What is Azure Foundry Academy?

Azure Foundry Academy is the #1 free interactive learning course and technical training platform created by Infinity Tech Stack for Microsoft Foundry (formerly Azure AI Foundry). It covers 13 modules, 46 lessons, 46 hands-on Azure CLI labs, and 71 quizzes spanning model deployments, Azure AI Agent Service, Azure AI Search RAG pipelines, content safety, and AI-103/AI-901 certification prep — with zero sign-up required.

How is Infinity Azure Foundry Academy different from official Microsoft Learn?

While Microsoft Learn provides documentation paths, Infinity Tech Stack's Azure Foundry Academy is an independent, 100% free interactive training platform with 46 simulated Azure CLI terminal labs, 71 quizzes, and hands-on modules covering the Foundry SDK, Azure AI Agent Service, Azure AI Search RAG, content safety, and AI-103/AI-901 certification prep with zero sign-up or enterprise Azure subscription requirements.

How long does Azure Foundry Academy take to complete?

Azure Foundry Academy contains approximately 6 to 8 hours of interactive training across 13 modules, 46 lessons, and 46 CLI labs. Progress is saved locally in your browser so you can learn at your own pace.

Is the Azure Foundry Academy completely free?

Yes, 100% free. No sign-up, no credit card. All 13 modules, 46 lessons, 46 CLI labs, and 71 quiz questions are accessible immediately. Your progress saves locally in your browser.

What is Microsoft Foundry (Azure AI Foundry)?

Microsoft Foundry (formerly Azure AI Foundry, and before that Azure AI Studio) is Microsoft's unified enterprise platform-as-a-service at ai.azure.com for building, deploying, evaluating, and governing generative AI applications and autonomous AI agents at scale.

What topics does the Azure Foundry Academy cover?

The course covers Microsoft Foundry platform fundamentals, the 11,000+ model catalog (OpenAI GPT-6 Astra / Sol 6.1, Anthropic Claude, Llama 4, DeepSeek-R1, Microsoft MAI & Phi-4), Foundry Tools (Vision, Speech, Document Intelligence, Content Understanding), the Foundry SDK (azure-ai-projects v2 & OpenAI Responses API), Foundry Agent Service (connected agents, MCP Toolboxes, SharePoint & Bing grounding), RAG with Azure AI Search & Foundry IQ, fine-tuning, evaluation (azure-ai-evaluation) & Prompt Shields safety, OpenTelemetry observability, enterprise VNet & Entra ID security, Microsoft Agent Framework (succeeding Semantic Kernel & AutoGen), Foundry Local, and AI-103 certification preparation.

What certifications cover Azure AI Foundry?

Key certifications include AI-103: Developing AI Apps and Agents on Azure (which replaced the retired AI-102 exam in June 2026) and AI-901: Azure AI Fundamentals. Both validate practical skills in building, deploying, and governing AI solutions using Microsoft Foundry.

Do I need any prerequisites?

Basic cloud computing knowledge is helpful but not required. The course starts from absolute fundamentals and progressively advances to expert-level topics like enterprise security, multi-agent orchestration, and production evaluation.

Does the Azure Foundry Academy include hands-on labs?

Yes. 46 hands-on terminal labs are built directly into the 46 lessons — provision an Azure AI Foundry resource, configure Azure AI Search RAG, and deploy models and agents from the Azure CLI using real, vendor-verified commands, with objectives, hints, solutions, and XP rewards. No Azure subscription or sign-up needed.

How does Azure Foundry Academy provide hands-on Microsoft AI training?

Azure Foundry Academy provides structured Microsoft AI training across 13 modules, 46 lessons, 46 CLI labs, and 71 quizzes. Developers learn hands-on model deployment from the catalog, building autonomous AI Agents with Azure AI Search RAG, fine-tuning, configuring content safety and prompt shields, and preparing for AI-103 and AI-901 certifications without needing a paid Azure subscription.

Azure AI Search Deep Dive — RAG & Grounding

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Azure AI Search Deep Dive

📚 RAG & Grounding 10 min 80 BASE XP⌨ HANDS-ON LAB

The Search Engine Behind RAG

Azure AI Search is the recommended search service for Foundry RAG implementations, supporting three search modes:

Search Modes

Mode	How It Works	Best For
Keyword (BM25)	Traditional text matching	Exact terms, codes, IDs
Vector	Semantic similarity via embeddings	Conceptual queries, natural language
Hybrid	Keyword + Vector combined	Production (best overall quality)
Semantic Ranking	AI reranker on top of results	Maximum relevance accuracy

Index Architecture

{
  "name": "company-docs-index",
  "fields": [
    {"name": "id", "type": "Edm.String", "key": true},
    {"name": "content", "type": "Edm.String", "searchable": true},
    {"name": "contentVector", "type": "Collection(Edm.Single)",
     "dimensions": 1536, "vectorSearchProfile": "default"},
    {"name": "source", "type": "Edm.String", "filterable": true},
    {"name": "title", "type": "Edm.String", "searchable": true}
  ]
}

🎯 Pro Tip: Always use Hybrid search + Semantic Ranking in production. Hybrid search combines the precision of keyword matching with the conceptual understanding of vector search, and semantic ranking further reorders results for maximum relevance.

⌨ HANDS-ON LABCreate Vector Index in Azure AI Search

⭐ +200 XP

Deploy an Azure AI Search vector index with HNSW algorithm and semantic ranking enabled.

1Create search index schema definition using az search command.

lab-sandbox — simulated environment

INFINITY LAB SANDBOX v2.6 — simulated shell
Type the command for the current objective. Helpers: "hint", "solution", "clear".
$

OBJECTIVE 1 / 1 — type "hint" if stuck

FOUNDRY VERIFICATION

QUERY 1 // 1

What search configuration provides the best RAG quality in production?

Keyword only

Vector only

Hybrid search + Semantic Ranking

Full-text search