AI-102 Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling

The Critical Date: AI-102 Retirement on June 30, 2026

If you're searching for AI-102 exam dates in 2026, the single most important date isn't a new testing window - it's a retirement deadline. Exam AI-102, Designing and Implementing a Microsoft Azure AI Solution, along with its associated credential and renewal assessment, retired on June 30, 2026 at 11:59 PM Central. After that timestamp, Microsoft removed the ability to register for, sit, or renew through that exam entirely.

This isn't a gradual sunset with overlapping windows. It's a hard cutoff. Anyone who certified before the retirement date keeps the credential visible in the Active Certifications section of their Microsoft Learn transcript until its printed expiration, but there is no renewal path afterward. Once that printed expiration passes, the credential simply falls off, with nothing to renew into except the current successor exam.

Why This Date Matters for Your Career Timeline

For most candidates arriving at this article in 2026, the retirement date isn't a scheduling option - it's a signal to redirect effort. If you're weighing whether earning this certification is worth it, the answer now runs through the successor exam, not the retired one. Employers scanning resumes and job boards for AI-102 skills are effectively screening for the same underlying competencies that now live under the AI-103 exam code.

This matters for three groups differently:

• Candidates who never scheduled AI-102: There's nothing to schedule anymore. Your only route to this credential family is Exam AI-103.
• Candidates who hold the retired AI-102 credential: Your certification stays active on your transcript until its printed expiration, but you cannot renew it through the old assessment. Plan to eventually sit AI-103 if you want continuity.
• Candidates mid-way through study for the old blueprint: Redirect immediately. Content built around the retired exam's domain structure won't map cleanly onto what's tested now.

What Replaces AI-102: Meet AI-103

The live exam is AI-103, Developing AI Apps and Agents on Azure, which awards Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer Associate. At the training level, the four-day AI-103T00-A course replaced the older AI-102T00 course, reflecting how much the underlying technology stack has shifted toward agentic AI patterns.

Where the retired exam focused heavily on discrete cognitive service integrations, the current exam expects working knowledge of a noticeably broader toolset: Microsoft Foundry, Foundry Agent Service, Microsoft Agent Framework, Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models, Azure AI Search, Azure Content Understanding in Foundry Tools, Azure Document Intelligence in Foundry Tools, Azure Speech, and Azure Translator. If your mental model of this certification is still "Cognitive Services integration exam," you're studying for a test that no longer exists.

How to Register and Schedule Your Exam

Scheduling mechanics for the current exam are straightforward and familiar if you've taken Microsoft certifications before. The exam is owned by Microsoft and delivered exclusively through Pearson VUE, either at a physical test center or via online proctoring from your own location.

• Price: $165 USD at standard US pricing. Pricing varies by the country or region where the exam is proctored, so check your local Pearson VUE listing before budgeting.
• Duration: 120 minutes, proctored, and the exam may include interactive components beyond standard multiple choice - not just static question banks.
• Passing score: 700 on a scale of 100 to 1000. Microsoft does not publish a fixed item count or an official pass rate for this exam.
• Prerequisites: None formally required, but the audience profile assumes real app development experience in Python along with familiarity with general AI, generative AI, and Azure services.

For a deeper breakdown of eligibility expectations and what "no prerequisites" actually implies in practice, see AI-102 Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify. And if you want the exact pricing mechanics broken down by scenario, AI-102 Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown covers it in more detail than the summary above.

Domain Weightings You Need to Plan Around

Scheduling intelligently means understanding what you're actually being tested on before you pick a date. Skills measured are current as of April 16, 2026, and most questions cover generally available features - though commonly used preview features may still appear, so don't assume everything on the exam is fully GA'd. The exam is structured across five weighted domains:

Notice how the two largest domains - planning/management and generative AI/agentic solutions - together account for more than half the exam. That weighting should directly shape how many hours you allocate to each topic. For a full walkthrough of every domain with more granular sub-topics, read AI-102 Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 5 Content Areas.

Building a Study Timeline Against the Clock

Because the skills-measured outline updates on a schedule and the retired predecessor exam is gone, treat your prep timeline as date-driven, not open-ended. Anchor your study weeks to domain weight rather than splitting time evenly across all five domains.

For a structured, day-by-day version of this plan, AI-102 Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt goes deeper on sequencing. If you're still calibrating how difficult this exam actually feels compared to other Microsoft associate-level tests, How Hard Is the AI-102 Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 is worth reading before you lock in a date. You can also pressure-test your readiness with realistic practice questions on the main practice test platform before committing to a Pearson VUE booking.

Retake Windows and Scheduling Contingencies

Scheduling isn't just about your first attempt - it's about what happens if that attempt doesn't go your way. A failed first attempt can be retaken after a 24-hour waiting period, with progressively longer waits required for each subsequent failed attempt. This means your retake calendar compresses quickly if you fail more than once, so it's worth building buffer time before any hard deadline (like a job requirement or internal promotion cycle) rather than assuming you'll pass on the first try.

If you're uncertain whether 700 out of 1000 is a realistic target given your current prep level, AI-102 Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass breaks down what that scaled score actually represents. And if you want a broader view of how outcomes tend to trend for candidates on this exam, AI-102 Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows covers what's publicly known without inventing numbers Microsoft doesn't publish.

Annual Renewal After You Certify

Once you pass and earn this associate-level credential, plan your calendar around annual renewal, not just the initial exam date. Microsoft associate certifications expire annually and are renewed free of charge by passing an unproctored online assessment through Microsoft Learn - no Pearson VUE visit required for renewal. Set a recurring reminder roughly a month before your certification's expiration so you're not caught scrambling.

This renewal cadence is one more reason the retirement of the older exam matters so much: its renewal assessment retired alongside the main exam, meaning existing holders lost that free annual path entirely once the cutoff passed. If you're certifying fresh through the current exam, you avoid that trap as long as you renew on schedule.

If you're weighing whether the time investment pays off against alternative Azure credentials, AI-102 Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis and Is the AI-102 Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 both cover the return side of the equation without relying on the retired exam's outdated framing. For a fast final review before test day, keep AI-102 Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts bookmarked, and run a handful of timed sets on our practice test platform so the 120-minute format and interactive question types don't catch you off guard.

Frequently Asked Questions