May 2024: Highlights from #MSBuild and a new AI skill-building Challenge!

With Microsoft Build coming to a close, we’ve pulled together all of the highlights into a special Build edition of The Spark. Read on to catch up on all the exciting news and announcements, as well as discover some great ways to participate in the event experiences from home (or wherever you do your learning)!

Build 2024 Recap: Microsoft Learn releases new AI skill-building resources 

Microsoft Learn was thrilled to be back at Microsoft Build again this year, sharing announcements about amazing new and upcoming resources to support AI skill-building. Don’t worry if you couldn’t make it this year, we have you covered with an overview of the exciting announcements we unveiled: 

• NEW AI Applied Skills releasing in May and June 
• NEW Plans for AI skill-building 
• NEW Copilot learning hub 
• NEW Copilot for Microsoft 365 training sessions for business users 
• COMING SOON AI instructor-led training for business leaders 

Learn more in our Live at Build: Microsoft Learn releases new AI skill-building resources blog.  

Access Official Collections on Microsoft Learn 

Whether or not you made it to Build, these Collections aligned to the deep-dive sessions from the event can help you build the skills that are in-demand today—like how to get the most out of AI and Copilot. Collections are curated to help you focus on specific topics or goals, and can include self-paced training, documentation, credentials, and more. 

News and updates

Take the Microsoft Learn Challenge: Build Edition

Immerse yourself in cutting-edge AI technology, build new skills, and earn a badge by completing one of these unique, AI-focused challenges. Each challenge offers a variety of resources to help you succeed, including interactive Microsoft Learn community events, live and recorded learning sessions delivered by experts, and training assets. The challenge is on through June 21, 2024, don't miss out!  Register now. 

Stay focused on your AI skill-building with new Plans 

At Build, we introduced new AI skill-building Plans on Microsoft Learn to help learners, teams, and organizations accelerate the achievement of their learning goals using curated sets of structured content combined with milestones and automated nudges to keep learners focused and motivated. We introduced four new Plans, they include:   

• Master the basics of Azure: AI Fundamentals  
• Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 for executives  
• Using AI in your everyday work: GitHub Copilot  
• Learn to create apps and modernize with Azure OpenAI  

Find our new AI Plans on the AI learning hub on Microsoft Learn.  

Check out the new Copilot learning hub

The new Copilot learning hub on Microsoft Learn offers resources tailored to your technical job role and career goals that can help you develop the skills necessary to maximize the Copilot experience for your organization. It offers tutorials, videos, and documentation covering Copilot basics, features, prompting techniques, best practices, and troubleshooting tips. Real-world examples and use cases across various domains are showcased, catering to developers, data and IT professionals, security analysts, and more.  

Start your learning journey at the Copilot learning hub. 

New live Microsoft Copilot for 365 training sessions for business users 

At Build, we also announced a new series of live Microsoft Copilot for 365 training sessions designed to help key roles in your organization learn how to use Microsoft Copilot for 365 to unlock productivity. Each session is delivered in less than one hour and is available in multiple languages and time zones.  

These new live training sessions will deliver content tailored to the following roles: Executives, Sales, IT, Marketing, Finance, HR, and Ops. Increase productivity, creativity, and connection with these useful new trainings! 

Explore all training sessions.

Global partner event spotlight

Microsoft Applied Skills masterclass: Next-gen analytics with Fabric

Join the experts at NetCom Learning for an exclusive 2-hour masterclass to unleash the power of real-time analytics with Microsoft Fabric. This immersive training has been designed for budding data analysts, data engineers and anyone interested in exploring the capabilities of Microsoft Fabric. We’ll cover everything from getting started to querying data with KQL and leveraging real-time event streams. You’ll also gain insights on how to fully leverage the Microsoft Applied Skills credentials and receive an "exclusive discount code" to take the full DP-603 instructor-led training with interactive lab. Learn more and register now.

Free one-day live virtual Microsoft Fundamentals Courses  

Skillsoft Global Knowledge has partnered with Microsoft for over 25 years, and is excited to offer free one-day courses on Microsoft Fundamentals—including topics like Azure AI, Microsoft 365, and Power Platform. Our instructor-led courses are taught by Microsoft Certified Trainers, the premier technical and instructional experts in Microsoft technologies. Check out the up-to-date schedule here!

Monthly learning tip

Boost and verify your AI-specific skillsets with new Microsoft Credentials for AI! 

According to the 2024 Work Trend Index, 71% of leaders say they’d rather hire a less experienced candidate with AI skills than a more experienced candidate without them. Applied Skills credentials are a great way to prove that you’ve got those AI skills, and we’re adding more all the time! During May and June we’re releasing three new Applied Skills to support developers who build AI and cloud solutions, including:     

• Develop AI agents using Microsoft Azure OpenAI and Semantic Kernel    
• Implement a data science and machine learning solution with Microsoft Fabric  
• Implement a Real-Time Intelligence Solution with Microsoft Fabric  

These join the existing portfolio of Microsoft Credentials, which includes over 20 Microsoft Applied Skills and 50 industry-recognized Microsoft Certifications across a breadth of solution areas and technologies.    

Explore our full list of Microsoft Credentials for AI.  

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Share your Microsoft Learn story with us! 

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