The scope of AI fundamentals at Microsoft is changing. I recently took the AI-901: Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals beta exam, and if you already took AI-900 exam (Retiring on June 30, 2026) you'll be surprised.
This isn't just a quick introduction to AI on Azure anymore. In this fundamental shift, Microsoft expects us to understand the AI stack in 2026.
1. From Definition to Deployment
The previous fundamental exam focused on identifying types of ML (Regression vs. Classification), the AI-901 is much more interested in how you build and consume AI models.
Microsoft Foundry: This is the new focus. You need to understand how to deploy models, manage prompts, and monitor performance (latency and token usage) within the Foundry ecosystem.
Agentic AI: This isn't just about chatbots anymore. The exam dives into designing multi-step reasoning workflows and managing AI agents.
2. Python isn't Optional
While this is still a "Fundamentals" exam, it’s a "Developer-focused" fundamental. I was tested on:
Interpreting Python SDK snippets for calling AI services.
Understanding message structures (system vs. user prompts) for LLM interactions.
Knowing how to interact with OpenAI APIs.
3. Responsible AI
Microsoft’s Six Principles (Fairness, Reliability, etc.) are still there. But now you need to know how to minimize model bias, ensure transparency in agentic decisions, and when a "human-in-the-loop" is strictly required. Try to understand each of them, you'll find many questions related to these principles.
4. The Official Documentation
Just like I mentioned in my DP-800 review, the Microsoft Learn modules are all you need for the exam. Even in Beta, the questions stayed remarkably close to the official training.
But, if you are one of those people that don't really like to follow every of the learning paths and like more a kind of summary, I created a PDF file that summarizes everything you need to know for the exam. You can find it in the following link: AI-901 Study Guide.
Final Thoughts
AI-901 is the path that shows your understanding about the modern AI stack—Agents, RAG, and LLM Orchestration, not just the traditional ML concepts from a few years ago. Following Microsoft's learning paths or this guide I created for you all, and some hands-on experience on the Foundry platform, you'll be more than ready to successfully pass the exam.
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