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Read about Pro Badges, AI-driven Certifications, and Applied Skills, where learning meets today’s work. And find out how training service providers helped 153,000 learners develop AI skills.

This has been a big season for Microsoft Credentials.

With the introduction of Microsoft Pro Badges, a growing portfolio of AI-focused Microsoft Certifications, and expanded Microsoft Applied Skills offerings, we’re continuing to evolve how skills are built, validated, and recognized, closer to practical application.

Here’s what’s new, what’s changing, and what’s ahead.

Introducing Microsoft Pro Badges

Microsoft Pro Badges, the first credentials of their kind, recognize real-world skills and proficiencies demonstrated through everyday work without separate exams. At their core is Verified Proficiency, our proprietary tool that measures and assesses performance through product telemetry, securely capturing evidence of your skills as you work.

The first Pro Badge covers GitHub Copilot Verified Proficiencies. It had a soft launch at Microsoft Build in early June 2026 and will become generally available at GitHub Universe in late October 2026.

Join the GitHub Copilot Verified Proficiency Insiders List to be among the first to get early updates.

New Certifications: Built for an AI-first world

We’ve launched one of our largest Certification expansions in recent years, spanning AI, data, security, development, and business applications.

These new Certifications are designed to:

• Reflect how roles are evolving in an AI-driven workplace.


• Help you build capabilities for emerging AI-first jobs.


• Align closely to today’s job roles, helping you to build skills that you can apply immediately.

Since February 2026, we’ve introduced 17 new Certifications and exams, now either in beta or widely available:

*The Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Fundamentals Certification is not retiring. Exam AI-900 is being replaced with the updated Exam AI-901.

**The Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate Certification is not retiring. Exam AZ-800 and Exam AZ-801 are being replaced with the updated Exam AZ-802, and the Certification name is being updated to the more relevant Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Administrator Associate Certification.

New Applied Skills: Expanded offerings for real-world AI use

As AI becomes central to every role and business workflow, we’re continuing to add more scenarios where you can develop and showcase hands-on skills with Microsoft technologies.

Recently released

• Microsoft Applied Skills: Get started developing agents in Microsoft Foundry


• Microsoft Applied Skills: Integrate model context protocol tools with agents in Microsoft Foundry


• Microsoft Applied Skills: Resolve GitHub Issues by using GitHub Copilot

Coming soon

• Microsoft Applied Skills: Build an agent in Microsoft Copilot Studio


• Microsoft Applied Skills: Develop an agent with integrated tools


• Microsoft Applied Skills: Create agentic workflows by using Microsoft Foundry


• Microsoft Applied Skills: Manage GitHub secret scanning by using GitHub Copilot


• Microsoft Applied Skills: Protect information in Microsoft 365 Copilot by using Microsoft Purview

Looking ahead, Applied Skills will become part of the Pro Badge ecosystem.

Retiring older credentials

As we introduce new credentials, we also retire older ones to keep the portfolio aligned with current technologies and evolving job roles. These retirements are tied to updated, AI-enabled credentials that better reflect how work is changing.

Retiring Certifications

• If you’ve already earned a Certification, it remains valid until it expires.


• You can still earn a Certification before its retirement date.


• If you’re just beginning to prepare for a Certification exam, consider focusing on a newer option.

*The Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Fundamentals Certification is not retiring. Exam AI-900 is being replaced with the updated Exam AI-901.

**The Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate Certification is not retiring. Exam AZ-800 and Exam AZ-801 are being replaced with the updated Exam AZ-802, and the Certification name is being updated to the more relevant Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Administrator Associate Certification.

Retiring Applied Skills

• Retired: Microsoft Applied Skills: Implement knowledge mining with Azure AI Search


• Retiring June 30, 2026:
  
  
  
  • Microsoft Applied Skills: Build a natural language processing solution with Azure AI Language
  
  
  • Microsoft Applied Skills: Create and manage model-driven apps with Power Apps and Dataverse.
  
  
  • Microsoft Applied Skills: Implement a data warehouse in Microsoft Fabric 
  
  
  • Microsoft Applied Skills: Prepare security and compliance to support Microsoft 365 Copilot
  
  
  • Microsoft Applied Skills: Create agents in Microsoft Copilot Studio
  
  
  
  

Microsoft Training Service Providers: The humans behind AI training

In a changing job market, credentials offer both validation and reassurance. The AI Credentials Accelerator, a training series led by our global network of Training Services Partners (TSPs), brought this to life, reaching more than 153,000 learners across 12 industries through flexible, expert-led skill-building sessions on Microsoft technologies.

Participants moved from initial interest in AI to credential-focused learning and readiness, including building agents with Copilot Studio and earning core AI and security Certifications and Applied Skills.

Through webinars, master classes, and lab-based workshops, TSPs engaged many roles, from students to career changers to business leaders. The program emphasized flexible formats and expert instruction, with a clear connection between each learning activity and a specific credential outcome.

 Earning the Microsoft Applied Skills credential will formally validate my expertise in building production-ready AI workflows—giving me the confidence to deliver automation solutions and scale my agency’s capabilities.

—Farhan Ahmad, Chief Executive Officer, NovaVerse Hub

TSPs tailored this model to different regions around the world:

In the Americas, NetCom Learning enabled learners to build credentials at their own pace. One participant, Tyre Sellers, described progressing through multiple Copilot-related credentials and using them to demonstrate real-world expertise.

In Asia, Datapot delivered localized, hands-on training that helped learners move beyond theory and apply AI directly in their work, shifting mindsets to see AI as an essential future capability.

In Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), the Leading Learning Partners Association (LLPA) trainer network supported professionals across five continents, helping them adopt AI and communicate its value using shared credential standards.

In these sessions, credentials functioned as enablers rather than endpoints, with TSPs providing the structure, guidance, and flexibility needed to support ongoing skill development.

To discover how these trusted experts can support your learning goals, check out Training Services Partners in AI Skills Navigator.

Looking ahead: A more connected credentials experience

We’re not just expanding the portfolio, we’re reimagining how the entire learning and credentials experience comes together.

We’re building a seamless, end-to-end integrated approach on AI Skills Navigator:

• Today, in your AI Skills Navigator, you can discover available credentials and showcase what you’ve earned.


• Coming soon, we’re expanding the experience with Certification overviews, updated Practice Assessments, and curated preparation materials delivered through guided skilling playlists.


• Plus, in the next few months, AI Skills Navigator will support the full credential lifecycle, enabling you to register for and schedule exams, request an accommodation, manage renewals, access improved support, and earn and manage Credly badges.

Our goal is simple: we want to make it easier for you to go from learning to practicing to validating and then showcasing your skills.

Built to accelerate your growth

Microsoft Credentials are a part of how you grow, prove your expertise, and move forward in your career every day.

We’re continuing to evolve them to be:

• More practical.


• More role-aligned.


• More connected to how you work.

As the experience continues to come together, you’ll have a clearer, more connected way to build skills that matter and to demonstrate impact where it counts.

Discover more about Microsoft Credentials on AI Skills Navigator.