AB-730 vs AB-731: which should you take?
Take AB-730 if you use AI tools yourself and want to prove you can do it well; take AB-731 if you decide where and how your organisation adopts AI. AB-730, AI Business Professional, is about the individual user: prompts, chats, documents, meetings and agents inside Microsoft 365 Copilot. AB-731, AI Transformation Leader, is about the decision-maker: business value, choosing Microsoft AI services, responsible AI governance and adoption planning. Neither requires you to write code, and both are 45-minute exams.
The two exams side by side
| AB-730 | AB-731 | |
|---|---|---|
| Certification | Microsoft Certified: AI Business Professional | Microsoft Certified: AI Transformation Leader |
| Audience | People who use Copilot and agents in daily work | Business decision-makers who guide AI adoption |
| Level | Beginner | Beginner |
| Duration | 45 minutes | 45 minutes |
| Passing score | 700 / 1000 | 700 / 1000 |
| Main products | Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Chat, agents, Copilot Cowork | Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, Foundry Tools |
| Flavour | Do it: write the prompt, pick the agent | Decide it: build, buy or extend; who owns governance |
What each exam covers
AB-730 has four skill areas as of October 20, 2026: generative AI fundamentals (25–30%), managing prompts and chats (20–25%), managing business content and collaboration (20–25%), and driving business outcomes with agents (20–25%). See the exam format.
AB-731 has three: the business value of generative AI (35–40%), the benefits and capabilities of Microsoft’s AI apps and services (35–40%), and an implementation and adoption strategy (20–25%). That includes governance, an AI council, a champions programme and licensing models. Its guide is at AB-731.
Where they overlap
Both start from generative AI concepts, both care about responsible AI and data protection, and both expect you to know what Microsoft 365 Copilot is. The overlap is conceptual. At AB-730 you apply a risk such as inaccuracy or prompt injection to one prompt. At AB-731 you apply the same idea to policy, for example how to establish governance principles.
AB-731 also covers topics AB-730 never touches: tokens and cost drivers, retrieval-augmented generation, Microsoft Foundry and licence types. AB-730 goes deeper on features you click: saved and scheduled prompts, notebooks, the meeting tools and Cowork.
And AB-900?
AB-900 is a third exam in the same family, aimed at administrators. It covers Microsoft 365 core features, data protection and governance, and basic administration of Copilot and agents. If your job is to configure Copilot for other people rather than to use it, AB-900 is the closer match. If you do both, there is no required order among the three.
Which one first?
- You use Microsoft 365 daily and want to work faster with Copilot: AB-730.
- You manage a team and need to decide on AI investment: AB-731.
- You manage tenants, licences and data protection: AB-900.
- You are a manager who also writes prompts all day: AB-730 first, because the hands-on vocabulary makes AB-731 easier to follow.
Microsoft lists no prerequisite for any of them. Build a revision plan for your choice from the AB-730 study plan.