AZ-500 [RETIRED -- today, August 31, 2026]. If you haven't already sat the exam, that window just closed. Microsoft Learn confirms you can no longer earn or renew the Azure Security Engineer Associate certification through AZ-500 after today.
The replacement is already live: SC-500, Implementing End-to-End Security Controls for Cloud and AI Workloads, leading to the Cloud and AI Security Engineer Associate credential. It came out of beta in July, so it's the exam to study for now.
What actually changed
SC-500 isn't just AZ-500 with a new name. The domain list adds AI model security and cloud threat defense on top of the identity, data, and infrastructure security AZ-500 already covered. Same practical shape though. 120 minutes, 50-60 questions, multiple-choice plus interactive components, 700/1000 to pass.
That means the old AZ-500 study guides and courses are now covering maybe 70% of what you need. The new material is the AI workload security piece -- protecting model endpoints, securing data pipelines feeding into AI systems, and defending against threats that specifically target AI infrastructure rather than general Azure resources.
What to do about it
If you were mid-study for AZ-500, don't throw that work away. Entra ID, network security, Defender for Cloud, Sentinel, all of that carries straight over to SC-500. Pull up the SC-500 study guide and treat it as a delta: figure out what's new (the AI security domains) and focus your remaining study time there.
If you hadn't started yet, skip AZ-500 material entirely and go straight to SC-500 resources. No reason to learn a retired exam's structure.
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Also worth knowing: AWS refreshes its ML cert tomorrow
MLA-C02 [beta opens September 1, 2026]. AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer - Associate is getting the same treatment Azure's security cert just got: the beta version opens registration tomorrow, adding generative AI, agentic AI, and foundation model workloads to what was previously a more traditional ML engineering exam.
If you're currently working toward MLA-C01, you're not in a rush. The current version stays available in English through September 28, 2026. But if you're just starting, it's worth waiting a few weeks and going straight for MLA-C02 instead of studying material that's about to be a generation behind.
One more if you're on the Google Cloud track
Google Cloud recertification [now 2 years, down from 3]. Separate from the AI-content trend but worth flagging if you're holding or renewing a Professional-level GCP cert: Google shortened the validity window on most Professional exams, citing how fast the underlying services change. If your renewal date is creeping up, don't assume you have the runway you used to -- check the actual expiration on your Google Cloud Skills Boost profile rather than going off memory.
The pattern here
Two different vendors, two different domains, same move within 24 hours of each other. Security and ML certifications that used to sit next to AI as separate specialties are getting AI folded directly into their core scope. That's not a coincidence, and it's not going to reverse. If you're planning your next few months of study, assume every major cert refresh from here treats AI knowledge as baseline, not bonus material.
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