Is AB-100 the replacement for PL-600 and MB-700?

Yes. Microsoft states that PL-600, MB-700, MB-335 and PL-500 were collectively replaced by the Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect certification, which you earn with AB-100. All four retired on 30 June 2026. AB-100 is broader than either old architect exam, because it expects you to design agents across Dynamics 365, Power Platform, Copilot Studio, Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Foundry.

Do I get the certification just by passing AB-100?

No. The Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect Expert certification needs two things: a pass in AB-100 and at least one of the associate certifications on Microsoft's prerequisite list, such as PL-400, AI-103, AB-620, MB-310 or MB-230. If you pass the exam without a prerequisite in place, the certification will not appear in your Microsoft Learn profile until you earn one.

Which prerequisite certification should I take before AB-100?

Take the one closest to the platform you already work on. Power Platform developers usually go for PL-400, Copilot Studio builders for AB-620, Azure AI developers for AI-103 or AI-300, and Dynamics 365 consultants for the functional exam of their app, such as MB-310, MB-330 or AB-210. The certification page on Microsoft Learn has the current list of 13.

How long is the AB-100 exam and what score do I need?

You need a score of 700 or more to pass. Microsoft gives associate and expert role-based exams 100 minutes, or 120 minutes when the exam may contain labs, and confirms your exact time when you register. You can open Microsoft Learn in a split screen during the exam, but the timer keeps running, so do not rely on it for every question.

Does my existing PL-600 or MB-700 certification still count?

It stays active on your transcript until its expiry date, but you cannot renew it, because the certification has retired. For Microsoft partners, a certification completed before its retirement date stays valid for one year for partner requirements. Plan your AB-100 attempt before your old certification expires so there is no gap on your profile or in your employer's partner credits.

Is there an official practice test for AB-100?

Yes. Microsoft offers a free practice assessment for AB-100 on AI Skills Navigator, and you need to be signed in to launch it. It shows the style and difficulty of the questions, not the real ones. Use it at the start of your preparation to find weak areas and again near the end to confirm you are ready.

AB-100 Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect: Who Should Take It

AB-100 is the exam for Microsoft Certified: Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect Expert. Take it if you already design solutions across Dynamics 365, Power Platform, Copilot Studio or Microsoft Foundry and now lead AI and agent projects. Passing AB-100 is only half the requirement: you also need one associate certification from Microsoft's list. It replaced PL-600, MB-700, MB-335 and PL-500, which retired on 30 June 2026.

At a glance

Exam: AB-100, Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect
Certification: Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect Expert, renewed free online every year
Prerequisite: any one of 13 associate certifications named on the certification page
Skills measured: plan (35 to 40%), design (30 to 35%), deploy (20 to 25%), in the version that applies from 16 November 2026
Passing score: 700
Exam time: 100 minutes for role-based exams without labs, 120 minutes if the exam contains labs
Languages: English and 12 others, including Chinese (Simplified) and Chinese (Traditional)

What AB-100 replaced, and what happens to your old certification

Microsoft's June 2026 Partner Center announcements say four certifications were collectively replaced by AB-100: Power Platform Solution Architect Expert (PL-600), Dynamics 365: Finance and Operations Apps Solution Architect Expert (MB-700), Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management Functional Consultant Expert (MB-335) and Power Automate RPA Developer Associate (PL-500). All four retired on 30 June 2026.

That is a real change of scope. PL-600 asked whether you could architect a Power Platform solution. MB-700 asked the same for finance and operations apps. AB-100 asks whether you can design a business solution in which agents do part of the work, across several Microsoft platforms at once, and defend it on cost, risk and governance.

If you hold one of the retired certifications, Microsoft's credential retirement page says it stays in the Active section of your transcript until it expires, then moves to history. There is no renewal path. For Microsoft partners, the June announcement adds that a certification completed before its retirement date remains valid for one year, so firms that count architects toward a Solutions Partner designation should schedule AB-100 attempts before that credit runs out. For some specialisations Microsoft marks AB-100 as only a partial replacement for PL-600, so check the exact rule for each one you hold.

Who AB-100 is for, and who should wait

Microsoft's audience profile describes "an accomplished solution architect". Take that literally. The exam assumes you have already delivered business applications and can now weigh agent design, return on investment, application lifecycle management (ALM) and security in the same conversation.

You are	Fit for AB-100	What to do first
Former PL-600 or MB-700 holder	Strong	Learn Copilot Studio agents and Foundry
Senior Dynamics 365 or Power Platform consultant	Good	Lead the design on one agent project
Azure AI developer (AI-103 or AI-300)	Good	Study Copilot in Dynamics 365 apps
Microsoft 365 administrator	Weak	Look at AB-900 instead
Everyday Copilot user	Not yet	Look at AB-730 instead

A common mistake is booking AB-100 because "agentic" is the word of the year. Read the skills list and it reads like a design review: should this be a custom agent or an extension of Microsoft 365 Copilot, should you build, buy or extend, which model should answer which request, and what does it cost over three years. If you have never had to defend a design choice to a client or a steering committee, earn an associate certification first, run one real project, then come back.

The prerequisite rule: choose the associate that matches your work

The certification page lists 13 associate certifications, and you need any one of them alongside the AB-100 pass. Pick the one closest to your daily work, because AB-100 draws on the same platforms.

Your background	Prerequisite to consider
Power Platform development	PL-400 Power Platform Developer
Copilot Studio agent building	AB-620 AI Agent Builder
Low-code apps with AI	AB-410 Intelligent Applications Builder
Dynamics 365 sales or service	AB-210, MB-230 or AB-250
Finance and operations apps	MB-310, MB-330 or MB-500
Business Central	MB-800 or MB-820
Azure AI engineering	AI-103 or AI-300

For Power Platform people, PL-400 is the natural route. Azure developers usually find AI-103 closer to their work.

One detail to watch: the AB-100 exam page still lists PL-200 and MB-280, but both certifications retired in 2026 (MB-280 on 31 July, PL-200 on 31 August) and the certification page no longer includes them. If you were relying on either, confirm with Microsoft certification support before you book.

What the exam actually tests

The AB-100 study guide is the authority. Here is what each area means in practice.

Plan AI-powered business solutions (35 to 40%)

The heaviest area, and the least about clicking buttons. It covers whether an agent suits a task at all, whether data is fit for grounding (accuracy, relevance, timeliness, cleanliness and availability), and strategy: the AI adoption process in the Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure, when to build a custom agent versus extending Microsoft 365 Copilot, when a custom model or a small language model is justified, prompt library and prompt engineering guidelines, and the elements of Microsoft's AI Center of Excellence. It ends with money: return on investment, total cost of ownership, build, buy or extend, and using a model router to send each request to the most suitable model.

Design AI-powered business solutions (30 to 35%)

Here the platforms get specific. You design task agents, autonomous agents and prompt and response agents; Copilot Studio topics with fallback; the choice between standard natural language processing, conversational language understanding and generative orchestration; agent flows and prompt actions. Extensibility covers custom models in Microsoft Foundry, agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot, Model Context Protocol in Copilot Studio, computer use for automating apps and websites, and reasoning and voice mode. You also orchestrate the built-in AI features of Dynamics 365 finance, supply chain, sales and service apps.

Deploy AI-powered business solutions (20 to 25%)

Monitoring agents and reading telemetry, test strategy and validation criteria, and ALM for Copilot Studio agents, Microsoft Foundry Agent Service, custom models and AI in Dynamics 365. The last block is responsible AI and security: agent and model security, prompt manipulation, data residency and movement, access controls on grounding data, and audit trails for changes to models and data.

The 16 November 2026 update

The study guide already shows the version that applies from 16 November 2026. Its change log gives planning and design a larger share of the exam and deployment a smaller one, with minor wording changes inside three objectives and no areas added or removed. So study the published list whichever side of that date you sit. Localised versions are updated about eight weeks after the English one.

Governance questions, the Singapore way

AB-100 tests the Microsoft Responsible AI Standard. If you design agents for organisations in Singapore, you will also meet IMDA's Model AI Governance Framework for Agentic AI, which the Ministry of Digital Development and Information announced on 22 January 2026 and IMDA updated on 20 May 2026. Its four dimensions line up well with AB-100 tasks:

IMDA dimension	AB-100 skill it echoes
Assess and limit risks upfront	Assess agent use cases, set rules and constraints
Keep humans meaningfully accountable	Design governance for agents
Technical controls across the lifecycle	Testing, ALM, access controls, audit trails
Enable end-user responsibility	Responsible AI review and adoption

For every agent you design, be ready to show what it may touch, where a human approves an action, how it was tested before release and how users learn what it does. That is good exam preparation and good client work. Our guide to Singapore's Model AI Governance Framework for Generative AI covers the earlier framework.

A six-week preparation plan

This plan assumes you already hold, or are close to, a prerequisite certification.

Week 1, baseline. Mark every study guide bullet as "done in a project", "read about" or "new". Take the free practice assessment on AI Skills Navigator (you must be signed in).
Week 2, Copilot Studio. Build an agent with topics, fallback, generative orchestration, an agent flow and a prompt action, then add an MCP connection.
Week 3, Foundry and models. Deploy a model in Microsoft Foundry, try a model router, and write down when you would choose a custom or small language model instead.
Week 4, Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365. Review Copilot features in the Dynamics 365 apps you know least, plus agents in Teams and SharePoint.
Week 5, plan and justify. Write a one-page return on investment and total cost of ownership case for one agent, including the build, buy or extend decision. This is the heaviest area.
Week 6, deploy and govern. Design ALM across development, test and production, list your monitoring metrics, test the agent against prompt manipulation, then retake the practice assessment.

Microsoft also publishes a three-day instructor-led course, AB-100T00: Architecting agentic AI business solutions. Microsoft describes it as architectural preparation, not a test-preparation course, so pair it with the study guide.

Exam day from Singapore

Price: Microsoft sets it by the country where you sit the exam, so check the exam page before you book.
Booking: book through the exam page with a personal Microsoft account, as Microsoft recommends, so your records survive a change of employer.
Microsoft Learn during the exam: role-based exams let you open Learn in a split screen, but the clock keeps running and no time is added. Use it to confirm a detail, not to research every question.
Language: if the exam is not offered in your preferred language (Malay and Tamil are not on the list), you can request an extra 30 minutes.
The two-part rule: a pass in AB-100 alone does not award the certification. Your prerequisite associate certification must be in place too.

How CertTulen Academy can help

CertTulen Academy is a Microsoft Training Services Partner that runs live, MCT-led online classes with hands-on labs. Our AB-100 Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect course is built around the exam, and our professional certification courses include an exam voucher, mock practice tests and lab access (see the course page for details). If you still need a prerequisite, we can point you to the right associate course first. Contact us or WhatsApp +60 16-241 8686 for a batch that suits your time zone, or ask about a private cohort for your architecture team.