AB-100 Exam Guide: Skills, Prerequisites and Study Plan

AB-100 is the required exam for the Microsoft Certified: Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect Expert certification. You need a score of 700 to pass, and you must also hold at least one listed Associate certification. Microsoft's list price is $165.00, and our voucher costs $44.99.

What AB-100 proves and who it is for

The official exam page describes the candidate as an accomplished solution architect. This person designs and delivers AI-driven business solutions across several Microsoft services.

The exam is about architecture, not button-clicking. Microsoft lists these competencies, among others:

• Designing agentic-first and multi-agent orchestrated solutions.

• Working with open standards such as Agent2Agent (A2A) and Model Context Protocol (MCP).

• Applying responsible AI practices.

• Securing AI models and data workflows, including defense against prompt manipulation.

• Monitoring agent performance through telemetry.

• Running a return-on-investment (ROI) analysis of an AI-powered solution.

It fits you if you already work with Dynamics 365, Power Platform or Copilot Studio and want to lead design decisions. If you have never built an agent, start with one of the Associate exams below first.

Skills measured and their weights

The study guide groups the exam into three areas.

The first area is the biggest, so spend your early weeks there. It covers three groups of tasks:

• Analyze requirements: assess agents for task automation, data analytics and decision-making. Review data for grounding: accuracy, relevance, timeliness, cleanliness and availability.

• Design the overall AI strategy: apply the AI adoption process from the Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure. Design multi-agent solutions with Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio and Microsoft Foundry. Decide when to build custom agents or extend Microsoft 365 Copilot. Decide when custom models are justified. Write prompt library guidelines.

• Evaluate costs and benefits: select ROI criteria including total cost of ownership. Decide whether to build, buy or extend. Implement a model router that sends requests to the most suitable model.

The study guide also notes that the bullets illustrate how skills are assessed. Related topics may appear. Most questions cover generally available features, and commonly used Preview features may also appear.

Exam format, prerequisites and the November 16, 2026 update

Exam length and question count are not confirmed in our sources. Check them on the Pearson VUE scheduling page before you book.

Prerequisites. Passing AB-100 is not enough on its own. You must also earn at least one of these Associate certifications:

• Dynamics 365: MB-280, MB-330, MB-230, MB-310, MB-500, MB-800, MB-820, AB-210, AB-250

• Power Platform: PL-200, PL-400

• AI and apps: AI-300, AI-103, AB-620, AB-410

The update. Microsoft will update the English version of the exam on November 16, 2026. Localized versions follow about eight weeks later. The study guide shows the skills measured as of that date, so use it as your outline. It uses the names Microsoft Foundry and Foundry Tools. Older material may say Azure AI Foundry, so map the names as you study.

Cost: Microsoft list price vs our voucher

Microsoft says the price depends on the country or region where you take the exam, so your own list price may differ.

Our AB-100 voucher is valid for 12 months and is redeemed with Pearson VUE. We email the code within 12 hours of payment, and it also appears in your account.

Refunds. You can cancel an order for a full refund before delivery. A delivered code is non-refundable unless Pearson VUE rejects it as invalid, already used or expired on first use. In that case, contact support within 14 days with your order number and a screenshot. The code is then replaced or refunded. Details are on our refund policy and delivery policy pages.

A six-week study plan with weekly hours

This plan assumes you already hold an Associate certification and work with Power Platform or Dynamics 365. It totals about 44 hours, which is our planning guidance, not a Microsoft figure. Add a week if you are new to Copilot Studio or Foundry.

Microsoft offers a Practice Assessment on AI Skills Navigator and an exam sandbox to try the exam interface. Use both in week 6.

Worked example: a quick ROI calculation

The exam expects you to reason about ROI. Practice with placeholders so you focus on the logic. These figures are made up for illustration.

1. An agent handles 2,000 support cases a month and saves 6 minutes on each.

2. That is 12,000 minutes, or 200 hours a month.

3. Multiply the 200 hours by your loaded hourly cost C. That is your monthly benefit.

4. Subtract the monthly running cost R, which covers licensing and operation. The result is your net monthly benefit.

5. Now add one-time build effort and ongoing monitoring to total cost of ownership. Then compare against buying a prebuilt agent.

If the net benefit turns negative once you add build effort, the build option fails. That is the kind of trade-off a build, buy or extend question tests.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Skipping the prerequisite. Passing AB-100 alone does not earn the Expert certification.

• Studying only Copilot Studio. The exam spans Dynamics 365, Power Platform, Foundry and Microsoft 365 Copilot.

• Ignoring data quality. Grounding data questions focus on accuracy, relevance, timeliness, cleanliness and availability.

• Treating ROI as a formula only. You must justify build, buy or extend with total cost of ownership.

• Using outdated notes. Check your material against the skills measured as of November 16, 2026 in the study guide.

• Forgetting security. Data residency, access controls, audit trails and prompt manipulation are named competencies.

After you pass: certification and renewal

Once you also hold a qualifying Associate certification, you earn Microsoft Certified: Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect Expert. Microsoft states that associate, expert and specialty certifications expire annually. You can renew by passing a free online assessment on Microsoft Learn.

If you want related paths, browse our Dynamics 365 and Power Platform and AI and Machine Learning categories.

Sources

• Exam AB-100: Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect (Microsoft Learn)

• Study guide for Exam AB-100: Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect