AB-730 changes on 20 October 2026: new agents and Copilot Cowork domain

The official AI Business Professional certification page warns that the English version will be updated on 20 October 2026 and points to the study guide. The guide, dated 18 September 2026, already shows the new outline under 'Skills measured as of October 20, 2026' and ends with a change log comparing the two versions block by block.

As with any Microsoft exam, the update hits the English version first. Localized versions are updated roughly eight weeks later; for AB-730 in Spanish that points to mid-December, although Microsoft has not given a specific date.

Current outline: understand generative AI fundamentals (25–30%), manage prompts and conversations by using AI (35–40%) and draft and analyze business content by using AI (25–30%). Outline from 20 October: generative AI fundamentals (25–30%), manage prompts and chats by using Microsoft 365 Copilot (20–25%), manage business content and collaboration by using Microsoft 365 Copilot (20–25%) and, new, drive business outcomes by using agents (20–25%).

According to the change log, the two fundamentals areas change little (minor change). The prompts, chats, content and meetings areas change substantially (major change): model selection when writing a prompt, Copilot memory and instructions, connectors to reach sources beyond Microsoft 365, Work IQ as context, the Facilitator agent, real-time catchup and intelligent recap in meetings all come in. And the current 'create and manage Microsoft 365 Copilot agents' block is removed.

It has two parts. First, selecting and applying prebuilt Microsoft 365 Copilot agents: identifying when a prebuilt agent improves a business workflow, choosing between a prebuilt and a custom agent, applying an agent to a process from the various Copilot experiences and filtering chats by agent. It is a turn from the current outline, which asked you to create agents: now it asks you to use them well.

Second, Microsoft Copilot Cowork: how it helps carry out multi-step business tasks, how it uses skills to complete parts of a task, its security considerations and known limitations, when to use prebuilt or custom skills, delegating a piece of work to Cowork with a prebuilt skill, reviewing its plan, progress and results, and managing scheduled tasks and prompts. This is new for almost everyone, because Cowork is a recent product.

If your exam is booked before 20 October 2026, change nothing: you sit with the current three-domain outline, which is what the AB-730 outline, the three-week plan and the AB-730 practice questions on CertifyDeck cover.

If you sit in English after 20 October, the core stays (fundamentals, prompts, content, meetings) and you need to add the agents and Cowork domain plus the new objectives in the other blocks. At 20–25% it cannot be skipped. If you sit in Spanish, you have roughly eight more weeks with the current outline, but check the official page before booking, because Microsoft can change the schedule.

The CertifyDeck question bank follows the current outline and we will update it to the new one before the change date; until then it covers everything except Cowork and prebuilt agents, which is most of the new exam.