Feedback about MS-102 retirement

From another TC feed, but has to be said: 

I need to add something here because this isn’t just about people like me who have been doing this for decades. I genuinely feel for every single learner who is studying for MS 102 right now or planning to take it soon. Moving everyone over to AB 650, which is full of Copilot and AI content (slop), is not a realistic replacement for a proper expert level Microsoft 365 exam.

I literally work as a Microsoft 365 engineer in my company every darn day, and I have been MCSA and MCSE across three generations. Many of us in this community have lived through every certification cycle Microsoft has ever released and their acronym changes. And now we are watching Microsoft walk away from the serious old school foundational workloads, the ones that built Microsoft enterprise based in the first place, and instead push AI associate exams that do not cover the same responsibilities, I know because I test copilot, i can do this as fast or more efficient day in day out.

Microsoft is even giving voluntary redundancy packages right now to long serving staff as they move away from core foundational applications. Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, these are not legacy technologies and they need to stop being treated like that. They are still everywhere, still critical, and still require deep engineering expertise.

I also teach these exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive workloads part time because Microsoft created the gap and the demand is STILL for trainers to fill it. That alone shows how far Microsoft Learning has drifted well away from REALWORLD role based certification.

And I really feel for the learners right now. The product teams jamming Copilot and AI into every competency exam for validation are not just giving up on the past, they are giving up on future learners too. You are forcing people to rethink their entire learning path because Microsoft is abandoning the workloads that actually define the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.

This is not expanding your portfolio. This is removing the key portfolios entirely and replacing it with AI hype. Learners, engineers, admins and trainers are left without a credible role based path for their future, and that is the core issue many of us are calling out.