Your AI partner badge now comes with a headcount.
Microsoft’s Agentic Business Solutions specialization asks a partner for at least five people with a builder certification, at least two with a developer certification and at least two who have passed the Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect exam, plus live customer deployments. FERG Search recruits those people for Microsoft partners in Australia and New Zealand, permanent and contract.
The specialization replaced the low code and intelligent automation badges with one that is earned by certified people and proven by agents in production. Every partner that wants the Agentic Business Solutions badge in 2027 is hiring for it now, from the same small pool, and the badge lasts a year.
Nine exam passes, at minimum.
- At least five people holding one of the builder certifications Microsoft lists, the AI Agent Builder and Intelligent Applications Builder associates among them.
- At least two people holding a developer certification, with the Power Platform Developer Associate among them.
- At least two people who have passed the Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect exam.
- Live customer deployments on Power Platform or Copilot Studio that meet Microsoft’s usage or revenue thresholds, and a consulting offer on the Microsoft Marketplace.
- A renewal date twelve months after the badge is awarded.
The badge renews. So does the hiring.
The people who already hold the agent builder and architect certifications are a small circle in Australia and New Zealand, and almost all of them are employed by a partner that also wants the badge. A brief that waits for a certified person to apply will wait a long time.
The partners we see getting there do three things. They map the exams they have on staff against the nine they need and book the gaps into a calendar. They hire for the production work first, the agent that ran for real users, and treat the exam as a known quantity. And they settle the band before the search starts: on the FERG Search Salary Guide 2026 a Copilot Studio developer sits at $140k to $175k and a pro-code AI engineer at $170k to $210k, base excluding super, so a budget set for a Copilot Studio developer will not land a pro-code AI engineer.
Contract has a place: the customer deployments that prove the performance requirement are often delivered by contractors who have shipped agents before. The certified core that renews the badge next year is a permanent seat.
We map who holds which exam.
- A market read of certified builders, developers and architects in your city before the brief is finished.
- Every candidate checked on the agent they took live, not only the certificate: who used it, what broke and what they changed.
- Permanent hires for the certified core, contract for the deployments, and a straight answer on which is which.
- Bands from the FERG Search Salary Guide 2026, so the search does not stall on budget.
Straight answers on the specialization.
How many certified people does the Agentic Business Solutions specialization need?
At least five people holding one of the builder certifications Microsoft lists, at least two holding a developer certification, with the Power Platform Developer Associate among them, and at least two who have passed the Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect exam. That is at least nine exam passes on staff before the performance requirements are counted.
What else does the specialization require beyond certifications?
Live customer deployments that meet Microsoft’s usage or revenue thresholds, on Power Platform or Copilot Studio, and a consulting offer listed on the Microsoft Marketplace. The exams prove the people. The deployments prove the practice.
How long does the specialization last?
One year. The certified headcount has to be there again twelve months on, which makes it a standing hiring plan rather than a one off push.
Can contractors count towards the specialization?
Microsoft’s partner site sets out who counts. In the partners we work with, the certified core is permanent staff, and contract is used for the customer deployments that prove the performance requirement. We place both.
Do you recruit for the Microsoft 365 Copilot specialization as well?
Yes. The people who hold the agent builder and architect certifications are the same small pool both specializations draw on, so most briefs we see are for someone who moves a partner towards both.
Requirements are Microsoft’s and change; the current rules are on Microsoft’s partner site. Checked against it on 31 October 2026.
Map the nine exams against your team.
Send the list of certifications you hold today. You will get back the gaps, who in the market can fill them, and what they are paid.