What does it cost?
Microsoft has not published the fee for AI-500.
Microsoft's FAQ gives $165 as the typical US price of an associate or expert exam; the price depends on the country or region where the exam is proctored.
Source: Microsoft exam page
Microsoft exam
AI-500 Exam facts
Microsoft Certified: Multi-Agent AI Solutions Expert
- Passing score
- 700
Independent: not affiliated with Microsoft. These exam facts are free; the study bundle adds a study guide and two practice exams.
Short answer
Exam AI-500: Designing and Implementing Multi-Agent AI Solutions is the exam for the Microsoft Certified: Multi-Agent AI Solutions Expert certification, for engineers who build production multi-agent systems on Microsoft Foundry. The exam takes 700 of 1,000 to pass.
Sources: exam page, exam guide
Published Microsoft facts for AI-500 on one page. Last updated
Study bundle
Prepare for AI-500
$19
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Your receipt has a license key. Enter it at overqual.com/download for the three PDFs, stamped with your email and order number. They are yours to keep.
Try 5 free sample questions first See 3 pages inside
- A 65-page study guide: every exam domain, weighted like the exam
- Two practice exams: 120 original questions, every answer explained
- Every bundle includes 6 months of access: download the PDFs, and any new editions, until 6 months after your purchase date.
Edition 1.0, October 2026
How many questions and how long?
Microsoft has not published the number of questions or the time for AI-500.
Source: Microsoft exam page
The exam
- Questions
- Not published
- Time
- Not published
- Languages
- English
What score do you need to pass?
The AI-500 passing score is 700, on a scale of 1-1,000.
1-699
700+ PASS
Source: Microsoft exam guide
What does the exam cover?
The AI-500 exam covers four domains, weighted 15-20% / 30-35% / 20-25% / 20-25%.
Source: Microsoft exam guide
D115-20%
Architect multi-agent solutions
D230-35%
Develop multi-agent solutions in Azure
D320-25%
Evaluate, optimize, and monitor multi-agent solutions
D420-25%
Secure, govern, and deploy multi-agent solutions
Architect multi-agent solutions
- 1.1Design logical architecture
- 1.2Specify technology components
Develop multi-agent solutions in Azure
- 2.1Advanced prompt engineering
- 2.2Memory, context and knowledge integration
- 2.3Tool ecosystems
- 2.4Multi-agent orchestration
Evaluate, optimize, and monitor multi-agent solutions
- 3.1Evaluation and validation
- 3.2Prompt and model performance
- 3.3Observability and monitoring
Secure, govern, and deploy multi-agent solutions
- 4.1Security
- 4.2Guardrails
- 4.3Deployment to Azure
Inside the study bundle
Study guide chapters
Nine chapters. Chapters 3 to 6 cover the four exam domains, weighted like the exam.
- 01 What the exam is p. 3
- 02 The multi-agent platform landscape p. 8
- 03 Architect multi-agent solutions p. 15
- 04 Develop multi-agent solutions in Azure p. 23
- 05 Evaluate, optimize and monitor p. 39
- 06 Secure, govern and deploy p. 47
- 07 Final review p. 56
- 08 Sources p. 63
- 09 Edition and updates p. 65
Look inside the study guide
Three pages of the Edition 1.0 study guide: the contents and the first two pages of a chapter.
What is free here, and what is in the bundle?
The exam facts and 5 sample questions are free on this site. The study guide chapters and the two practice exams are in the bundle.
| Item | Free on this site | In the bundle |
|---|---|---|
| Exam facts and change log | Yes, with links to the Microsoft sources | Chapter 1 of the study guide sums up the exam's format and scoring. |
| 5 sample questions | Yes | No. None of the 5 appear in the practice exams. |
| Domain chapters and final review | No | Yes, in the study guide |
| Two practice exams with answer keys | No | Yes, 120 questions with an explanation for every answer |
Questions before you buy
Is this official?
No, the AI-500 bundle is not official. Overqual is independent and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Microsoft.
Does it include real exam questions?
No, the AI-500 bundle contains no exam questions, and every practice question is original.
How is the AI-500 bundle different from Microsoft's free materials?
Microsoft's free pages set out what the AI-500 exam covers. The AI-500 bundle adds a 65-page study guide that covers every exam domain, and two practice exams with 120 original questions, every answer explained. When Microsoft revises the exam, a new edition follows if the changes warrant it, included while your access lasts.
How do I get updates?
Updates to the AI-500 bundle arrive as new editions. Every bundle includes 6 months of access: download the PDFs, and any new editions, until 6 months after your purchase date. Download each new edition at overqual.com/download with the license key from your receipt email. The change log on the exam facts page says what changed.
Can I get a refund?
No. Sales of the AI-500 bundle are final, because downloaded PDFs cannot be returned. Read the free exam facts and try the 5 free sample questions first. If a download fails or you paid twice by mistake, contact Overqual to have the download fixed or the second payment refunded.
Do I need AI-103 before I can take AI-500?
AI-500 is the only exam for the Multi-Agent AI Solutions Expert certification, but the credential also requires the Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer Associate certification, which is earned with exam AI-103 (certification page; Associate certification page). The exam page lists "Related exams: none" and states no prerequisite for sitting the exam itself, and Microsoft does not say whether registration checks for the Associate certification (exam page). AB-100, the Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect exam, leads to a different Expert certification with its own prerequisite list and does not count toward the Multi-Agent AI Solutions Expert certification (AB-100 exam page).
Is AI-500 still in beta, and how long is the exam?
AI-500 entered beta in July 2026, and Microsoft's announcement of Jul 22, 2026 planned general availability for October 2026 (Microsoft announcement). The exam page and the certification page no longer title the exam "(beta)", the label the announcement used. The exam page prints no duration, no question count and no fee amount, and it says a Practice Assessment usually follows within 8 weeks of an exam being out of beta (exam page). Microsoft's general table gives associate and expert role-based exams 100 minutes, or 120 minutes when labs may be included; your registration states the time for AI-500 (exam duration page).
Does AI-500 include labs, and can I use Microsoft Learn during it?
AI-500's pages do not say whether it has labs. Microsoft does not publish a list of exams with labs because labs can be removed for Azure availability or bandwidth reasons, and the exam introduction tells you whether yours includes them (exam FAQ). During associate and expert exams you can open Microsoft Learn in a split screen, except Q&A, Practice Assessments and your profile; no time is added and the timer keeps running (exam duration page).
Ready for AI-500?
Three PDFs, 131 pages: the study guide and two practice exams.
Which products, frameworks and protocols does AI-500 work with?
The AI-500 outline names Microsoft Foundry (with its tracing, human review and AI Red Teaming Agent), Microsoft Agent Framework, LangChain, LangGraph, Hugging Face Transformers, MCP, A2A, RAG, Azure Functions, Azure Logic Apps, Azure API Management and Azure Key Vault. The other Foundry components and the identity and governance services below come from Microsoft's platform documentation, not from the outline.
Source: Microsoft's AI-500 study guide
Microsoft Foundry
- Foundry Agent Service (prompt agents and hosted agents)
- Foundry Models
- Foundry Tools
- Foundry IQ
- Foundry Control Plane
- Guardrails and the AI Red Teaming Agent in Foundry
- Tracing, evaluations and human review in Foundry
Frameworks and protocols
- Microsoft Agent Framework
- LangChain
- LangGraph
- Hugging Face Transformers
- Model Context Protocol (MCP)
- Agent2Agent (A2A)
- Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)
Azure services
- Azure Functions (MCP servers and clients)
- Azure Logic Apps (MCP servers and clients)
- Azure API Management (MCP servers and clients)
- Azure Key Vault (secrets, certificates, key rotation)
- Azure compute, network, storage and data services
Identity and governance
- Microsoft Entra ID and Azure RBAC (identity-based access, OAuth 2.0, on-behalf-of)
- Microsoft Entra Agent ID
- Microsoft Agent 365
How is it delivered?
The AI-500 exam is scheduled through Pearson VUE; online or at a test center in most cases.
- Delivery
- Scheduled through Pearson VUE; online or at a test center in most cases
- Languages
- English
- Prerequisites
- Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer Associate (Exam AI-103), required for the Expert certification
- Validity
- 1 year; renew free online
- Retakes
- 24 hours after a first failed attempt; 14 days between later attempts; at most 5 attempts in 12 months
- Test aids
- Microsoft Learn is available in a split screen during associate and expert exams: all of learn.microsoft.com except Q&A, Practice Assessments and your profile; no extra time is added and the timer keeps running
Source: Microsoft exam page
What are the key dates?
Microsoft has published no dates for AI-500 yet.
Source: Microsoft exam page
Fact sheet
Show the 28 factsHide the facts
- Passing score
- 700 Source: Microsoft exam guide
- Score range
- 1-1,000 Source: Microsoft page
- Languages
- English Source: Microsoft exam page
- Delivery
- Scheduled through Pearson VUE; online or at a test center in most cases Source: Microsoft page
- Validity
- 1 year; renew free online Source: Microsoft exam guide
- Prerequisites
- Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer Associate (Exam AI-103), required for the Expert certification Source: Microsoft page
- Retakes
- 24 hours after a first failed attempt; 14 days between later attempts; at most 5 attempts in 12 months Source: Microsoft page
- Test aids
- Microsoft Learn is available in a split screen during associate and expert exams: all of learn.microsoft.com except Q&A, Practice Assessments and your profile; no extra time is added and the timer keeps running Source: Microsoft page
- Domain weights
- D1 15-20% / D2 30-35% / D3 20-25% / D4 20-25% Source: Microsoft exam guide
- Certification earned
- Microsoft Certified: Multi-Agent AI Solutions Expert; AI-500 is its only exam Source: Microsoft page
- Job roles
- AI Edge Engineer, AI Engineer, Developer, Solution Architect Source: Microsoft page
- Outline size
- 4 skill areas, 12 skill groups, 55 bullets Source: Microsoft exam guide
- Outline date
- None published; Microsoft's AI-500 study guide carries no 'skills measured as of' date and no change log Source: Microsoft exam guide
- Preview features
- Most questions cover GA features; Preview features may appear if they are commonly used Source: Microsoft exam guide
- Practice Assessment
- Not available yet; Microsoft says one usually follows within 8 weeks of general availability Source: Microsoft exam page
- Exam sandbox
- Microsoft's exam sandbox (aka.ms/examdemo) demonstrates the exam interface and question types Source: Microsoft page
- Instructor-led course
- AI-500T00-A Design and implement multi-agent AI solutions: 4 days, level Advanced, English Source: Microsoft page
- Learning paths
- Not yet available Source: Microsoft page
- Extra time if the exam is not in your language
- 30 minutes on request Source: Microsoft exam guide
- Breaks
- 5 minutes are built into the exam time for unscheduled breaks; the clock keeps running, and questions seen before a break cannot be revisited Source: Microsoft page
- Scoring details
- Some questions may be unscored; there is no penalty for guessing; most multi-part questions earn one point per correct component Source: Microsoft page
- Labs
- Microsoft does not publish which exams contain labs; the exam introduction says whether yours does. Exams with labs have 1 or 2 labs of 7-15 tasks, delivered at test centers that meet connectivity requirements Source: Microsoft page
- Standard duration, associate and expert exams
- 100 minutes (120 minutes seat time) without labs; 120 minutes (140 minutes seat time) when labs may be included Source: Microsoft page
- Typical question count (most Microsoft exams)
- 40-60 questions Source: Microsoft page
- Typical fee, associate and expert exams
- $165 Source: Microsoft page
- Renewal
- Free, unproctored, open-book online assessment in a six-month window before expiry; passing extends the certification one year from the expiration date Source: Microsoft page
- Registration account
- Microsoft recommends registering with a personal Microsoft account; records under a work or school account are lost if you leave that organization Source: Microsoft exam page
- Scheduling limits
- At most two Microsoft Certification exams scheduled at a time through Pearson VUE; exams can be scheduled no more than 90 days in advance Source: Microsoft page
What has changed, and when?
Changes to the exam and to the products it covers, newest first.
- Microsoft announced the certification and the AI-500 beta, with general availability planned for October 2026 and AI-103's certification required. Microsoft page
- Microsoft's June 2026 credentials roundup listed AI-500 as beta in July 2026 and generally available in September 2026. Microsoft page
To watch Microsoft directly, check the exam page.