In plain words
AB-410: Building Intelligent Applications is the associate exam for people who build business solutions on Power Platform. It checks that you can take a real requirement and turn it into Dataverse tables, model-driven and canvas apps, cloud flows, AI prompts and agents that work together.
Think of PL-900 as learning the names of every tool in a workshop. AB-410 is the day the instructor hands you a job card and watches you build the cupboard. You must pick the right tool, set it up correctly and explain why you chose it.
Passing AB-410 earns Microsoft Certified: Intelligent Applications Builder Associate. The exam lasts 120 minutes and the passing score is 700. Like other associate certifications, it stays valid for a year, and you renew it with a free online assessment on Microsoft Learn.
Why it matters
Companies no longer want apps that only store data. They want apps that summarise long records, classify requests, suggest next steps and hand work to agents. AB-410 was written for that world. It tests whether you can add AI in the right place, with the right controls, and still build a clean data model underneath.
For you, it is the natural next step after PL-900. It proves you can deliver a working solution, not just describe one. It is also the base for the developer track (AB-400) if you later move into code.
How it works
1. How AB-410 differs from PL-900 and PL-200.
| PL-900 | PL-200 (retired) | AB-410 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level | Fundamentals | Associate | Associate |
| Main question | What does this tool do? | How does a functional consultant configure the platform? | How do you build an intelligent solution for this scenario? |
| Status | Current | Retired on 31 August 2026 | Current; replaced PL-200 |
| AI focus | Awareness of Copilot and agents | Lighter | Central: prompt columns, row summaries, generative pages, AI Hub prompts and models, agents from apps |
Many PL-200 skills carry over: Dataverse tables and security, model-driven and canvas apps, cloud flows, business rules and business process flows. What changes is the emphasis. AB-410 expects you to design with AI-enabled tools such as Plan designer, and to use prompts and AI models inside apps and flows.
2. The three exam areas.
| Area | Weight | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Create a foundation for intelligent applications | 25–30% | Design with AI-enabled tools, built-in agents, extensibility, environment types, solutions and ALM; data models including tables, columns, relationships, prompt columns, row summaries, views, main forms and security |
| Create intelligent applications | 25–30% | Model-driven apps (forms, views, generative pages, app access, charts, dashboards) and canvas apps (data, accessibility, performance, components, variables, error handling, testing, agents from a canvas app) |
| Build business application logic and automation | 40–45% | Cloud flows, approvals and troubleshooting; AI Hub prompts and AI models in apps and flows; business rules, business process flows, and calculated, rollup and formula columns |
3. Prerequisites. Microsoft expects you to arrive with:
- Familiarity with Copilot in Power Apps, Power Automate, Power Pages and Dataverse.
- Awareness of how agents are created in Copilot Studio.
- Basic knowledge of AI models and prompts in AI Hub.
- The ability to map a business process to a flow, an agent or an app feature.
- Working knowledge of Dataverse and Power Fx, the formula language of canvas apps.
- Awareness of environment governance, security roles, data policies and the solution lifecycle.
PL-900 gave you the vocabulary for all of these. This track fills in the depth.
4. Your environments. An environment is a separate space with its own Dataverse database, apps and flows. Real teams never build in production. You will copy that habit.
| Environment | Type | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| CHD Dev | Developer | Where you build. The solution here is unmanaged, so you can edit everything. |
| CHD Test | Developer | Where you import the managed solution and check it works like a real user would see it. |
You create both with the free Power Apps Developer Plan. A developer environment is meant for one person to build and learn in. In a company, test would usually be a sandbox environment, but two developer environments teach the same idea.
5. The Campus Help Desk solution. A solution is a box that holds your components so they move together. Its publisher supplies the prefix chd, so your columns get schema names such as chd_priority and chd_duedate. You set the solution as the preferred solution, so anything you create in CHD Dev lands in it automatically.
6. Study approach.
- Print or copy the official skills list and tick each bullet as you complete it.
- For each lesson, read, do the lab in CHD Dev, then answer the quiz without notes.
- Every few lessons, export a managed solution and import it into CHD Test. This builds real ALM muscle memory.
- Practise explaining choices aloud: "I used a business rule because the logic is simple and must run on the form and on the server."
- Use the free practice assessment on Microsoft Learn near the end, and revisit the areas where you score lowest.
Example: Campus Help Desk
Here is how the running project grows in this track.
- Foundation. You keep Ticket and Category and extend Ticket with columns such as Ticket Number (autonumber), Channel and Resolved On. You reuse the standard Contact table for students. You add a prompt column that summarises long ticket descriptions and turn on row summaries.
- Apps. The Help Desk Staff model-driven app gets better forms and views, a generative page for a triage board, and a dashboard. The student canvas app gets reusable components, error handling and an agent built from the app.
- Logic. You add a business process flow with stages New, Assigned, Resolved and Closed. You create an AI Hub prompt that classifies each new ticket into a category and call it from a cloud flow. Business rules and formula columns handle simple rules such as "overdue".
- ALM. Everything lives in the Campus Help Desk solution with prefix
chd. You export it as managed and import it into CHD Test after each milestone.
Common mistakes
- Studying AB-410 like PL-900, by memorising definitions. The exam gives scenarios and asks which option fits best.
- Building outside a solution. Components created in the Default Solution with a random prefix are hard to move later.
- Skipping the logic and automation labs because apps feel more fun. That area carries the most weight.
- Assuming PL-200 notes are enough. Newer topics such as prompt columns, row summaries, generative pages and AI Hub prompts are central now.
- Testing only as the maker. You must also check what a user with a limited security role sees.
How the exam asks about it
- Most questions describe a business need and several possible components. Clue words such as "without code", "summarise", "classify" or "guide users through stages" point to specific features you will meet in later lessons.
- Expect "choose the best option" questions where two answers work but one is simpler, cheaper or more secure. Pick the one that meets every stated requirement with the least effort.
- ALM appears across topics: "move to production", "different values per environment" or "prevent changes in test" all point back to solutions, environment variables and managed solutions.