The AB-650 Complete Exam Guide is on Kindle
Exam AB-650, Administering Microsoft 365 and AI Services, is in beta. What it weighs, what beta means for a candidate, and how it sits beside MS-102, from Microsoft's own pages.
What the exam weighs
Microsoft's study guide splits AB-650 into three skill areas: configuring and managing Microsoft 365 tenants and workloads (20 to 25 percent), governing and securing them (40 to 45 percent), and managing and securing AI services in Microsoft 365 (35 to 40 percent). Microsoft's AB-650 study guide
The heaviest area is the middle one, and it is wider than its name. Entra identities and Conditional Access, Defender for Office 365, and Purview DLP, sensitivity labels and retention all sit under it. Copilot reaches into it too: the DLP skill names Copilot beside Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams and endpoints, so a Copilot question can come from the governance side as easily as from the Copilot and agents area.
What beta means for a candidate
Microsoft lists AB-650 in beta, in English only. Beta exams are not scored right away, because Microsoft is still gathering data on the questions. There is no practice assessment for it yet, and Microsoft says those usually arrive within eight weeks of an exam leaving beta. Microsoft's AB-650 exam page
AB-650 is the only exam its associate certification requires. Microsoft's certification page
If you were headed for MS-102
Microsoft's retirement list retires exam MS-102, and the Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert certification with it, on November 30, 2026. The list names no replacement certification. Microsoft's exam retirement list
Microsoft's course list does point the training at AB-650. The instructor-led MS-102T00 course is replaced by AB-650T00 on November 30, and two Copilot courses, MS-4002 and MS-4017, fold into AB-650T00 a month earlier, on October 30. Microsoft's course retirement list
What the MS-102 retirement means if you are part way through
The guide
AB-650 Administering Microsoft 365 and AI Services Complete Exam Guide
Prepare for Exam AB-650 by learning how Microsoft 365, Entra, Purview and Copilot controls interact, and why a setting never takes effect.