Monthly Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program update

On this page4 sections

1. Partner University Retirement Reminder
2. Changes to Specializations and Solutions Partner Designations
3. Coming soon
4. Audit Checklists for All Four Security Specializations

This month’s updates continue to enhance partner differentiation and readiness across high-demand solution areas. Key changes include specialization updates that integrate AI capabilities, revised skilling and performance requirements, and streamlined qualification frameworks to support partner growth and agility.

Impacted audience

Partners enrolled in the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program

Partner University Retirement Reminder

Partner University will be retired effective 15 June 2026, impacting partners aspiring to enroll in the Modern Work Solutions Partner designation and two Modern Work specializations,

Here’s what partners need to know:

• Existing Partner University user linkings continue to be honored. Partners receive credit and skilling score for these linkings until June 2027.
• After June 2027, all Partner University assessments will be fully retired and will no longer be used for reporting, skilling score calculation, or as a program requirement.
• No new user linkings to Partner University will be allowed after 15 June 2026.
• The current Partner University user experience available through the Learn profile page in Membership are retired as part of this change.
• In the coming months, Partner University assessments are complemented by a new set of skilling requirements. These new requirements are added as an OR condition alongside the existing Partner University assessments during the transition period.

Changes to Specializations and Solutions Partner Designations

The following skilling options are added to the below specializations and designations in April 2026:

• The Calling for Microsoft Teams specialization added the Microsoft 365 Certified: Collaboration Communications Systems Engineer Associate certification as a skilling option to address the retiring of the Teams Calling Technical Assessment.
• The Meetings and Meeting Rooms for Microsoft Teams specialization added the Microsoft 365 Certified: Collaboration Communications Systems Engineer Associate certification as a skilling option to address the retiring of the Teams Meetings and Meeting Rooms Technical Assessment.
• The Modern Work Solutions Partner designation added the Microsoft 365 Certified: Collaboration Communications Systems Engineer Associate certification as an Advanced skilling option to address the retiring of the Teams Meetings and Meeting Rooms Technical Assessment. This change applies to both the Enterprise and SMB tracks.
• The Modern Work Solutions Partner designation added the Microsoft 365 Certified: Copilot and Agent Administration Fundamentals certification as an Intermediate skilling option to address the retirement of the Microsoft 365 Fundamentals certification. This change applies to both the Enterprise and SMB tracks.
• The Digital & App Innovation Solutions Partner designation added the GitHub Actions, GitHub Administration, GitHub Advanced Security, and GitHub Copilot certifications as Advanced skilling options. This change applies to both the Enterprise and SMB tracks.

Certifications and Applied Skills are regularly updated throughout their lifecycle, which can impact specializations and Solutions Partner designations. In the case of a retiring certification or applied skill impacting a specialization or Solutions Partner designation, the following are true:

• Skilling achieved prior to its retirement remains valid for one year.
• New skilling will be added, if the replacement skilling is applicable to those specializations and designations.
• We detail the new requirements in Partner Center as they go into effect.

The Teamwork Deployment specialization is updated to the Secure AI Productivity specialization on April 29, 2026.

• With the shift towards AI, the Teamwork Deployment spec is updated to help partners prepare their customers for AI by centering on foundational workloads from Microsoft 365 E3.
• The name of the specialization is updated to the Secure AI Productivity specialization.
• Partners now need to hit their 2,500 monthly active usage (MAU) growth on at least three of eight separate Microsoft 365 workload services:
• Products:
• Exchange Online
• SharePoint Online
• Microsoft Teams
• Microsoft 365 Apps
• Entra ID P1
• Intune
• Defender for Endpoint
• Microsoft Information Protection
• At least one of the workloads meeting required growth must come from the productivity workloads: Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365 App.
• At least one of the workloads meeting required growth must come from the identity, security and management workloads: Entra ID P1, Intune, Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Information Protection.
• The 20% growth requirement is removed.
• The number of new customer tenants required has been lowered from 12 to 5.

The eligible workloads for the Identity and Access Management specialization performance requirement have been updated as of May 11, 2026.

Entra ID P2 is added as an eligible workload to the Identity and Access Management specialization performance requirement, The new requirement is: "Your company must achieve a minimum of 2,000 Monthly Active Usage (MAU) growth of Entra ID P1 and/or P2 in a trailing twelve-month period."

Coming soon

The Adoption and Change Management specialization will be retired in the coming months.

The Adoption Change Management specialization is being retired, Rather than have a standalone specialization, adoption & change management capabilities are embedded within product-aligned specializations, ensuring change management is evaluated in the context of specific solutions while we retire this more general-purpose specialization.

Three new specializations are created by merging existing specializations in the coming months, Stay tuned for more information on these exciting new offerings!

• The Analytics on Microsoft Azure, Data Warehouse Migration to Microsoft Azure, and Business Intelligence specializations are merging into a new Analytics on Microsoft Azure specialization.
• The Low Code Application Development and Intelligent Automation specializations are merging into a new Agentic Business Solutions specialization.
• The Kubernetes on Microsoft Azure and Migrate Enterprise Applications to Microsoft Azure specializations are merging into a new App Modernization on Microsoft Azure specialization.

Audit Checklists for All Four Security Specializations

In the coming months, we're moving to an audit-based model for all four Microsoft Security Specializations (Cloud Security, Data Security, Identity & Access Management, and Threat Protection). The new audit validates whether partners can deliver Microsoft Security solutions in real customer environments.

This audit will be conducted by an independent, third-party auditor. The duration of the audit depends on scheduling between the auditor and the partner, The audit will be funded by the partner and conducted every two years.

When the change goes live, partners are given an extension to their anniversary date to allow time to prepare for the audit.

Partners receive a Pass or No Pass result upon completion of the audit process, including if they withdraw from the audit.

How you can prepare your partners today:

• Get familiar with the four Security Specializations.
• More details on what will be included in the audit will be released in the coming months. In the meantime, identify SMEs within your partners’ organizations who can support sourcing the required artifacts.