Microsoft

Microsoft organizes its certifications into three tiers on Microsoft Learn. Fundamentals certs (the 900-series: AZ-900 Azure, MS-900 Microsoft 365, SC-900 Security, PL-900 Power Platform, DP-900 Data, AI-900 Azure AI) cost 99 dollars in the US and validate baseline knowledge. Role-based certs at Associate and Expert level (AZ-104 Azure Administrator, AI-102 Azure AI Engineer, SC-200 Security Operations Analyst, PL-300 Power BI Data Analyst, AZ-305 and SC-100 at Expert) cost 165 dollars. A small Specialty tier covers niches like Azure for SAP Workloads (AZ-120) and Cosmos DB (DP-420). The headline change in 2026 is the AB-series, a new family of AI business credentials spanning AB-900 Copilot and Agent Administration Fundamentals through the expert-level AB-100 Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect.

Renewal rules should shape which cert you pick. Fundamentals certifications never expire, so a 99 dollar AZ-900 or SC-900 is a one-time cost. Role-based and specialty certifications expire after one year, but renewal is free: Microsoft offers an online, unproctored renewal assessment on Microsoft Learn that you can take starting six months before expiry. The typical progression runs 900-series first, then an Associate cert aligned to your role (AZ-104 for admins, AI-102 for AI engineers, SC-200 for SOC analysts, PL-300 for data analysts), then Expert exams like AZ-305, AZ-400, or SC-100 that assume associate-level knowledge.

CertCompanion carries 63 Microsoft practice banks covering every current track: Azure fundamentals and role-based (AZ-900 through AZ-800/801), the full SC security line (SC-900, SC-200, SC-300, SC-401, SC-100), Microsoft 365 (MS-900, MS-102, MS-700), Power Platform (PL-900 through PL-600), data and Fabric (DP-900, DP-600, DP-700, DP-300), Dynamics 365 (MB-series), and the new AB-series including AB-900, AB-730, AB-731, and AB-100. Every exam page starts with 30 free questions, so you can gauge difficulty before committing to a full bank.

If you work with Copilot or AI agents, the 2026 AB-series is worth a close look now, while the candidate pool is small. AB-900 is a 45-minute fundamentals exam on administering Copilot and agents in Microsoft 365, AB-730 (AI Business Professional) and AB-731 (AI Transformation Leader) target business roles, and AB-100 certifies architects designing multi-agent solutions. We also carry the newer AI-track exams AI-200, AI-300 (MLOps), and AI-901 alongside the established AI-900 and AI-102.