Update: Updated the AI exam heading and technical background expectations, corrected scaled scoring, and removed unsupported claims about identical formats and difficulty.
This guide compares four Microsoft fundamentals options: AZ-900, AI-901, SC-900, and DP-900. Similar certification levels do not mean identical technical expectations or exam formats. Choose by the work you want to understand and the background each current exam page expects. Older AI-900 materials need checking against the AI-901 outline rather than treating the change as a new label alone.
The four exams at a glance
- AZ-900: Azure Fundamentals - general cloud concepts and core Azure services. The default starting point for anyone new to Azure.
- AI-900 (now AI-901): AI Fundamentals - AI and generative AI concepts, and building AI solutions and agents on Azure.
- SC-900: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals - identity, Microsoft security tooling, and compliance concepts.
- DP-900: Azure Data Fundamentals - core data concepts and Azure's relational, non-relational, and analytics data services.
Do not assume that similar certification levels mean identical exam formats. Check the current exam page for duration and experience details. Microsoft reports technical exam results on a 1-1000 scale with 700 required to pass; that scaled result is not a raw percentage of correct answers.
AZ-900: Azure Fundamentals
AZ-900 is the broadest and most general of the four. It covers cloud concepts (public/private/hybrid, economies of scale, shared responsibility), core Azure services at a recognition level (compute, networking, storage, databases), and Azure management and governance basics. It is the right starting point if your goal is general cloud literacy rather than a specific specialty, and it is the exam most people mean when they say 'I want a Microsoft fundamentals certification' without a more specific goal in mind.
AI-900 (now AI-901): AI Fundamentals
For the current AI path, review AI-901. Microsoft's audience profile expects foundational technical skills, Python syntax and programming knowledge, and familiarity with Azure resources. Its skills outline includes AI concepts and implementation with Microsoft Foundry. Do not assume that an older, vocabulary-only AI-900 study plan covers those expectations.
SC-900: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals
SC-900 covers security, compliance, and identity concepts across Microsoft's stack: Microsoft Entra ID (identity and access management), Microsoft's security tooling (Defender, Sentinel, and related services at a conceptual level), and Microsoft's compliance solutions (Purview and related governance tools). Unlike AZ-900, SC-900 is not really about Azure infrastructure - it is about how Microsoft approaches identity, protection, and compliance across its ecosystem, including Microsoft 365. This is the right exam for anyone heading toward a security, compliance, or identity-focused role, or already working in one and wanting a Microsoft-specific credential to match.
DP-900: Azure Data Fundamentals
DP-900 covers core data concepts - relational vs non-relational data, transactional vs analytical workloads - and how Azure's data services map to them: Azure SQL, Cosmos DB, Azure Storage, and analytics services like Synapse. It assumes no prior data background and is built for people who need to understand data terminology and Azure's data service lineup without doing hands-on database or pipeline work themselves. This is the right exam if your path is heading toward data engineering, data analytics, or database administration roles.
Which one should you take first
Match the exam to the role you are heading toward, not to which one sounds most impressive:
- General cloud literacy, no specific specialty yet, or a non-technical role that touches Azure conversations: start with AZ-900.
- Heading toward AI, machine learning, or generative AI and agent work: start with AI-901.
- Heading toward security, identity, or compliance roles: start with SC-900.
- Heading toward data engineering, analytics, or database administration: start with DP-900.
- Genuinely unsure: AZ-900 is the safest general default, since Azure core concepts underpin the other three exams to some degree.
Can and should you take more than one
Taking more than one can make sense when the subjects support your work. For example, cloud administration and security concepts may complement each other. Before adding another exam, identify what new skill it would develop and compare its preparation demands with the hands-on experience you could gain in the same time. There is no universal preparation duration.
The bottom line
Choose by subject and expected technical background: cloud concepts, AI implementation, security and identity, or data. Read the current skills outline before buying a course. An exam's Fundamentals label alone does not tell you which one will be easiest or most useful for you.