diff --git a/.mergify.yml b/.mergify.yml
index 9632001295..e399cc1d0b 100644
--- a/.mergify.yml
+++ b/.mergify.yml
@@ -352,3 +352,16 @@ pull_request_rules:
         labels:
           - "backport"
         title: "[{{ destination_branch }}](backport #{{ number }}) {{ title }}"
+  - name: backport patches to 8.15 branch
+    conditions:
+      - merged
+      - label=backport-v8.15.999
+    actions:
+      backport:
+        assignees:
+          - "{{ author }}"
+        branches:
+          - "8.15"
+        labels:
+          - "backport"
+        title: "[{{ destination_branch }}](backport #{{ number }}) {{ title }}"
diff --git a/deploy/azure/ARM-for-organization-account.dev.json b/deploy/azure/ARM-for-organization-account.dev.json
index 1621e11b7b..e108bab3c4 100644
--- a/deploy/azure/ARM-for-organization-account.dev.json
+++ b/deploy/azure/ARM-for-organization-account.dev.json
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
             "metadata": {
                 "description": "The version of elastic-agent to install"
             },
-            "defaultValue": "9.0.0"
+            "defaultValue": "8.16.999"
         },
         "FleetUrl": {
             "type": "string",
diff --git a/deploy/azure/ARM-for-organization-account.json b/deploy/azure/ARM-for-organization-account.json
index 08942e3b32..bf50bed3d1 100644
--- a/deploy/azure/ARM-for-organization-account.json
+++ b/deploy/azure/ARM-for-organization-account.json
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
             "metadata": {
                 "description": "The version of elastic-agent to install"
             },
-            "defaultValue": "9.0.0"
+            "defaultValue": "8.16.999"
         },
         "FleetUrl": {
             "type": "string",
diff --git a/deploy/azure/ARM-for-single-account.dev.json b/deploy/azure/ARM-for-single-account.dev.json
index a8e98b16fe..cd3685b144 100644
--- a/deploy/azure/ARM-for-single-account.dev.json
+++ b/deploy/azure/ARM-for-single-account.dev.json
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
             "metadata": {
                 "description": "The version of elastic-agent to install"
             },
-            "defaultValue": "9.0.0"
+            "defaultValue": "8.16.999"
         },
         "FleetUrl": {
             "type": "string",
diff --git a/deploy/azure/ARM-for-single-account.json b/deploy/azure/ARM-for-single-account.json
index 68564ce5c9..c87aea08a2 100644
--- a/deploy/azure/ARM-for-single-account.json
+++ b/deploy/azure/ARM-for-single-account.json
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
             "metadata": {
                 "description": "The version of elastic-agent to install"
             },
-            "defaultValue": "9.0.0"
+            "defaultValue": "8.16.999"
         },
         "FleetUrl": {
             "type": "string",
diff --git a/version/version.go b/version/version.go
index dd408dd40b..c29fdde56d 100644
--- a/version/version.go
+++ b/version/version.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 package version
 
 // name matches github.com/elastic/beats/v7/dev-tools/mage/settings.go parseBeatVersion
-const defaultBeatVersion = "8.15.999"
+const defaultBeatVersion = "8.16.999"
 
 // Version represents version information for a package
 type Version struct {