AI-200 study guide · 2026

The 4 AI-200 domains, explained

4 domains and 9 official functional groups. Develop AI solutions by using Azure data management services carries the most weight at 25–30%. Each guide explains what the domain covers, how its questions are framed and where candidates lose marks.

Start with Domain 2 See all domains
Questions
40–60 (varies; not published)
Time
120 minutes
Passing score
700 / 1000
Outline
AI-200 skills measured as of 15 April 2026 (current)

Exam blueprint

Bar widths follow the official weights, scaled to fit the bar. Weight ranges are drawn at their midpoint.

  1. 1 20–25%
  2. 2 25–30%
  3. 3 20–25%
  4. 4 20–25%
  1. 1 Develop containerized solutions on Azure
  2. 2 Develop AI solutions by using Azure data management services
  3. 3 Connect to and consume Azure services
  4. 4 Secure, monitor, and troubleshoot Azure solutions

All 4 domains

9 official functional groups 65–105 hrs suggested study

  1. Domain 01 20–25%

    Develop containerized solutions on Azure

    This domain covers packaging and running AI workloads in containers. It covers building and storing images in Azure Container Registry, hosting containers in App Service and Container Apps, event-driven scaling with KEDA, and deploying and troubleshooting on Azure Kubernetes Service.

    Inside this domain

    • Implement container application hosting
    • Implement container-orchestrated solutions

    Watch for AKS for simple scaling

    Functional groups
    2
    Questions est.
    9–14
    Study time est.
    15–25 hrs
  2. Domain 02 25–30%

    Develop AI solutions by using Azure data management services

    This is the largest and most distinctive AI-200 domain. It covers the data layer of AI apps: vector search and queries in Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL, pgvector and RAG patterns in Azure Database for PostgreSQL, and caching and vector indexing in Azure Managed Redis.

    Inside this domain

    • Develop AI solutions by using Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL
    • Develop AI solutions by using Azure Database for PostgreSQL
    • Integrate Azure Managed Redis in AI solutions

    Watch for Full-text for semantic

    Functional groups
    3
    Questions est.
    11–16
    Study time est.
    20–30 hrs
  3. Domain 03 20–25%

    Connect to and consume Azure services

    This domain covers the connective tissue of AI apps: event- and message-based solutions with Azure Service Bus and Event Grid, and serverless APIs and processing with Azure Functions triggers and bindings.

    Inside this domain

    • Develop event- and message-based AI solutions
    • Develop and implement Azure Functions

    Watch for Event Grid for reliable work

    Functional groups
    2
    Questions est.
    9–14
    Study time est.
    15–25 hrs
  4. Domain 04 20–25%

    Secure, monitor, and troubleshoot Azure solutions

    This domain covers running AI solutions safely and observably. It covers securing secrets and configuration with Azure Key Vault and App Configuration, distributed tracing with OpenTelemetry, and analyzing logs and metrics with KQL.

    Inside this domain

    • Implement secure Azure solutions
    • Monitor and troubleshoot Azure solutions

    Watch for Secret in App Configuration

    Functional groups
    2
    Questions est.
    9–14
    Study time est.
    15–25 hrs

Study the heaviest domains first

Marks follow weight. This order puts the most marks behind you first, across about 65–105 hrs of study.

  1. 2 Develop AI solutions by using Azure data management services 25–30% · 20–30 hrs
  2. 1 Develop containerized solutions on Azure 20–25% · 15–25 hrs
  3. 3 Connect to and consume Azure services 20–25% · 15–25 hrs
  4. 4 Secure, monitor, and troubleshoot Azure solutions 20–25% · 15–25 hrs

Try one

Practice questionDomain 2: Develop AI solutions by using Azure data management services

A developer must build a retrieval-augmented generation feature that finds the most semantically similar documents to a user's question to ground a language model's response, using the team's existing Azure Database for PostgreSQL. Which approach is MOST appropriate?

One trap from every domain

The answer that looks right, and the clue that gives it away.

  • Domain 1

    AKS for simple scaling

    Clue The requirement is event-driven scaling with no cluster management.

  • Domain 2

    Full-text for semantic

    Clue The retrieval must be by meaning, not exact words.

  • Domain 3

    Event Grid for reliable work

    Clue The need is reliable, ordered processing with dead-lettering.

  • Domain 4

    Secret in App Configuration

    Clue The value is a password, key or other secret.

Other Cloud Computing certifications

Study guides for exams that overlap with AI-200.

Practise what you read

AI-200 domains: common questions

How many domains are in the AI-200 exam?

AI-200 has 4 domains with 9 official functional groups between them: Develop containerized solutions on Azure, Develop AI solutions by using Azure data management services, Connect to and consume Azure services and Secure, monitor, and troubleshoot Azure solutions.

Which AI-200 domain carries the most weight?

Develop AI solutions by using Azure data management services is the heaviest at 25–30%, followed by Develop containerized solutions on Azure (20–25%). The lightest is Secure, monitor, and troubleshoot Azure solutions (20–25%). Weights come from Microsoft's official outline.

What is the AI-200 exam format?

Questions: 40–60 (varies; not published). Time allowed: 120 minutes. Passing score: 700 / 1000.

How long should I study for AI-200?

Our planning estimate is 65–105 hrs across all domains, split by weight. It is an editorial estimate, not an official figure, so adjust it to your experience and to how you score on practice questions.

Where should I start?

Start with Develop AI solutions by using Azure data management services, because it carries the most marks, then work down by weight. Use the checklist on each domain page to confirm you can do what the domain asks before moving on.

Which outline is this guide based on?

This guide follows AI-200 skills measured as of 15 April 2026 (current), published by Microsoft. It was last reviewed in October 2026.

Domain names, weights and functional groups come from Microsoft's official outline (AI-200 skills measured as of 15 April 2026 (current)). Question counts and study hours are editorial planning estimates, not official figures. Last reviewed October 2026.