In this article, we will discuss Azure Artificial Intelligence Engineer certification. As cloud computing grows, more services are being offered which include artificial intelligence.
Microsoft Azure is one of the leading cloud computing platforms that offer hundreds of services to customers, especially enterprises ranging from cloud infrastructure to big data and artificial intelligence. Microsoft Azure offers comprehensive end-to-end services that are appealing to most organizations.
Microsoft Azure offers a wide variety of cloud certifications including Azure Artificial Intelligence certification. There are now thirteen Microsoft Azure Certifications divided into three levels which are Fundamental, Associate and Expert.
The certifications for Azure Artificial Intelligence have Fundamental and Associate levels only. For the Fundamental level, it’s known as AI-900 or Exam AI-900: Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals and the Associate level is known as AI-102 or Exam AI-102: Designing and Implementing a Microsoft AI Solution.
Back in June 2021, the certification was known as AI-100 however Microsoft has decided to retire AI-100 and introduced AI-102. There is no expert level for Azure Artificial Intelligence making AI-102 the most desirable certification.
What is the exam about?
The exam AI-102 syllabus can be divided into five sections.
- Plan and manage an Azure Cognitive Services solution
- Implement Computer Vision solutions
- Implement natural language processing solutions
- Implement knowledge-mining solutions
- Implement conversational AI solutions
Section 1. Plan and manage an Azure Cognitive Services solution (10–15%)
This section covers around 10% to 15% of the exam.
For this section, you must know how to:
- Select the appropriate Cognitive Services resource, how to create it and how to secure it
- How to implement and configure Cognitive Services containers
Section 2. Implement Computer Vision solutions (20–25%)
This section covers around 20% to 25% of the exam.
This section tests how to implement natural language processing solutions in Azure:
- How to analyze images by using the Computer Vision API
- How to extract text from images
- How to extract facial information from images
- How to implement image classification by using the Custom Vision service
- How to analyze video by using Azure Video Analyzer for Media
Section 3. Implement Natural Language Processing Solutions (25–30%)
This section covers around 25-30% of the exam.
This section tests how to implement natural language processing solutions in Azure:
- How to analyze text by using the Language service
- How to manage speech by using the Speech service
- How to translate language
- How to build an initial language model by using language understanding
- How to iterate on and optimize a language model by using language understanding
- How to manage a language understanding mode
- How to create a Questions Answering solution using the Language service
Section 4. Implement Knowledge Mining Solutions (15–20%)
This section covers around 15-20% of the exam.
This section requires an understanding of how to:
- Implement a Cognitive Search Solution
- Implement an AI enrichment pipeline
- Implement a knowledge store
- Manage a Cognitive Search Solution
- Manage Indexing for the solution
Section 5. Implement conversational AI solutions (10–15%)
This section covers around 10-15% of the exam.
This section is covering on how to:
- Design and implement conversation flow
- Create a bot by using the Bot Framework SDK
- Create a bot by using the Bot Framework Compose
- Integrate Cognitive Services into a bot
What is the passing mark?
The passing mark is 700. Usually, the exam questions will vary between 45 questions to 60 questions.
Who can take this exam?
If you possess Microsoft Artificial Intelligence Fundamental (AI-900) certificate, taking the AI-102 certificate is your next step. As AI-102 is an associate level, this exam requires basic C# or Python programming and some understanding of REST-based APIs and SDKs, however, do not fret if you don’t have the basics as you can learn and get familiar with the programming languages by using this free, self-paced Microsoft online training here. It is recommended to take AI-900 before you take AI-102. You can join free Microsoft training for AI-900 and earn a free exam voucher. To learn more about free Microsoft training, you can visit this website. All Azure fundamental certificates have no expiration limit.
How much is the exam cost and where to take the exam?
The exam cost varies depending on your country. If you’re from the United States, the exam cost is $165. If you’re from India, the exam cost will be around ₹4800 INR. You can check what is the exam cost here. The length of the exam is 130 mins.
You can take the exam either by booking at the nearest exam center or by online proctored exam. You can book the exam here by clicking on the Schedule Exam button and it will redirect you to create a profile then you can continue to schedule the exam.
The languages available for you to take the exam are English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Arabic (Saudi Arabia), Russian, Chinese (Traditional), Italian, and Indonesian (Indonesia).
If you are taking an online proctored exam, usually the proctor’s language will be either English or Japanese.
Once you have scheduled your exam, it is recommended that you do the environment testing if you’re taking the online proctored exam. Microsoft will send you a confirmation email once your exam is scheduled successfully. In the email, there will be steps you can follow to test your laptop and the camera.
How to learn and pass the exam?
I recommend starting to prepare for the exam with Microsoft Learn. Microsoft Learn is a free training provided by Microsoft and you can learn by determining your own pace. In addition, most online courses are following the structure of Microsoft Learn to train the students, especially for lab training. You can utilize the lab simulation for free for one hour every day. However, you still need an Azure subscription.
You can sign up for Azure for free with a credit card and you can get free $200 credit for 30 days and some free access to Azure services for 12 months. If you’re a student and have an edu email, you can get a free Azure subscription for $100 with no credit card required and free access to most Azure services for 12 months.
However, Microsoft Learn alone might not be sufficient for your preparation. I recommend buying this Udemy course by Scott Duffy , AI-102 Microsoft AI Solution Complete Exam Prep 2022 here.
Scott is an experienced instructor and his explanation is easy to understand especially for those who are not exposed to Azure Artificial Intelligence services yet. However, please note that in the exam, you can choose either to use C# or Python and Scott only covers C# in his course.
There will be lab training for each section and there will be one practice test after the instructor has covered every lecture. The content of the course is similar to the exam syllabus. The instructor will explain about Azure Artificial Intelligence services such as Azure Cognitive Services Solution, Custom Vision, Computer Vision, Video Analyzer (Indexer), Speech Service, Language Understanding Service (LUIS), Bot Framework Composer and Bot Framework SDK. For this exam, hands-on training is crucial to deepen your understanding and thus prepare you for the exam.
Once you have completed the course, I highly recommend this practice exam by Wade Henderson. It has six practice tests for you to get familiar with before taking the exam. Once you’re done with each test, you can do the review.
Other than this practice exam, I also would like to recommend this practice exam on the Test Prep Training website. I have bought AI-900 and AI-102 exams from them and it’s one of the best practice exams you can get.
The good news is you can use this code TOGETHER at checkout to enjoy a 30% discount. The practice exam allows you to take in exam mode or practice mode and also there are full-length test sets. You can also do the review after each test.
Based on my personal experience, practice exams are really helpful with your preparation. It will test your memory and understanding of the syllabus and you can take the practice exam in the exam mode with time and this will be greatly beneficial in helping you to get familiar with the exam settings.
How To Renew Exam AI-102
Congratulations! You have passed the exam and you are a certified Azure Artificial Intelligence engineer now. Please note that the AI-102 certificate is only valid for a year.
To renew your certification, Microsoft will send an email as a reminder, six months before your certificate expires. But, if you try to renew when the certificate has expired, you are required to take the exam again and you need to pay for the exam.
Recently I renewed my AI-102 certificate and it’s really quick and hassle-free. To refresh your memory before taking the renewal, you can go to AI-102 Microsoft Learn here. The renewal assessment is an open-book assessment, consisting of around 25 to 30 questions. The passing mark is 62%. The questions mostly test the coding itself but if you have gone through Microsoft Learn, it wouldn’t be a big obstacle for you to pass.
To recap for Exam AI-102 Overview:
- The level of the exam is Associate.
- The length of the exam is 130 minutes.
- Cost: Varies depending on your country. For more info, please visit Microsoft Learn here.
- The number of questions: 40 to 60 questions.
- The passing mark is 700.
- Microsoft Azure Artificial Intelligence AI-102 Exam is valid for only one year.
- Renewal is free if taken before the certificate expires
I hope this article helps you to pass Exam AI-102 and guides those who have passed the exam to renew it. I wish you the best of luck and all the best in your cloud computing journey.
