The AI job boom is here. Are you ready to showcase your skills?
AI isn’t just changing jobs descriptions, it’s redefining how work gets done across every industry, role, and skill level. From marketing to manufacturing, AI is reshaping workflows, speeding up decisions, and opening entirely new career paths. And the impact is massive. According to the World Economic Forum The Future of Jobs Report 2025, advances in AI and tech could create 78 million new jobs by 2030. “We’re in the middle of a once‑in‑a‑generation shift in how work gets done,” says Elisa Graceffo, General Manager of Global Skilling at Microsoft. “For over 30 years, Microsoft Certifications have set the benchmark for skills validation. We’re evolving them as fast as roles are changing so you can prove your skills for the future of work.” To keep pace with this shift, we’re launching a new wave of Certifications designed for AI‑powered roles, from entry level to advanced, from developers and data pros to business professionals. These new Certifications reflect the major industry drivers shaping today’s workplace, including the rise of generative AI and autonomous agents and the emergence of integrated cloud and AI systems. They also highlight how business professionals are evolving into orchestrators of AI‑powered workflows and innovation. And because AI is ultimately a force that amplifies human capability, these Certifications can help ensure that your skills stay relevant, practical, and aligned with the real‑world work of 2026 and beyond. What’s new in cloud, AI, and security Certifications The new Certification exams roll out in beta beginning this month, with additional releases following over the next few months and are expected to go live later this year. The Microsoft Certified: Machine Learning Operations Engineer Associate Certification is ideal for professionals who deploy, operationalize, and maintain machine learning and generative AI solutions in production to automate, govern, deploy, monitor, and optimize performance. Exam AI-300 beta and training available in March 2026; exam expected to go live in May 2026. The Microsoft Certified: Azure Databricks Data Engineer Associate Certification covers designing and implementing scalable, secure data pipelines by using Azure Databricks. It’s intended for data professionals who want to build real-time analytics and AI-ready data foundations in the cloud. Exam DP-750 beta and training available in March 2026; exam expected to go live in May 2026. The Microsoft Certified: SQL AI Developer Associate Certification validates your ability to integrate AI into modern database solutions with governance and DevOps practices. It’s designed for developers who want to build intelligent, AI-augmented database applications. Exam DP-800 beta and training available in March 2026; exam expected to go live in May 2026. The Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Fundamentals Certification explores how you can build modern AI apps and agents by using Microsoft Foundry. It’s ideal for beginners who want to build AI applications on Microsoft platforms. Exam AI-901 beta available in April 2026; training expected to be available in March 2026; exam expected to go live in June 2026. The Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer Associate Certification aligns with today’s generative and agentic architectures for planning and managing AI resources in Microsoft Foundry, building generative apps and multistep reasoning workflows, and developing production‑ready agents with multi‑agent orchestration capabilities. Exam AI-103 beta available in April 2026; training expected to be available in March 2026; exam expected to go live in June 2026. The Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Business Professional Certification validates your ability to recognize security risks, apply secure practices, and make informed business decisions that reduce organizational exposure while enabling productivity and AI adoption. Exam SC-730 beta available in May 2026; training expected to be available in May 2026; exam expected to go live in July 2026. The Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Cloud Developer Associate Certification is designed for developers who want to validate their ability to build, integrate, and monitor AI solutions on Azure by using containerized compute, vector-enabled databases, event-driven AI pipelines, serverless functions, secret management, and distributed observability. Exam AI-200 beta and training expected to be available in May 2026; exam expected to go live in July 2026. The Microsoft Certified: Cloud and AI Security Engineer Associate Certification expands the security role to include cloud and AI model protection. Prove that you can design and implement secure environments for building and running AI solutions by using current security patterns and controls in enterprise deployments. Exam SC-500 beta available in May 2026; training and exam expected to be available in July 2026. The Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Administrator Associate Certification combines previous hybrid infrastructure tracks to validate skills across Azure and on-premises environments. Exam AZ-802 beta available in July 2026; training and exam expected to be available in August 2026. Retiring Certifications: What you need to know As we introduce new Certifications aligned to evolving AI roles, we’re also retiring several existing ones. The following table itemizes what’s changing and provides key dates for Certification and training retirements in 2026. If your Certification is eligible for renewal, please renew it before the retirement date. Retiring Microsoft Certification Certification retirement date Training retirement date* Replacement Certification Azure Data Scientist Associate (Exam DP-100) June 1, 2026 April 2026 Machine Learning Operations Engineer Associate (Exam AI-300) Azure AI Fundamentals (Exam AI-900) June 30, 2026 April 2026 Azure AI Fundamentals (Exam AI-901) Azure AI Engineer Associate (Exam AI-102) June 30, 2026 April 2026 Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer Associate (Exam AI-103) Azure Developer Associate (Exam AZ-204) July 31, 2026 May 2026 Azure AI Cloud Developer Associate (Exam AI-200) Azure Security Engineer Associate (Exam AZ-500) August 31, 2026 August 2026 Cloud and AI Security Engineer Associate (Exam SC-500) Windows Server Hybrid Administrator (Exam AZ-800 and Exam AZ-801) September 2026* September 2026 Windows Server Administrator Associate (Exam AZ-802) * Planned dates Navigating the transition: FAQs The following questions and answers can help you determine how these retirements and expanded portfolio could impact your learning journey: Q. I’ve already earned one of the retiring Certifications. What happens now? A. If you’ve already earned any of the retiring Certifications, your credential remains valid and, on your transcript, until it expires. Retirement does not revoke or invalidate Certifications that were earned. Q. Can I still renew a soon-to-retire Certification? A. Yes, as long as it’s eligible for renewal and you renew it before the Certification officially retires. Fundamentals Certifications don’t expire. Q. I’m preparing for an exam that’s retiring. What should I do? If you’re actively preparing for an exam that’s retiring: If you’ve already registered for the exam, you may continue preparing for it and take it while it’s still available. Keep in mind that after the exam retires, you won’t be able to retake it if you don’t pass, and you won’t be able to renew it. If you haven’t registered for the exam, we strongly recommend that you prepare for and take the new exam instead, as noted in the following table. If you’re not close to testing for this exam Prepare for and take this exam instead Learning path and instructor-led training expected to be available in Exam DP-100 Exam AI-300 March 2026 Exam AI-900 Exam AI-901 March 2026 Exam AI-102 Exam AI-103 March 2026 Exam AZ-204 Exam AI-200 May 2026 Exam AZ-500 Exam SC-500 July 2026 Exam AZ-800 and Exam AZ-801 Exam AZ-802 August 2026 Take the next step: Build your AI-ready skill set Technology is changing fast, and AI is accelerating that change. Our Certifications are built to help you and your organization stay ahead with job‑ready skills. Earning one isn’t just a milestone, it’s a signal that you’re ready to grow with the future of work. We’ll share updates for each new Certification, including beta exams and go live dates, on The Skills Hub Blog. Stay tuned for an announcement of new Certifications focused on AI business solutions in the coming month. Explore more Microsoft Credentials on AI Skills Navigator.
New Microsoft Certified: Intelligent Applications Builder Associate Certification
Design the next generation of AI‑powered business applications. Show you can combine apps, agents, automation, and Copilot into intelligent solutions in Microsoft Power Platform, with Exam AB‑410 (beta). The way business solutions are built is changing fast. Today, it’s not enough to create an app or automate a task in isolation; builders need to bring together apps, agents, automation, data, and AI experiences into solutions that can adapt to real business needs. That’s why we’re introducing the Microsoft Certified: Intelligent Applications Builder Associate Certification, designed for professionals who are ready to use Microsoft Power Platform, Copilot, and natural language to build the next generation of intelligent business applications. To earn this new Microsoft Certification, you need to pass Exam AB-410: Building Intelligent Applications, currently in beta. Is this the right Certification for you? This Certification validates the skills of intelligent app builders who can confidently navigate the evolving AI and agent ecosystem, including how to: Create a foundation for intelligent applications. Create intelligent applications. Build business application logic and automation. Candidates for this Certification: Build AI-powered solutions in Microsoft Power Platform by using Copilot, natural language prompts, and low-code tools. Create apps, data models, and flows that connect agents, AI models and prompts, and visualizations. Develop Dataverse data models and model-driven and canvas apps. Integrate agents and Copilot features across apps and Power Pages. Build cloud flows and business logic. They partner with admins on security, identity, roles, and policies; governance teams on responsible AI, ALM, solutions and pipelines, and monitoring; builders and architects on solution design; and stakeholders on requirements, iteration, and adoption. For this exam, candidates should have experience with Dataverse modeling, Power Automate cloud flows, Power Apps development, AI capabilities in Microsoft Power Platform, building solution assets with natural language, and Power Pages. Before taking Exam AB-410, candidates should have: Familiarity with Copilot in Power Apps, Copilot in Power Automate, Copilot in Power Pages, and Copilot in Dataverse. Awareness of creating agents with Microsoft Copilot Studio. Foundational knowledge of AI models and prompts in AI Hub. Ability to map business processes to flows, agents, or app capabilities. Ability to work with Dataverse as a core data platform. Familiarity with low-code automation, including Power Fx. Awareness of environment governance, roles, policies, and solution lifecycle steps. Ready to prove your skills? Take advantage of the discounted beta exam offer. The first 300 people who take Exam AB-410 (beta) on or before June 17, 2026, can get 80% off. To receive the discount, when you register for the exam and are prompted for payment, use AB410KBMaui. This is not a private access code. The seats are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. As noted, you must take the exam on or before June 17, 2026. Please note that this discount is not available in Turkey, Pakistan, India, or China. How to prepare Review the Exam AB-410 (beta) page for training resources, exam registration and other details. The Exam AB-410 study guide explores key topics covered in the exam. Connect with Microsoft Training Services Partners in your area for in-person offerings. Need other preparation ideas? Check out Just How Does One Prepare for Beta Exams? Ready to get started? You can take Certification exams online, from your home or office. Get the details in Online proctored exams: What to expect and how to prepare. Remember, the number of spots is limited to the first 300 candidates on or before June 17, 2026. Beta exam rescoring begins when the exam goes live, with final results released approximately 10 days later. For more details, read Creating high-quality exams: The path from beta to live. Stay tuned for general availability of this Certification in July 2026. Additional information For more AI business solution Certification updates, read our recent blog post, The AI job boom continues: Build the skills that move business forward. Follow our Microsoft Credentials news on The Skills Hub Blog as we roll out additional new Certifications in June and July 2026. Join our Microsoft Worldwide Learning SME Group for Credentials on LinkedIn for beta exam alerts and opportunities to help shape future Microsoft learning and assessments. If you’d like to learn more about Microsoft Credentials, go to AI Skills Navigator.New Microsoft Certified: Dynamics 365 Contact Center AI Engineer Associate Certification
Deliver always‑on customer service at scale. Prove your ability to design and run modern contact center solutions in Dynamics 365 that combine agents and human expertise, with Exam AB‑250 (beta). Customer expectations now demand fast, continuous service across every channel. Meeting that expectation requires contact center solutions that combine human expertise with intelligent automation, while staying scalable, secure, and well governed. This shift is creating new opportunities for professionals who can translate business and service requirements into modern contact center solutions that work across voice and digital channels. To support this evolution, we’re introducing the Microsoft Certified: Dynamics 365 Contact Center AI Engineer Associate Certification. It validates your ability to design, implement, and operate contact center as a service (CCaaS) solutions using Dynamics 365 Contact Center and service‑oriented autonomous agents. To earn this new Microsoft Certification, you need to pass Exam AB-250: Transforming Contact Center Experiences with AI in Dynamics 365, currently in beta. Is this the right Certification for you? This Certification validates the skills to use AI, Microsoft Copilot, and agents to deliver scalable, always-on service across voice and digital channels. It assesses a candidate’s ability to: Deploy Dynamics 365 Contact Center Implement channels Configure agents and AI Configure work distribution Configure the representative experience Manage Contact Center analytics Candidates collaborate with customer service leaders, contact center managers, IT teams, and legal and compliance stakeholders to ensure solutions align with operational goals, policies, and responsible AI principles, including security, data protection, transparency, and accountability. They should have experience with Microsoft Power Platform and Microsoft Teams and know how to use automation, integrations, and AI to optimize service workflows. They should also be able to translate business and service requirements into scalable, well-governed contact center solutions where human representatives and autonomous agents work together securely and compliantly. Candidates for Exam AB-250 should: Have experience implementing or planning CCaaS solutions. Understand how voice, social, and digital channels are orchestrated in a contact center. Know key contact center roles, including representatives, supervisors, and administrators. Have a basic understanding of agents, AI self-service, and AI-assisted experiences. Ready to prove your skills? Take advantage of the discounted beta exam offer. The first 300 people who take Exam AB-250 (beta) on or before June 18, 2026, can get 80% off. To receive the discount, when you register for the exam and are prompted for payment, use AB250LMHiking. This is not a private access code. The seats are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. As noted, you must take the exam on or before June 18, 2026. Please note that this discount is not available in Turkey, Pakistan, India, or China. How to prepare Review the Exam AB-250 (beta) page for exam registration and other details. The Exam AB-250 study guide explores key topics covered in the exam. Connect with Microsoft Training Services Partners in your area for in-person offerings. Need other preparation ideas? Check out Just How Does One Prepare for Beta Exams? Ready to get started? You can take Certification exams online, from your home or office. Get the details in Online proctored exams: What to expect and how to prepare. Remember, the number of spots is limited to the first 300 candidates on or before June 18, 2026. Beta exam rescoring begins when the exam goes live, with final results released approximately 10 days later. For more details, read Creating high-quality exams: The path from beta to live. Stay tuned for general availability of this Certification in July 2026. Additional information For more AI business solution Certification updates, read our recent blog post, The AI job boom continues: Build the skills that move business forward. Follow our Microsoft Credentials news on The Skills Hub Blog as we roll out additional new Certifications in June and July 2026. Join our Microsoft Worldwide Learning SME Group for Credentials on LinkedIn for beta exam alerts and opportunities to help shape future Microsoft learning and assessments. If you’d like to learn more about Microsoft Credentials, go to AI Skills Navigator.
Request for Hard-Copy Verification of Microsoft Certificates in Vietnam
Dear Microsoft Certification Support Team, I am writing to request assistance with the verification of my Microsoft certificates earned through Microsoft Learn and administered by Pearson VUE. My local government in Vietnam does not accept the online version of these certificates and requires hard-copy documentation issued by an authorized organization in Vietnam. Unfortunately, Pearson VUE has informed me they cannot provide this support. I would like to know: How I can obtain government-recognized hard-copy certificates for my existing Microsoft credentials. Whether Microsoft Vietnam or an authorized partner can issue such documentation without requiring me to re-enroll as a student. I appreciate your guidance on the next steps to ensure my certificates are properly recognized. Thank you for your support. Note: I have my personal account, not business so the link https://aka.ms/Credentials-Support not working
Question about Microsoft IT specialist certification, in relation to Coursera.
Please, bear with me, as it took me 3 hours just to get navigated here for help. I am taking IT courses with Coursera. I am not an IT professional...I am trying to change my career and my life. I was taking Googles IT Support Specialist course, but after 4 days of classes, I came across a major roadblock: Outdated information on their QwikLabs setup. The course was at least a year behind, the Demo on how to use Qwiklabs was seriously outdated, and Google has changed Qwiklabs into a "Pay to Create" gimmick that really doesn't work for anyone that is a Student, imo. $25+ to create a project, per project, and then 3 cents an hour while its running, can build up really fast. It was also changes and charges that Coursera was unaware of. So, how does this relate? I want to switch over to Microsoft IT Support courses and certification, but i want to make sure that its up to date, and that i won't run into another "out of the course" pay wall structure, because i really don't have that kind of money to throw around like that. It may not seem like a major deal to alot of people, but I am maintaining two households, on two continents, off one paycheck, and Im a kitchen employee...so Im sure alot of people can relate to how this is suddenly an issue. Can anyone verify how up-to-date that course is, from Microsoft, on Coursera? Im trying to change my life, and its already upsetting finding i wasted a weeks worth of effort.
MD-102 Practice Test Does Not Prepare You for the Actual Exam + Poor Support Links
The following was edited by Copilot but is actually my own personal experience and I have read through it and found it accurate to what I wrote for it to edit to a better format: I’m posting this here because I was unable to successfully submit this feedback through the official Microsoft Credentials support channels (links either redirected to Azure support or returned a 404 error). I recently prepared for the MD-102 Endpoint Administrator certification using the official Microsoft Learn modules and the associated Practice Assessment. Based on my performance with those materials, I felt reasonably prepared going into the exam. However, the actual exam experience was significantly different from the Practice Assessment. Issue The Microsoft Learn Practice Assessment primarily uses straightforward, single-concept multiple-choice questions. In contrast, the actual MD-102 exam includes: Multi-step, scenario-based questions Questions requiring evaluation of multiple valid solutions “Best answer” decisions involving trade-offs (not just correctness) These are fundamentally different question styles and require different types of preparation. Impact This mismatch creates a false sense of readiness. Candidates who rely on official Microsoft Learn materials—including the Practice Assessment—may believe they are adequately prepared, but encounter a much more complex and different exam experience. In my case, this gap was a major factor in not passing the exam despite completing the recommended preparation resources. Additional Concern I attempted to submit this feedback through the official Microsoft Credentials support links, but encountered issues: Redirects to Azure “Support for Business” instead of certification support (https://learn.microsoft.com/credentials/support/help) Credentials support page returning a 404 error (https://learn.microsoft.com/credentials/support/) No visible feedback mechanism on the Practice Assessment page itself (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/modern-desktop/practice/assessment) This makes it difficult to report issues with certification preparation materials through the intended channels. Suggestions To improve the effectiveness of Microsoft Learn as an exam preparation tool: Clearly indicate that Practice Assessments are not representative of actual exam format or difficulty AND Update Practice Assessments to include: Scenario-based questions Multi-step decision questions “Best solution” style problems Provide a full-length mock exam that more closely reflects the real exam experience Add a visible feedback option directly on Practice Assessment pages Fix routing issues with Credentials support links I’m sharing this because I suspect others may run into the same issue when relying on official preparation materials.
Questions on Partner Onboarding, PL-300 Training Workflow, Vouchers, and Certification Status
Hello, We are a new Microsoft Partner and we are about to deliver our very first training courses preparing for the PL-300 certification. To ensure our training session data is properly tracked and recorded by Microsoft, could you confirm if our planned workflow is complete? Here is our current process: Our MCT (Microsoft Certified Trainer) delivers the training to the learners, using the official Microsoft course material. At the end of the course, we send the course completion validation link to all learners (to help compute performance KPIs). We send the satisfaction survey via Metrics That Matter (MTM) (the link is sent to both the learners and the MCT). We issue exam vouchers to the learners. Specific Questions: Microsoft states that we must use the official Microsoft Learn content, which is freely accessible. Are we allowed to supplement this official material with our own custom training content and exercises for our learners? How does the voucher assignment process work on Pearson VUE? What specific information do we need to provide so that learners receive and can redeem them properly? We would like to offer our learners the option to finance this training through France's CPF (Compte Personnel de Formation). However, the certification file on France Compétences appears as inactive (RS5445). Is a renewal or re-registration planned for the French market? Can we publicly communicate our Microsoft Partnership (as a Training Services Partner) even if we have not yet reached the required KPIs listed in our Partner Center dashboard? Thank you in advance for your guidance and insights! Best regards,New Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Cloud Developer Associate Certification
Today’s AI workloads rely on developers who can integrate services and support resilient architectures. Show your readiness to design and run AI solutions on Azure, with new Exam AI-200 (beta). AI is rewriting how cloud applications are designed and delivered, opening new opportunities for developers who design scalable, secure cloud solutions on Azure. As AI adoption grows, expertise in containers, data services, event-driven architectures, and operational monitoring is the foundation for reliable AI solutions. To support this shift, we’re introducing the new Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Cloud Developer Associate Certification to help you validate your knowledge of building, integrating, and monitoring AI solutions on Azure by using containerized compute, vector-enabled databases, event-driven AI pipelines, serverless functions, secret management, and distributed observability. To earn this new Microsoft Certification, you need to pass Exam AI-200: Developing AI Cloud Solutions on Azure, currently in beta. Is this the right Certification for you? This Certification demonstrates your ability to: Develop containerized solutions on Azure. Develop AI solutions by using Azure data management services. Connect to and consume Azure services. Secure, monitor, and troubleshoot Azure solutions. As a candidate for this Certification, you’re responsible for contributing to all phases of implementing AI solutions on Azure, with an emphasis on back-end services and components. You’re also responsible for supporting all phases of the development lifecycle, including requirements gathering, design, development, deployment, security, and monitoring. You should be proficient in: Azure SDKs and third-party SDKs used in Azure. Azure data management services. Azure monitoring and troubleshooting. Azure messaging and eventing. Vector databases. Python programming. Implementing containerized applications on Azure. Exam AI-200 assesses skills relating to building and operating AI solutions on Azure. It moves beyond traditional web-app patterns to highlight practical skills in the services and architectures that power production AI systems. The exam focuses on deploying and scaling containerized AI workloads and on integrating back-end services to handle messaging and events. As a candidate for this Certification, you’re evaluated on your knowledge of building serverless inference endpoints, orchestrating asynchronous AI processing workflows, implementing semantic retrieval with vector databases, and monitoring the health and performance of AI solutions that deliver real business value at scale. Ready to prove your skills? Take advantage of the discounted beta exam offer. The first 300 people who take Exam AI-200 (beta) on or before May 27, 2026, can get 80% off. To receive the discount, when you register for the exam and are prompted for payment, use AI200Piedmont. This is not a private access code. The seats are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. As noted, you must take the exam on or before May 27, 2026. Please note that this discount is not available in Turkey, Pakistan, India, or China. How to prepare Review the Exam AI-200 (beta) page for training resources, exam registration, and other details. The Exam AI-200 study guide explores key topics covered in the exam. Connect with Microsoft Training Services Partners in your area for in-person offerings. Need other preparation ideas? Check out Just How Does One Prepare for Beta Exams? Ready to get started? You can take Certification exams online, from your home or office. Get the details in Online proctored exams: What to expect and how to prepare. Remember, the number of spots is limited to the first 300 candidates on or before May 27, 2026. Beta exam rescoring begins when the exam goes live, with final results released approximately 10 days later. For more details, read Creating high-quality exams: The path from beta to live. Stay tuned for general availability of this Certification in July 2026. Additional information For more cloud and AI Certification updates, read our recent blog post, The AI job boom is here. Are you ready to showcase your skills? Follow our credentials news on The Skills Hub Blog as we roll out additional new Certifications in May, June, and July 2026. Join our Microsoft Worldwide Learning SME Group for Credentials on LinkedIn for beta exam alerts and opportunities to help shape future Microsoft learning and assessments. If you’d like to learn more about Microsoft Credentials, visit AI Skills Navigator.
