AI-901 study plan

Week 1chapters 1–5 · about 3 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 1. Responsible AI
  • 2. How generative AI models work and how to choose one
  • 3. AI workloads
  • 4. Microsoft Foundry: models, deployments and code
  • 5. Prompts and agents
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: How generative AI models work: tokens, attention and next-token prediction, Temperature, Top P and max completion tokens explained, AI workload types: generative, agentic, text, speech, vision and extraction, What an AI agent is, and how tool_choice controls tool calls.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AI-901 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Identify AI concepts and capabilities · 40–45%Implement AI solutions by using Microsoft Foundry · 55–60%

Week 2chapters 6–9 · about 3 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 6. Text analysis and translation
  • 7. Speech: recognition, synthesis and voice agents
  • 8. Computer vision and image generation
  • 9. Information extraction with Azure Content Understanding
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Azure Speech capabilities at a glance.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AI-901 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Identify AI concepts and capabilities · 40–45%Implement AI solutions by using Microsoft Foundry · 55–60%

Week 3review Done

• Go back through every chapter’s key takeaways. Anything you can’t explain without looking, re-read that section.
• Re-read the common-trap callouts: they mark the answers that look right but aren’t.
• Check the exam coverage map against Microsoft’s own outline, in case it has changed since the book was checked.
• Take Microsoft’s free practice assessment, if your exam has one, from the official AI-901 study guide page. Revisit the chapters behind any weak area.
• Try the exam sandbox to get used to the exam’s screens and question formats.
• Get the free exam-day checklist and work through it a few days before your exam.

Week 1chapter 1 · about 1 hour Done

• Read chapter:
  • 1. Responsible AI
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AI-901 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Identify AI concepts and capabilities · 40–45%

Week 2chapters 2–3 · about 1 hour Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 2. How generative AI models work and how to choose one
  • 3. AI workloads
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: How generative AI models work: tokens, attention and next-token prediction, Temperature, Top P and max completion tokens explained, AI workload types: generative, agentic, text, speech, vision and extraction.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AI-901 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Identify AI concepts and capabilities · 40–45%

Week 3chapters 4–5 · about 1 hour Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 4. Microsoft Foundry: models, deployments and code
  • 5. Prompts and agents
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: What an AI agent is, and how tool_choice controls tool calls.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AI-901 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Identify AI concepts and capabilities · 40–45%Implement AI solutions by using Microsoft Foundry · 55–60%

Week 4chapters 6–7 · about 1 hour Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 6. Text analysis and translation
  • 7. Speech: recognition, synthesis and voice agents
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Azure Speech capabilities at a glance.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AI-901 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Identify AI concepts and capabilities · 40–45%Implement AI solutions by using Microsoft Foundry · 55–60%

Week 5chapters 8–9 · about 1 hour Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 8. Computer vision and image generation
  • 9. Information extraction with Azure Content Understanding
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AI-901 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Identify AI concepts and capabilities · 40–45%Implement AI solutions by using Microsoft Foundry · 55–60%

Week 6review Done

• Go back through every chapter’s key takeaways. Anything you can’t explain without looking, re-read that section.
• Re-read the common-trap callouts: they mark the answers that look right but aren’t.
• Check the exam coverage map against Microsoft’s own outline, in case it has changed since the book was checked.
• Take Microsoft’s free practice assessment, if your exam has one, from the official AI-901 study guide page. Revisit the chapters behind any weak area.
• Try the exam sandbox to get used to the exam’s screens and question formats.
• Get the free exam-day checklist and work through it a few days before your exam.