claimed progress on multiple fronts, including the establishment of “mechanisms” to ensure the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global energy shipments, stays open and to address fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon, where a ceasefire appeared to be holding.
The vice president departed Switzerland as technical teams were still in place negotiating. He stressed that the key for President Donald Trump would be Iran's actions rather than its words.
“My point is that I trust actions, and what the president has asked us to do is verify what they’re doing, focus less on what they’re saying,” Vance said.
Iran effectively closed the strait after the U.S. and Israel attacked on Feb. 28, causing fuel prices to skyrocket far beyond the region. The interim agreement to end the war was supposed to reopen the channel. Dozens of ships passed through it over the weekend, even though the main route is still mined and closed.
Shortly after those attacks, Hezbollah and Israel also went to war, with Hezbollah firing rockets and drones at civilian communities in northern Israel and Israel seizing large swaths of southern Lebanon. Iran has insisted that addressing the fighting in Lebanon is a critical component of any deal to end the wider conflict.
Iran noted “major progress” to end the fighting in Lebanon and called that the first real test of the negotiations.
In other developments, the U.S. Treasury issued a 60-day license waiving sanctions on Iranian oil as part of the interim agreement. Notably, the license allows Iranian oil to be imported into the U.S., which has not imported significant amounts of Iranian oil since the 1990s.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent cited the “ongoing productive talks in Switzerland” in a post on X announcing the license, which will last through Aug. 21.
Also on Monday, the State Department announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would travel this week to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain to discuss the latest developments in Iran.
The mediation effort in Switzerland started Sunday and stretched into early Monday.
“We haven’t built the house, but we’ve laid a successful foundation to get to a good place for the American people,” Vance told reporters after initial talks with Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf.
President Donald Trump did not attend what was dubbed the “Lake Lucerne Summit,” but his presence certainly loomed large. The talks were jolted by statements from Trump, who, from thousands of miles away, fired off comments that offended the Iranians.
Iranian state media said talks had paused after the “publication of an insulting message by the U.S. President.” The negotiations later continued.
Vance pushed back against the notion that Trump's threats complicated the talks.
“No, they didn’t throw a wrench in the system," Vance said. He added, "Yes, they did threaten to walk out, or at least there were social media threats that they would walk out. But we were negotiating well past one in the morning yesterday, so they didn’t walk out.”
The vice president suggested that the U.S. could agree to unfreeze Iranian assets for purchases of U.S. soy, corn and wheat. He said Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and one of the lead U.S. negotiators, came up with the idea with officials from Qatar.
Vance said Qatar would have approval over the process, and Iranian money that would be accessible as sanctions were lifted would buy American products "for the benefit of the Iranian people.”
Iran, which has pressed for the unfreezing of billions of dollars in assets, has not commented on the idea. The assets have been frozen over years of sanctions, banking restrictions and legal disputes imposed by the U.S. and international community on the Islamic Republic.
In a joint statement, mediators Pakistan and Qatar hailed what they called “encouraging progress.”
The interim deal to end the fighting in Iran, signed last week by the leaders of the U.S. and Iran, sets a 60-day period for negotiations on key issues, including the future of Tehran’s nuclear program amid concerns that Iran wants to use it for military purposes, a claim the country denies.
Vance said the technical talks, which were to continue this week, were critical.
“We wanted to set up a structure for that so that you could have proper political oversight, but obviously, as much as this place is very beautiful, I can’t stay here for the next 60 days,” Vance told reporters.
U.S. envoys Kushner and Steve Witkoff are handling many of the technical details.
Meanwhile, more ships went through the Strait of Hormuz. According to data and analytics firm Kpler, there were 71 confirmed transits over the weekend, with a peak of 35 crossings on Saturday. Before the war, 100 to 130 vessels passed through the strait each day.
Ships have been avoiding the central route to steer clear of mines, choosing instead to use the smaller northern route, which goes through Iranian waters, and the southern route, which goes through Omani waters. In the markets, U.S. oil prices dropped more than 2% in Monday afternoon trading to $74.66 a barrel.
Trump, over the weekend, made clear he was annoyed by Iran’s public commentary on the strait, which Iran’s military said it closed Saturday in response to continued fighting in Lebanon. U.S. Central Command disputed that Iran closed the strait again.
Ahead of the talks, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had vowed to “never back down from the right to enrich uranium,” according to state media.
Trump on Sunday told Fox News in a phone interview that Pezeshkian should watch what he says and threatened to take over Iran, according to one of the news channel's correspondents.
Trump also posted on social media as negotiators worked: “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!”
Vance said the Iranians should have expected such a reaction from Trump.
“What we told the Iranians yesterday is when you guys engage in what us millennials might call trash talk, you can’t expect the president of the United States not to respond and not to correct the record,” Vance said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X that mediators delivered "major progress to end the Lebanon War.” But he said the first “real test” of negotiations would be whether the mechanism succeeds in halting the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Neither Israel nor Hezbollah is a signatory to the U.S.-Iran deal.
But as of Monday evening in the Middle East, the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah appeared to be holding.
“We have not detected trajectories from either side since yesterday,” said Tilak Pokharel, a spokesperson for the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon known as UNIFIL.
Airspace violations and Israeli military movements continued, Pokharel said.
Hezbollah has not announced any attacks on Israeli forces since Saturday.
The lull in fighting in Lebanon is the longest since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began on March 2.
Kim and Boak reported from Washington. Associated Press reporters Abby Sewell in Beirut, David Rising in Bangkok, Fatima Hussein in Washington, Mae Anderson in New York, Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this story.
A woman collects her kids toys and belongings from her destroyed house following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in the village of Maifadoun, southern Lebanon, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
A man flashes the victory sign through the shattered window of a damaged apartment following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in the town of Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
People check destroyed cars following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in the village of Maifadoun, southern Lebanon, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Vice President JD Vance walks after speaking to members of the media following high-level talks between the U.S. and Iran at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance speaks to members of the media after the U.S. and Iran held high-level talks at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance speaks to members of the media after the U.S. and Iran held high-level talks at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance speaks to members of the media after the U.S. and Iran held high-level talks at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
From left, US Vice-President JD Vance, Prime Minister of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif and Premier minister of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, at the Buergenstock resort resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler, Pool Photo via AP)
US Vice President JD Vance prior to a quadrilateral meeting between the United States, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar at the Burgenstock luxury hotel complex overlooking Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, Sunday June 21, 2026. (Fabrice Coffrini/Keystone via AP)
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, 3rd from right, and Speaker of the Islamic Parliament of Iran, Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, 2nd from right, with the Delegation of Iran at the Lake Lucerne Summit at the Buergenstock resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler, Pool Photo via AP)
