MS-102 Is Retiring: Complete Guide to Exam AB-650 for Microsoft 365 Administrators
This article covers everything confirmed on Microsoft Learn — the exam domains, skills measured, what carries forward from MS-102, what is new in AB-650, and how to make your decision about certification timing.
⚠️ This Article Uses Official Microsoft Sources Only
All exam objectives, domain weightings, and certification details in this article are sourced directly from Microsoft Learn. Third-party speculation has been excluded. Links to the original sources are listed in the References section at the bottom.
📅 Key Dates
| Event | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|
| MS-102 retirement announced | June 25, 2026 | Microsoft Credentials Roundup — June 2026 |
| Exam AB-650 beta launched | July 26, 2026 | Microsoft Tech Community — Skills Hub Blog |
| AB-650 study guide published | July 27, 2026 | Microsoft Learn |
| MS-102 retirement date | October 31, 2026 | Microsoft Learn — MS-102 exam page |
| AB-650 general availability (expected) | October 2026 | Aligned with MS-102 retirement |
📘 What Is Exam AB-650?
The following description is taken directly from the official Microsoft Learn exam page for AB-650:
💡 Official Microsoft Learn Description
“As a candidate for this exam, you configure, manage, secure, and govern Microsoft 365 tenants, workloads, and AI services, including Microsoft 365 Copilot, agents, and connected AI capabilities. You enable secure, compliant, and scalable productivity across the organization by governing data access, protecting information, and supporting collaboration between users and agents. You operate and continuously optimize Microsoft 365 and AI services at enterprise scale, helping to ensure reliable and effective outcomes in an AI-powered workplace.
For this exam, you should have experience with Microsoft 365 workloads and Microsoft Entra ID, an understanding of Defender XDR capabilities, and familiarity with Microsoft Graph PowerShell.”
🏅 The New Certification
| Detail | MS-102 (Retiring) | AB-650 (Replacement) |
|---|---|---|
| Exam name | Microsoft 365 Administrator | Administering Microsoft 365 and AI Services |
| Certification | Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert | Microsoft 365 Certified: AI Services Administrator Associate |
| Level | Expert | Associate |
| Passing score | 700 | 700 |
| Status | Retiring October 31, 2026 | Beta (GA expected October 2026) |
| Required exams | MS-102 (plus an associate prerequisite) | AB-650 only |
| Microsoft Learn page | View MS-102 cert | View AB-650 cert |
📊 AB-650 Exam Domains and Weightings
The following domains and weightings are taken directly from the official AB-650 study guide on Microsoft Learn (last updated July 27, 2026).
Domain 1: Configure and Manage Microsoft 365 Tenants and Workloads
Configure and manage a Microsoft 365 tenant:
- Configure branding — logo, company URL, themes, and backgrounds
- Implement and manage domains
- Configure and manage organizational settings, including security and privacy settings and the organization profile
- Manage and monitor Microsoft 365 licenses, including group-based licensing and pay-as-you-go
- 🆕 Manage and monitor licenses for AI services — Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft Agent 365, and Microsoft Copilot Studio
- 🆕 Configure and use Microsoft 365 Backup — setup, restore, and monitor
- Configure and review network connectivity insights
- Monitor the health of Microsoft 365 services using Service health, including notification configuration
Manage Microsoft 365 workloads:
- Create and manage mailboxes, including shared mailboxes
- Create and manage teams in Microsoft Teams, including channels, owners, and members
- 🆕 Configure settings for Copilot in Teams meetings, including transcription
- Create and manage SharePoint sites, including permissions
- 🆕 Configure SharePoint and OneDrive for Copilot — SharePoint Advanced Management, Microsoft Search in SharePoint, and site exclusions
Domain 2: Govern and Secure Microsoft 365 Tenants and Workloads
Manage identities in Microsoft Entra:
- Create and manage Microsoft 365 users
- Manage guest users and external access settings
- Create and manage groups, including Microsoft 365 groups
- Manage roles for Microsoft 365, including Microsoft Entra Privileged Identity Management (PIM)
- Create and manage administrative units
- Create and manage contacts
- Perform bulk management, including Microsoft Graph PowerShell
Implement and manage authentication and access:
- Configure and manage authentication methods
- Implement and manage Microsoft Entra Password Protection
- Configure self-service password reset (SSPR)
- Investigate and resolve authentication issues
- Implement and manage Microsoft Entra Conditional Access policies, including Microsoft Entra ID Protection and multifactor authentication
Secure Microsoft 365 workloads:
- Manage alerts in Microsoft Defender for Office 365
- Configure threat policies and rules in Defender for Office 365
- Investigate and respond to email and collaboration threats using Defender for Office 365
- Configure and manage attack simulations, including training campaigns
Protect data by using Microsoft Purview:
- Identify requirements for Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies — Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, endpoints, and Copilot
- Identify requirements for information protection — sensitive information types, sensitivity labels, and sensitivity label policies
- Identify requirements for data lifecycle management — retention labels, retention label policies, and retention policies
- Review and respond to DLP alerts for Microsoft 365 and AI services
- 🆕 Monitor and secure AI activity using Microsoft Purview Data Security Posture Management (DSPM)
Domain 3: Manage and Secure AI Services in Microsoft 365 (New Domain)
🆕 Entirely New — Not in MS-102
Domain 3 is the new domain added in AB-650 that has no equivalent in MS-102. It covers Microsoft 365 Copilot administration, Agent 365, and AI service monitoring.
Enable and manage Microsoft 365 Copilot:
- Assess tenant readiness for Copilot, including in-app experiences
- Identify and resolve data readiness issues — data leaks, data oversharing, and data compliance
- Manage web search for Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat
- Configure Microsoft 365 Copilot Search
- Configure Copilot settings for a tenant — self-service purchases, Copilot in admin centers, release preferences, AI disclaimer, and video and image generation
- Manage Copilot user experiences
- Manage Microsoft 365 Copilot Cowork
- Manage third-party AI providers
- Configure Copilot connectors
Implement and manage agents in Microsoft 365 and Agent 365:
- Manage the lifecycle workflows for agent identities using Microsoft Entra Agent ID
- Secure agent access, including access packages and Conditional Access
- Manage agent owners
- Configure agent settings — allowed agent types, sharing, templates, and user access
- Discover and manage Microsoft and third-party agents in the agent registry
- Review requests and publish or reject agents in the agent registry
- Install, block, or control access to agents, including uploading custom agents
- Manage tools in Agent 365
Secure and govern agents using Agent 365:
- Monitor agent activity using Agent 365
- Protect sensitive data using Agent 365
- Evaluate compliance gaps using Agent 365
Monitor AI services in Microsoft 365:
- Manage and monitor costs for AI services in Microsoft 365
- Monitor usage reports for Copilot in the Microsoft 365 admin center, including workload-level adoption details
- Monitor usage and adoption for AI services using the Copilot Control System
- Monitor service health using the Copilot Control System
✅ What Carries Forward from MS-102 into AB-650
Based on a direct comparison of the official MS-102 and AB-650 study guides on Microsoft Learn, the following skill areas from MS-102 continue directly into AB-650:
- Microsoft 365 tenant configuration — branding, domains, organizational settings, licensing, service health monitoring
- Microsoft 365 workload management — mailboxes, Teams, SharePoint sites
- Microsoft Entra identity management — users, guests, groups, roles, PIM, administrative units, bulk management with Microsoft Graph PowerShell
- Authentication and access — authentication methods, Entra Password Protection, SSPR, Conditional Access, MFA, Identity Protection
- Microsoft Defender for Office 365 — alert management, threat policies, email and collaboration threat investigation, attack simulation training
- Microsoft Purview DLP — DLP policies for Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, and endpoints
- Microsoft Purview information protection — sensitive information types, sensitivity labels and policies
- Data lifecycle management — retention labels, retention label policies, and retention policies
🆕 What Is New in AB-650 (Not in MS-102)
- AI service licence management — Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft Agent 365, and Copilot Studio licence monitoring
- Microsoft 365 Backup — setup, restore, and monitoring
- Copilot in Teams meetings — transcription and meeting configuration
- SharePoint and OneDrive for Copilot — SharePoint Advanced Management, Microsoft Search in SharePoint, and site exclusions
- Microsoft Purview DSPM for AI — monitoring and securing AI activity through Data Security Posture Management
- Microsoft 365 Copilot administration — tenant readiness, data readiness, web search, Copilot Search, tenant settings, user experiences, Cowork, and connectors
- Agent 365 and the agent registry — agent identity lifecycle, Entra Agent ID, agent Conditional Access, agent registry management, custom agents
- Governing agents with Agent 365 — agent activity monitoring, sensitive data protection, and compliance gap evaluation
- AI service monitoring — cost management, Copilot usage reports, and the Copilot Control System
🤔 Should You Sit MS-102 Now or Wait for AB-650?
✅ Consider Sitting MS-102 Before October 31, 2026 If:
- You are already well into your MS-102 preparation and close to ready
- You want to earn the certification on your record before the retirement date
- You are not currently responsible for Microsoft 365 Copilot or AI service administration in your role
- Your organisation does not yet have Microsoft 365 Copilot deployed
💡 Consider Waiting for AB-650 If:
- You are early in your certification preparation and have time to study
- You are actively involved in Microsoft 365 Copilot or AI service administration
- You want a certification that reflects current Microsoft 365 administration responsibilities
- You prefer to certify on the exam that will be active after October 2026
⚠️ Important: AB-650 Is Still in Beta
As of the date this article was published, AB-650 is in beta. Beta exam scores are not released immediately — Microsoft uses the beta period to validate question quality. Practice assessments are typically available within eight weeks of an exam moving from beta to general availability. Monitor the official AB-650 exam page on Microsoft Learn for the latest status.
🛠️ How to Prepare for AB-650
The following resources are all available on Microsoft Learn and represent the official preparation path for AB-650:
| Resource | Link | What It Covers |
|---|---|---|
| AB-650 Exam page | Microsoft Learn | Full exam overview, scheduling, and skill areas at a glance |
| AB-650 Study guide | Microsoft Learn | Full list of all skills measured, organised by domain |
| AI Services Administrator Associate certification | Microsoft Learn | Certification details, badge, and path |
| Exam sandbox | Microsoft | Explore the exam environment before sitting the exam |
| Microsoft 365 documentation | Microsoft Learn | Official product documentation for all M365 services |
| Microsoft Entra ID documentation | Microsoft Learn | Identity, authentication, Conditional Access, PIM |
| Microsoft Purview compliance documentation | Microsoft Learn | DLP, retention, eDiscovery, information protection, DSPM |
| Microsoft Defender products documentation | Microsoft Learn | Defender for Office 365, threat protection, and XDR capabilities |
| Microsoft 365 Dev Program (free sandbox) | Microsoft Developer | Free 90-day M365 E5 sandbox tenant for hands-on practice |
📚 Official Microsoft References
All information in this article is sourced from the following official Microsoft resources only:
- 🔗 Exam AB-650: Administering Microsoft 365 and AI Services (beta) — Microsoft Learn
- 🔗 Study guide for Exam AB-650: Administering Microsoft 365 and AI Services — Microsoft Learn (last updated July 27, 2026)
- 🔗 Microsoft 365 Certified: AI Services Administrator Associate (beta) — Microsoft Learn
- 🔗 New Microsoft 365 Certified: AI Services Administrator Associate Certification — Microsoft Tech Community Skills Hub Blog
- 🔗 Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102) — Microsoft Learn
- 🔗 Microsoft 365 documentation — Microsoft Learn
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