Power Platform Certifications in 2026: What Microsoft Retired and What to Take Instead
Howdang Rashid
Monday, 17 August 2026 · 3 min read
Microsoft just retired some of the biggest Power Platform certifications. PL-200. PL-600. PL-500. All going - and in their place, a completely new wave of AI-focused exams under the "AB" family.
If you built your career plan around the old exam path, this is the reset you need. Here's what changed, what the new path looks like, and how I'd plan a certification year in 2026.
The full roadmap with clickable links to every exam is free in the Powercademy Success Kit.
Which Power Platform certifications did Microsoft retire?
The 2026 retirement wave removed three of the most established Power Platform exams:
PL-200 (Power Platform Functional Consultant) - retired
PL-600 (Power Platform Solution Architect) - retired
PL-500 (Power Automate RPA Developer) - retired
If you already hold these, they don't stop mattering overnight - they still evidence real skills. But the path for new certifications has moved.
What replaced them: the AB exam family
Microsoft's new certification direction is unambiguous: agentic AI. The new "AB" family covers the skills Microsoft expects the next generation of business-applications professionals to hold:
AB-100 - Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect
AB-410 - Intelligent App Builder
AB-620 - AI Agent Builder
AB-410 and AB-620 entered beta in April 2026 and went live in mid-2026. Alongside the exams, the Copilot Studio Academy (built by April Dunnam and the team at Microsoft) offers Recruit and Operative learning tracks that pair well with the exam path - and AZ-900 (Azure Fundamentals) remains a genuinely useful on-ramp, because you'll be touching Azure a lot.
Why the change happened
By the end of this year, I believe a Power Platform expert without agentic AI skills will be a legacy expert. That sounds dramatic, but every contact I speak to - including Microsoft's own people - now brings up agents in some capacity. For years Copilot Studio was the "new kid on the block" and we could afford to skip it. That window has closed, and the certification overhaul makes it official: if you can't build, deploy, and govern agents, you're losing your competitive edge in the market.
How to plan your 2026 certification path
My suggested order, depending on where you're starting:
New to the platform? PL-900 (Power Platform Fundamentals) still earns its place as the foundation, with AZ-900 as a strong companion.
Working maker or consultant? Go straight at the AB family - AB-410 for the app-building track, AB-620 for the agent-building track - and work through the Copilot Studio Academy tracks alongside.
Architect-level? AB-100 is the flagship: agentic AI business solutions architecture is where the old PL-600 energy has gone.
FAQ
Is PL-200 still worth taking?
You can't - it's retired. If you hold it already, it still evidences your consulting skillset; for new certs, look at the AB family instead.
Did PL-900 get retired too?
No - the fundamentals exam remains the standard entry point to the platform.
What order should I take the AB exams in?
For most Power Platform professionals: AB-410 or AB-620 first depending on whether apps or agents are closer to your day job, then AB-100 when you're operating at solution-architecture level.
Where does Copilot Studio Academy fit?
It's Microsoft's hands-on learning track for Copilot Studio (Recruit and Operative levels) - not an exam, but excellent preparation for AB-620 and genuinely practical on its own.
I maintain a full certification roadmap graphic with clickable links to every exam and study resource, updated every time Microsoft moves the goalposts (we're on V4 now). It's free in the Powercademy Success Kit.