Microsoft certification paths: where to start with Azure, security, data and AI

By Alexander Shick · Updated November 5, 2026

Every Microsoft certification we cover

A fundamentals exam is never required before an associate exam. The two expert titles in the table need an associate certification as well as their own exam: AZ-305 needs AZ-104, and AZ-400 needs AZ-104 or the Azure Developer Associate. Since the developer route closed with AZ-204, a new AZ-400 candidate plans for both exams, $330 in fees.

Microsoft routes from three starting points

New to IT. Pick the fundamentals exam closest to the job you want and study the free Microsoft Learn path: AZ-900 for Azure, SC-900 for security, DP-900 for data. Choose AI-901 only if you can read simple Python, since more than half of it is building in Microsoft Foundry. Then, once you have hands-on work behind you (servers and networks for AZ-104, SOC duties for SC-200, Power BI reports for PL-300), move to the matching associate.

Already in IT support or administration. Skip the fundamentals tier. Server and network administrators go to AZ-104. People who run a Microsoft 365 tenant prepare for AB-650 on our MS-102 page, and identity administrators take SC-300. Report builders in Power BI or Excel take PL-300.

Experienced specialist. Architects hold AZ-104 and then sit AZ-305. Pipeline engineers add AZ-400 on top of AZ-104. Security engineers take SC-500 (our AZ-500 page); Microsoft's Cybersecurity Architect Expert then accepts SC-200, SC-300 or SC-500 as its prerequisite. Developers choose between AI-200 for back-end Azure work (AZ-204 page) and AI-103 for AI apps and agents (AI-102 page).

Microsoft retirements and replacements in 2026

A retired certification you already earned stays valid and on your transcript until its expiry date, but it cannot be renewed. Microsoft also refreshed several current outlines this year: PL-300 on April 20, AZ-305 on April 17 (a minor audience-profile change), AZ-900 on July 20, DP-900 on July 21, AZ-400 on July 27, SC-900 and SC-200 on October 21, and SC-300 on October 28, 2026. Ask any course seller which outline date its material follows.

Microsoft Learn and other free help

Every current exam on this page has free, self-paced training on Microsoft Learn, and Microsoft publishes free Practice Assessments for exams such as AZ-900, AZ-104, SC-900, SC-200, PL-300 and DP-900. Renewal assessments are free and open-book. Paid classes from ONLC, New Horizons, Global Knowledge and others teach the same official courses; on our pages a one-day fundamentals class adds $495 to $695, and a three- to five-day associate or expert class brings a first attempt to $1,960 to $3,140 with the exam. A failed attempt is paid again at the full fee, with a 24-hour wait before the second try and 14 days between later ones.

Microsoft exam questions, answered

Do I need AZ-900 before AZ-104?

No. No Microsoft fundamentals exam is a prerequisite.

Can I still take AZ-204, AZ-500, AI-102 or AI-900?

No. All four retired between June 30 and August 31, 2026. Their replacements are AI-200, SC-500, AI-103 and AI-901.

Should I still sit MS-102?

Only if you already hold a qualifying associate certification and can pass before November 30, 2026. Everyone else prepares for AB-650.

What does keeping a Microsoft certification cost?

Nothing in fees. Associate and expert certifications renew through a free online assessment each year; fundamentals never expire.

Next step

Ask which Microsoft exam fits your role

Class prices come from the named providers, as listed and dated on the certification pages linked above.