Do you know the relevant Microsoft certifications and associated exams?

Whether you're an expert or just getting started, working towards gaining a Microsoft certification is a worthwhile investment.

Microsoft provides numerous certifications and training options to help you:

• Learn new skills and fill technical knowledge gaps
• Prove your competence to clients, and improve your LinkedIn profile
• Boost your productivity
• Help your company with their Microsoft Partnership status

Figure: Microsoft Certification levels

Fundamentals

If you're just getting started, take a look at Fundamental exams, for example:

• Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900)
• Azure AI Fundamentals (AI-901)
• Power Platform Fundamentals (PL-900)

“I just passed AI-900 and it was EASY. I learned of the different AI services that Azure provides.” - Lewis Toh

Associate

Most people can skip the exams above, and jump into Associate certifications.

Some popular ones are:

• Azure AI Cloud Developer Associate (AI-200)
• Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer Associate (AI-103)
• Power Platform Developer Associate (PL-400)
• Power BI Data Analyst Associate (PL-300)
• Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104)
• Azure Network Engineer Associate (AZ-700)

“I just passed PL-300 and it was okay. I learned about RLS, deployment pipelines and incremental refresh.” - Kosta Madorsky

Expert

Once you have an associate certification or 2, prove your advanced skills by getting an Expert certification. Note these generally have prerequisites, for example AZ-305 requires AZ-104.

The main expert certifications are:

• Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305)
• DevOps Engineer Expert (AZ-400)
• Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect (AB-100)
• Cybersecurity Architect Expert (SC-100)

"I just passed AZ-400 and it was HARD. I learnt a lot about DevOps, especially, implementing CI/CD pipelines with Azure Pipelines and GitHub Actions and developing Infrastructure as code." - Vlad Kireyev

Specialty

Specialty exams focus on specific workloads or skills, including Cosmos DB, Virtual Desktops, and GitHub.

• Azure Cosmos DB Developer Specialty (DP-420)
• Azure Virtual Desktop Specialty (AZ-140)
• GitHub Administration (GH-100)
• Agentic AI Developer (GH-600)

All certifications

Check the Become Microsoft Certified poster to see all certifications and the related exams.

Figure: View the poster to see all certifications

Studying tips

Preparing for exams can involve a lot of work, but remember, you're not in school anymore! You've chosen to take this exam, and no one is forcing you. So just sit back and enjoy the journey - you should feel excited by the new skills you will soon learn.

Here are some quick tips to help you pass:

• Take practice tests, e.g. from Mindhub
• Pair up - studying with someone else is good as you can hold each other accountable, and it’s just more enjoyable!

✅ Figure: Good example - SSW developers studying together on Teams

• Attend SSW training - have a look at when the next SSW Azure Super Skills is being held in your city and book it in! These are great and offer a wealth of knowledge about the certification process and can make your time getting certified easier.

Good luck!

Retired exams

Microsoft retired a bunch of exams through mid-2026, replacing them with AI-focused exams instead.

See more in the Microsoft blog post.