Microsoft AI Certifications in 2026: The Map by Role and Family

Microsoft spent 2026 reorganizing its AI certifications around Copilot and agents. Several long-standing exams are retiring, a new AB family of AI and agent credentials has arrived, and the result is genuinely confusing if you are trying to pick a path. This is the current map: the live credentials worth aiming at, organized two ways, by the role you are heading toward and by the credential family, so you can find your route and skip the dead ends.

This guide stays forward-looking. Retiring and retired exams appear only as context, pointing you at the live successor, never as a target.

Cert facts trace to official Microsoft Learn credential pages, linked inline, and reflect the June 2026 check. New and beta exams are marked as such; verify status on the linked page before you book.

Start with your role

The fastest way to choose is to start from where you are headed. Each path below is a sequenced route from entry to advanced, built only from live credentials.

• Citizen developer / low-code AI builder. Business users who build with low-code tools and want to add AI. The route is PL-900, then AB-900, then AB-410. See the full low-code AI builder certification path.
• AI solution architect. Designing AI solutions across the Microsoft stack. The route is AI-901, then AI-103, then AB-100. See the full AI solution architect certification path.
• Power Platform architect keeping a plan current. If you already hold credentials and need to track the churn, see how a Power Platform architect keeps up with the changes.

There are also coding-heavy AI engineer and data-scientist tracks (built on AI-103, AI-300, and the GitHub and Fabric credentials below). They assume Python and SDK depth, so they sit outside the citizen-developer focus of this guide.

The certification families

Microsoft groups its AI-relevant credentials into a few families. Here are the live ones in each, with the level and any beta or new status flagged.

Power Platform

• PL-900 Power Platform Fundamentals (Fundamentals, live, no expiry). The doorway for almost everyone. Our free PL-900 training covers the outline.
• PL-400 Power Platform Developer (Associate, live). For makers who extend the platform with code.
• AB-410 Intelligent Applications Builder (Associate, beta). The low-code AI builder credential and the successor Microsoft points to as PL-200 retires (our AB-410 guide).

Copilot and agents (the AB family)

• AB-900 Copilot and Agent Administration Fundamentals (Fundamentals, live). The Copilot and agent governance and administration fundamentals, positioned where MS-900 left off (our AB-900 prep guide).
• AB-620 AI Agent Builder (Associate, beta). For building agents in Copilot Studio (our AB-620 guide).
• AB-730 AI Business Professional and AB-731 AI Transformation Leader (Beginner, live, no coding). Day-one AI literacy for business users and leaders.
• AB-100 Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect (Expert, current but new). The architect-tier credential, sitting behind a qualifying-Associate prerequisite; its recognition is still forming.

Azure AI core

• AI-901 Azure AI Fundamentals (Fundamentals, live, no expiry). The entry credential, now including generative AI; the exam behind it changed from AI-900 to AI-901 (our AI-901 guide).
• AI-103 Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer (Associate, new; recognition still forming). The successor to AI-102; expects Python app development.
• AI-300 Machine Learning Operations Engineer (Associate, new; recognition still forming). The successor to the retired DP-100, focused on MLOps and GenAIOps.

GitHub

• GH-300 GitHub Copilot (Intermediate, live). Responsible use, prompt engineering, and the enterprise governance of GitHub Copilot.
• GH-900 GitHub Foundations (Beginner, live). The Git and GitHub baseline.

Fabric and data

• DP-600 Fabric Analytics Engineer and DP-700 Fabric Data Engineer (Associate, live). The data-platform credentials that AI solutions sit on. Microsoft is offering free exam vouchers through Data Days 2026 (June 15 to August 7, 2026), which is the cheapest window to add one.

Applied Skills

Free, lab-based assessments that never expire and prove you can build, not just pass a quiz. Several are retiring in 2026, so the value is in a curated, still-earnable list rather than the whole catalog: see free Microsoft AI Applied Skills worth doing in 2026.

What is retiring, in brief

You do not need to study the retirement calendar to use this map; just know that if an old plan pointed you at one of these, here is where it points now. The full detail lives in our Power Platform certification path guide.

• AI-900 exam to AI-901 (the certification continues)
• AI-102 to AI-103
• DP-100 to AI-300
• PL-200 to AB-410
• PL-600 to AB-100 (a forward path, not a one-to-one swap)
• PL-500 has no one-to-one successor
• The Copilot Studio agents Applied Skill to AB-620

The rule for anything still earnable but dated: only start it if you can pass before its retirement date, otherwise pick the live successor.

How to choose, quickly

• New to all of this: start at PL-900 (or AI-901 if your work is more Azure than Power Platform). Both are free to study for and never expire.
• Business user adding AI to low-code work: PL-900, then AB-900, then AB-410.
• Building agents: AB-900, then AB-620.
• Designing AI solutions: AI-901, then AI-103, then AB-100.
• Already certified, tracking the churn: use the architect keep-up routine linked above.

How the levels and renewals work

Microsoft’s ladder has three rungs. Fundamentals (PL-900, AB-900, AI-901) establish literacy and do not expire. Associate credentials certify a working role and renew every 12 months through a free online assessment on Microsoft Learn. Expert credentials such as AB-100 sit at the top, usually behind a prerequisite, and also renew every 12 months. A passing score on any current exam is 700 out of 1000, scaled across the question set.

One honest note on the newest credentials: the AB family and the recently launched Azure AI Associates are real and current, but too new to carry proven difficulty or salary evidence. Treat any “how hard is it” or “what does it pay” claim about them as provisional, and ignore vendor “certification pays X percent more” figures entirely.

Train for the path

This map shows the route; the capability is what the credentials reward and what employers actually buy. Citizen Development Academy teaches the Power Platform, Copilot, and AI skills behind these credentials, built and delivered by Microsoft Certified Trainers. Explore the courses to build that foundation. Citizen Development Academy is a Microsoft Learning Partner; partner status governs the standards under which we deliver Microsoft training, and Microsoft does not endorse this article or any individual certification.

FAQ

Which Microsoft AI certification should I start with?

PL-900 if your work leans toward the Power Platform and low-code, or AI-901 if it leans toward Azure AI. Both are Fundamentals, both are free to study for through Microsoft Learn, and neither expires.

Are the new AB certifications worth taking?

The AB family is the forward direction for Copilot, agents, and low-code AI, so it is the right thing to aim at. Some (AB-410, AB-620) are still in beta, so treat their objectives as provisional and bank the stable Fundamentals first.

What replaced the exams that retired in 2026?

AI-901 for the AI-900 exam, AI-103 for AI-102, AI-300 for DP-100, AB-410 for PL-200, AB-620 for the Copilot Studio Applied Skill, and AB-100 as the forward architect path for PL-600. PL-500 has no one-to-one successor.

Do Microsoft certifications expire?

Fundamentals do not expire. Associate and Expert certifications renew every 12 months through a free online assessment on Microsoft Learn.