Formerly AZ-204 -- restructured for AI-200 (beta April 2026, GA July 2026)
Comprehensive study guide for the Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Cloud Developer Associate certification exam.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Exam | AI-200 |
| Full Name | Azure AI Cloud Developer Associate |
| Replaces | AZ-204 (retiring August 31, 2026) |
| Level | Intermediate |
| Duration | 100 minutes |
| Format | Multiple choice, case studies, scenario-based |
| Beta | April 2026 |
| GA | July 2026 (estimated) |
| Course | AI-200T00 |
| Week | Learning Path | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Container Hosting | ACR, App Service containers, Container Apps |
| 2 | Container Hosting | AKS deployment, configuration, monitoring |
| 3 | Cosmos DB + PostgreSQL | NoSQL + vector search with pgvector |
| 4 | Azure Managed Redis | Data operations, messaging, vector storage |
| 5 | Backend Services | Functions, Service Bus, Event Grid |
| 6 | Secrets & Configuration | Key Vault, managed identities, App Configuration |
| 7 | Observability | OpenTelemetry, Azure Monitor, KQL |
| 8 | Review | Practice exams, hands-on labs, cheat sheets |
| # | Learning Path | Topics | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Container Hosting | ACR, App Service Containers, Container Apps, AKS (x3) | Migrated + Placeholders |
| 2 | Cosmos DB | Cosmos DB NoSQL with vector search | Migrated (reshape pending) |
| 3 | PostgreSQL Vector Search | Flexible Server, pgvector, HNSW indexes | Placeholder |
| 4 | Azure Managed Redis | Data operations, pub/sub, vector storage | Placeholder |
| 5 | Backend Services | Service Bus, Event Grid, Azure Functions | Migrated |
| 6 | Secrets & Configuration | Key Vault, managed identities, App Configuration | Migrated |
| 7 | Observability | OpenTelemetry, logs/metrics analysis | Placeholder + Migrated |
Each topic directory contains:
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
README.md |
Overview, learning objectives, AI-200 relevance |
notes.md |
Comprehensive study notes |
code-examples/ |
Practical code snippets |
practice-questions.md |
Self-assessment questions with answers |
hands-on-lab.md |
Step-by-step lab exercises |
cheat-sheet.md |
Quick-reference for exam review |
Topics removed from AI-200 are preserved in archive/az-204/ for reference:
- API Management
- Blob Storage
- Event Hubs
- Microsoft Graph, SAS, and MSAL
See the AZ-204 to AI-200 transition article for a detailed analysis of what changed and why.
- AI-200 Exam Page (available when beta opens)
- AI-200T00 Training Course (available when beta opens)
- Microsoft Learn Paths
- Azure Documentation
- At least 2 years of programming experience
- Proficiency with Azure SDKs, Azure CLI, and containerized applications
- Understanding of cloud concepts (AZ-900 recommended)
- Familiarity with AI concepts (embeddings, vector search, RAG patterns)