11
Azure credentials
Microsoft Azure certification roadmap
A full Microsoft Azure certification path with source checks, labs, mock readiness, and portfolio evidence.
Use this roadmap to choose the next Azure credential by role, then connect it to Daskerel lessons, hands-on lab evidence, mock-test remediation, and official provider pages.
4
roadmap stages
7
associate paths
2
advanced paths
Microsoft Azure exam booking tracker
Track target dates, booking status, badge proof, and renewals.
Saved Microsoft Azure exam plan
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Quarterly Azure source review workflow
Keep every Azure claim current on a 90-day cadence.
Review
Open each official Azure certification page and exam guide, then confirm status, level, and objective coverage.
Update
Refresh source dates, roadmap notes, readiness gates, lab focus, and retirement or rename notes.
Validate
Run curriculum checks, tests, build, and browser checks for Azure roadmap, track cards, lab filters, and mock dashboard.
Record
Store reviewer, date, URLs, changes, and next review date in the content-quality audit queue.
Foundational
Foundational Azure certification paths
2 credentials
Azure foundations, support, sales engineering, cloud literacy, and first cloud role entry
Readiness domain weighting
Cloud concepts and shared responsibility25%
Azure architecture, regions, and resource hierarchy20%
Core Azure services and workload selection30%
Security, governance, pricing, support, and lifecycle25%
Lab focus
Mock bank target: 65 questions
- Subscriptions and resource groups
- Core services
- Entra ID and RBAC
- Cost and support signals
Readiness gates
- Foundation lessons complete
- Azure service map complete
- Governance and cost quiz passed
- Cleanup evidence captured
AI-900 / Official source reviewed
Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Fundamentals
AI literacy, product, business analysis, and Azure AI-aware engineering
Readiness domain weighting
AI workloads, responsible AI, and business value28%
Machine learning principles and Azure ML22%
Computer vision and natural language workloads25%
Generative AI and Azure AI services25%
Lab focus
Mock bank target: 65 questions
- AI service selection
- Responsible AI
- Prompt and evaluation notes
- Privacy and governance
Readiness gates
- AI concepts complete
- Responsible AI checklist complete
- Use-case decision note approved
- Weak AI domains remediated
Associate
Associate Azure certification paths
7 credentials
AI-103 / Official source reviewed
Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer Associate
Azure AI engineer, agent developer, AI application developer, and responsible AI delivery engineer
AI-103 is the current replacement for the retired AI-102 Azure AI Engineer Associate exam.
Recommended after: Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals
Readiness domain weighting
Plan and manage an Azure AI solution28%
Implement generative AI and agentic solutions32%
Implement computer vision solutions14%
Implement text analysis solutions13%
Implement information extraction solutions13%
Lab focus
Mock bank target: 65 questions
- Microsoft Foundry
- RAG and agents
- Multimodal AI
- Evaluation, observability, security, and responsible AI
Readiness gates
- AI application lab complete
- Grounding and evaluation evidence captured
- Responsible AI controls documented
- AI-103 mock domains passed
AI-300 / Official source reviewed
Microsoft Certified: Machine Learning Operations Engineer Associate
MLOps engineer, GenAIOps engineer, AI platform engineer, and production machine learning engineer
AI-300 is the current replacement for the retired DP-100 Azure Data Scientist Associate exam.
Recommended after: Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals
Readiness domain weighting
Design and implement an MLOps infrastructure18%
Implement machine learning model lifecycle and operations29%
Design and implement a GenAIOps infrastructure23%
Implement generative AI quality assurance and observability15%
Optimize generative AI systems and model performance15%
Lab focus
Mock bank target: 65 questions
- Azure Machine Learning
- MLflow and model lifecycle
- Foundry GenAIOps
- Evaluation, observability, drift, rollback, and cost
Readiness gates
- MLOps and GenAIOps lab complete
- Deployment and rollback evidence captured
- Quality and observability evidence captured
- AI-300 mock domains passed
AZ-104 / Official source reviewed
Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate
Azure administrator, cloud engineer, systems engineer, and operations owner
Recommended after: Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals
Readiness domain weighting
Identity, governance, and subscriptions25%
Storage, compute, containers, and app hosting25%
Virtual networks, private access, and connectivity25%
Monitoring, backup, updates, and operations25%
Lab focus
Mock bank target: 65 questions
- Entra ID and RBAC
- Virtual networks
- Storage and compute
- Monitor, Backup, and recovery
Readiness gates
- Administration labs complete
- RBAC and policy evidence captured
- Backup and monitor evidence exported
- AZ-104 mock domains passed
AZ-204 / Official source reviewed
Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate
Azure developer, backend engineer, API engineer, and application engineer
AZ-204 retired on 2026-07-31. This record is retained for learner transition history and must not be presented as a current exam pathway. No replacement exam code is asserted until Microsoft publishes one in its credential catalogue.
Recommended after: Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate
Readiness domain weighting
Azure compute and application hosting28%
Storage, data access, and integration22%
Security, identity, and managed identities25%
Monitoring, optimization, and deployment25%
Lab focus
Mock bank target: 65 questions
- App Service and Functions
- Storage and Cosmos DB
- Key Vault and managed identity
- Deployment and rollback
Readiness gates
- Azure app lab complete
- Identity and secret evidence captured
- Logs and health checks captured
- AZ-204 mock domains passed
AZ-500 / Official source reviewed
Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate
Cloud security engineer, security administrator, DevSecOps engineer, and incident response lead
AZ-500 is scheduled to retire on 2026-08-31. Do not infer or publish a successor exam code until Microsoft confirms it in the official credential catalogue.
Recommended after: Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate
Readiness domain weighting
Identity, access, and privileged operations25%
Network, platform, and workload protection25%
Data, application, and Key Vault security25%
Security operations, monitoring, and governance25%
Lab focus
Mock bank target: 65 questions
- Entra ID controls
- Key Vault
- Defender-style findings
- Network controls, logging, and incident notes
Readiness gates
- Security baseline lab complete
- Detection and audit evidence captured
- Incident response note complete
- AZ-500 mock domains passed
AZ-700 / Official source reviewed
Microsoft Certified: Azure Network Engineer Associate
Azure network engineer, hybrid connectivity specialist, and infrastructure architect
Recommended after: Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate
Readiness domain weighting
Core networking and routing25%
Private access, DNS, and hybrid connectivity25%
Load balancing, application delivery, and edge25%
Network security, monitoring, and operations25%
Lab focus
Mock bank target: 65 questions
- Virtual Network routing
- Private Link
- DNS
- Application Gateway, Firewall, VPN, and ExpressRoute patterns
Readiness gates
- Azure network lab complete
- Topology and route evidence captured
- Private access proof exported
- AZ-700 mock domains passed
DP-203 / Official source reviewed
Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate
Data engineer, analytics engineer, data platform engineer, and lakehouse owner
Readiness domain weighting
Data storage, ingestion, and transformation30%
Analytics serving and data processing25%
Security, governance, and quality20%
Monitoring, optimization, and operational support25%
Lab focus
Mock bank target: 65 questions
- Data lake layout
- Pipelines
- Transformation checks
- Lineage, quality, monitoring, and cost
Readiness gates
- Data pipeline lab complete
- Quality and lineage evidence captured
- Access and cost notes complete
- DP-203 mock domains passed
Expert
Expert Azure certification paths
2 credentials
AZ-305 / Official source reviewed
Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert
Senior solutions architect, cloud architect, migration architect, and enterprise technical leader
Recommended after: Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate
Readiness domain weighting
Identity, governance, monitoring, and landing zones25%
Data storage, integration, and business continuity25%
Infrastructure, apps, networking, and migration30%
Security, resilience, cost, and executive tradeoffs20%
Lab focus
Mock bank target: 75 questions
- Landing zones
- Hub-spoke networking
- Private endpoints
- Resilience, security, migration, and cost
Readiness gates
- Expert architecture lab complete
- Executive decision record complete
- Failure-mode review complete
- AZ-305 mock domains passed
AZ-400 / Official source reviewed
Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert
DevOps engineer, SRE, platform engineer, release engineer, and automation lead
Recommended after: Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate, Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate
Readiness domain weighting
Processes, source control, and collaboration20%
Build, release, deployment, and test automation30%
Security, compliance, IaC, and package strategy25%
Monitoring, feedback, rollback, and improvement25%
Lab focus
Mock bank target: 75 questions
- Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions
- IaC
- Security scanning
- Release gates, rollback, and monitoring
Readiness gates
- Pipeline evidence complete
- Rollback proof captured
- Incident action record complete
- AZ-400 mock domains passed