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AZ-800 and AZ-801 retire September 30, 2026. If you're working toward the Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate cert, that's your deadline. After that date, Microsoft retires both exams, and you can't schedule or renew through them anymore.
The replacement is a single exam. AZ-802, Administering Windows Server, leads to a renamed credential, Windows Server Administrator Associate. One exam instead of two. 120 minutes, 700 to pass.
What's different
AZ-802 folds the AZ-800 and AZ-801 blueprints into one test. Active Directory, hybrid networking, storage and file services, security, monitoring, and troubleshooting all show up on a single pass instead of split across two exams.
Passing AZ-800 or AZ-801 already won't earn you partial credit toward AZ-802. You need the combined scope covered in one sitting.
Already hold the Hybrid Administrator Associate cert? You're fine. Microsoft renames it when your renewal window opens. No action needed right now.
Join Anthropic, Kalshi, and Clay at Pioneer on October 7th
Pioneer, the summit where CX leaders redefine what’s possible, is on October 7th.
Join leaders from Fin, Anthropic, Clay, and Kalshi for an insightful conversation on the state of AI transformation.
You’ll discover how some of the most innovative minds in CX have transformed their organizations, learn how they think about CX, and hear how they're planning for what's next.
Join the conversation in San Francisco, or tune in virtually.
What to do
Exam-ready on AZ-800 or AZ-801? Sit it before September 30. No reason to wait and take on the combined exam instead.
Mid-study and won't be ready by then? Pivot to AZ-802 material now. The core Windows Server skills carry over. You'll just need to add whatever the second exam was going to cover.
Starting from scratch? Skip straight to AZ-802 study material. Building study time around an exam retiring in three weeks doesn't make sense.
Also worth knowing: Google Cloud has a new agent-building cert
Professional Agentic Architect [beta closes September 30, 2026]. Google Cloud opened a beta for a certification built entirely around designing and managing AI agent workflows. It's $120 during beta, 40% off the $200 retail price, and it's two parts: a proctored multiple-choice exam plus hands-on labs in Google Skills that you pass separately.
The domain weighting tells you where the emphasis sits. Developing custom agents is a third of the exam. Evaluating and deploying agentic workflows adds another fifth on top of that. Expect scenario and design questions throughout.
One catch worth flagging: the credential is only valid for one year, half the usual span for a Google Cloud professional cert. Sit it, and you're renewing sooner than you're used to.
One more, quick: AWS has a new non-technical AI cert too
AWS Certified AI Business Strategist (exam code AIB-C01) rounds out the trend from a third angle. No coding. No hands-on AWS build required. It's built for people who evaluate, govern, and scale AI initiatives inside an organization: product, strategy, and governance roles. The first AWS cert aimed squarely at that audience.
The pattern holding
Microsoft is consolidating legacy infrastructure exams and threading AI content into the ones that remain. Google is building brand new certs from scratch, purpose-built around agents. AWS is going a step further and certifying people who never touch code at all. Three vendors, three different playbooks, same direction. Agentic and applied AI just became real exam domains on all three platforms.
Keep Learning and Building.