Exam Prep: Putting It All Together
You've covered all five domains. Now let's tie everything together — review the key concepts, test your knowledge across domains, and learn exam strategies for AI-103.
The big picture
AI-103 tests whether you can build real AI solutions on Azure — not just understand concepts, but make architectural decisions, choose the right services, and implement responsibly.
This module connects the dots between all five domains. In the real world, you don’t solve “Domain 1 problems” and “Domain 2 problems” separately — a single AI solution spans planning, building, monitoring, and responsible AI all at once.
Domain weight recap
| Domain | Weight | Key Focus |
|---|---|---|
| D1: Plan & Manage | 25-30% | Model selection, infrastructure, security, responsible AI |
| D2: Generative AI & Agents | 30-35% | RAG, agents, multi-agent, evaluation, observability |
| D3: Computer Vision | 10-15% | Image/video generation, visual understanding, visual safety |
| D4: Text Analysis | 10-15% | Text extraction, sentiment, speech, translation |
| D5: Information Extraction | 10-15% | Ingestion pipelines, Content Understanding, document extraction |
Cross-domain decision map
The exam loves questions that span multiple domains. Here’s how the domains connect:
| Scenario | Domains Involved | Key Decision |
|---|---|---|
| ”Build a chatbot that answers from company docs” | D1 (model), D2 (RAG), D5 (pipeline) | Choose model + search type + chunking strategy |
| ”Agent that processes uploaded invoices” | D2 (agent), D5 (Content Understanding) | Agent tool integration with Content Understanding |
| ”Translate customer calls in real-time” | D4 (speech + translation), D2 (agent workflow) | Speech pipeline + agent modality integration |
| ”Generate marketing images safely” | D3 (image gen), D1 (responsible AI) | Generation controls + content filters + watermarks |
| ”Multi-agent compliance system” | D2 (agents), D1 (security + responsible AI) | Approval gates + RBAC + audit logging |
Exam strategy
| Feature | Do This | Avoid This |
|---|---|---|
| Model selection | Choose the cheapest model that meets requirements | Default to GPT-4o for everything |
| Foundry Tools vs LLM | Use dedicated tools (Search, Translator, CU) when they exist | Prompt an LLM for tasks with purpose-built tools |
| Security | Managed identity + private endpoints + RBAC | API keys in code or environment variables |
| Agent governance | Risk-based: autonomous for low-risk, gated for high-risk | Full autonomy or full advisory (all-or-nothing) |
| RAG quality | Check retrieval pipeline first when quality drops | Blame the model first |
| Evaluation | Automated in CI/CD, continuous in production | One-time evaluation before first deployment |
The 10 most important concepts
Cross-domain knowledge checks
A healthcare company needs to: (1) extract patient data from scanned forms, (2) store it in a database, (3) allow a chatbot to answer questions about patient records, and (4) ensure all data stays within the EU. Which services are involved?
An enterprise deploys an AI agent that: autonomously answers FAQ questions, generates compliance reports (requires human approval), and flags suspicious transactions (requires immediate alerting). Which governance configuration is correct?
A RAG application's quality has degraded. Users report outdated information. No code changes were deployed. In what order should you investigate?
Exam day tips
- Read the full question — exam questions often have constraints in the last sentence that change the correct answer
- Look for cost signals — if the question mentions budget, cost, or scale, lean toward cheaper/simpler options
- Look for security signals — if the question mentions compliance, regulated, or sensitive data, lean toward managed identity + private endpoints
- Look for “FIRST” or “BEST” — these qualifiers mean there may be multiple correct options, but one is optimal
- Flag and return — don’t spend more than 2 minutes on any question. Flag difficult ones and return after completing easier questions.
- 700 to pass — you don’t need 100%. Focus on D1 (25-30%) and D2 (30-35%) — they’re 55-65% of the exam.