AI-901 Exam Guide: What It Covers, Costs, and How to Pass

AI-901, Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals, is Microsoft's entry-level AI certification — the exam that replaced AI-900 on June 30, 2026. It splits into two parts: AI concepts, and building AI solutions with Microsoft Foundry, which is the larger and more hands-on half. You need a score of 700 to pass. It is still beginner-level, but more technical than AI-900 — expect some Python. Here is the full picture, checked against Microsoft's own pages.

What AI-901 covers

Microsoft splits the exam into two skill areas (current as of April 15, 2026), each with a weighting that tells you how much of the exam it drives:

• AI concepts and capabilities (40–45%) — the responsible-AI principles, how generative AI models work, how to pick a model, and how to recognize the main AI workloads: computer vision, speech, text analysis, information extraction, and both generative and agentic AI.
• Building AI solutions with Microsoft Foundry (55–60%) — the larger half, and it is hands-on. You write prompts, deploy and test models in the Foundry portal, build lightweight apps and single-agent solutions with the Foundry SDK, and use Foundry Tools — including Azure Content Understanding — to work with text, speech, images, and documents.

The headline is that second number: more than half the exam is practical Foundry work. That is the biggest change from AI-900, which was concepts only. Because Foundry is the bulk of the exam, we cover it in depth in a separate Microsoft Foundry primer.

How AI-901 differs from AI-900

AI-900 tested five concept areas, and every objective began with "describe." AI-901 keeps a concept half but adds an implementation half: you deploy models, build lightweight apps, and stand up a simple agent. Microsoft now expects you to know basic Python syntax and to be comfortable with REST APIs, SDKs, and CLIs. If you were preparing for AI-900, the full story of what carried over and what is new is in our AI-900 retirement guide.

Exam format: what Microsoft publishes, and what it doesn't

Here is only what Microsoft actually states, because this is a new exam and a lot of online guides are still recycling AI-900 details.

You need 700 to pass, on a scale to 1000, per the scoring page. The score is scaled — questions carry different weights — so aim well clear of the line rather than counting questions.

At launch the exam is in English only. Most questions cover generally available features, though commonly used Preview features can appear. Microsoft does not publish a fixed question count for AI-901, so treat any exact number you see elsewhere as a guess — we would rather tell you it is unpublished than invent one. You can see the real interface and question styles in Microsoft's free exam sandbox before you sit it.

How much does it cost

Microsoft prices AI-901 by country or region, so there is no single global figure. Your exact local price shows during scheduling. Because it is regional, we point you at the scheduling flow rather than repeat a number that may not match your country.

Is AI-901 hard? Who it's for

AI-901 is aimed at people at the start of a career in AI on Azure. There are no formal prerequisites, but it is honestly a step up from AI-900. The Foundry half rewards having actually clicked through the portal and run a model, and a little Python goes a long way.

In our experience rebuilding the question bank for this exam, the concept half is very approachable. The Foundry half is where unprepared candidates struggle — not because it is advanced, but because you cannot fake hands-on experience by reading about it. Non-technical learners can still pass, but should budget real time in the portal rather than treating it like AI-900's all-concepts format.

How to prepare

Start with Microsoft's own free material: the learning paths on the exam page and the skills outline in the study guide. Because the exam is Foundry-heavy, spend the bulk of your time in the Foundry portal itself, not just in the reading.

One thing to know: Microsoft's own practice assessment for AI-901 is not yet available — the exam page notes these usually arrive within about eight weeks of an exam leaving beta. Practice questions are the most honest signal of whether the material has stuck. That is why we built our AI-901 practice exams against this exact two-domain outline — every question traceable to the official Microsoft page behind it, and no dumps. Practice tests do not replace the hands-on work; they show you where you are not ready yet.

Does it expire, and is it worth it

Once you pass, the certification is yours to keep — Microsoft's renewal policy states that fundamentals certifications do not expire.

As a credential, AI-901 will not by itself make you an AI engineer. Its value is as a starting point. It proves you understand modern AI on Azure, including the generative and agentic AI that AI-900 barely touched. And it is a credible first step for anyone moving toward AI-focused roles, or just needing to speak the language their team now works in.