11 AI certifications to grow your career - cio.com

Across every industry, organizations are scrambling to implement AI into their daily workflows, products, and services. As a result, they’re increasingly looking for qualified professionals who have the right AI skillsets to help with this new wave of digital transformation. Skills such as machine learning, data engineering and analytics, AI prompt engineering, natural language processing, and general AI literacy are becoming increasingly in-demand as organizations rush to make the most of AI in a market where most AI skills are hard to find.

While not all new, AI certifications have taken on renewed importance, with a widening selection of credentials now available for those looking to demonstrate AI skills and knowledge to potential employers. Whether you’re just starting out and learning how to use AI in your day-to-day work, or you’re a senior IT pro who wants to demonstrate your AI skillset to employers, one of these 11 AI certifications will help you on your way.

Artificial Intelligence Board of America (ARTiBA) Artificial Intelligence Engineer (AIE)

The Artificial Intelligence Board of America (ARTIiBA) is a vendor-neutral organization that sets AI standards for professionals across industries, with a focus on keeping standards “globally coherent, ethically grounded, and vendor-neutral.” The organization boasts the world’s first credential in artificial intelligence — Artificial Intelligence Engineer (AIE) — validating your ability to design and engineer thoughtful, well-structured AI systems, using sound judgment. This certification shows employers that you have familiarity with AI and machine learning (ML) technologies, core modeling concepts, data preparation in AI workflows, and that you can apply this knowledge to real-world business problems.

Exam fee: $750

AWS Certified AI Practitioner

The AWS Certified AI Practitioner certification, offered by Amazon, is designed to validate your foundational skills and abilities building solutions using AI/ML technologies on AWS. This is an entry-level certification aimed at business analysts, IT support staff, marketing professionals, product or project managers, IT managers, and sales professionals who want to get started with learning the basics of AI as it applies to the AWS ecosystem. This certification is best suited for those working with AWS services and systems or who want to get a career working with other Amazon-specific tools.

Exam fee: $100

AWS Certified Generative AI Developer Professional

The AWS Certified Generative AI Developer Professional certification is designed for developers with two or more years of cloud experience who want to demonstrate their skills for building and deploying production-ready AI solutions on AWS. The exam covers how to design and implement AI solutions, apply prompt engineering and management techniques, implement agentic AI solutions, and how to troubleshoot, monitor and optimize gen AI applications. You’ll also be tested on your knowledge surrounding AI responsible best practices, optimizing generative AI applications for cost, performance, and business value, and integrating AI applications into business workflows.

Exam fee: $300

CertNexus Certified Artificial Intelligence Practitioner

The Certified Artificial Intelligence Practitioner (CAIP) certification is offered by CertNexus, a vendor-neutral certification organization that offers emerging technology certs and micro-credentials. The CAIP certification is a general AI certification designed for data professionals to validate that they have a foundational-level knowledge of AI concepts, technologies, algorithms, and applications. The exam covers how AI and ML are used to solve business problems, optimizing and training ML systems and models, using AI for data processing, and deploying and operationalizing ML models in an organization. There are no prerequisites, but it’s recommended that you have a strong background in applied mathematics, statistical modeling, programming languages, algorithmic frameworks, querying languages, and familiarity with data visualization.

Exam fee: $367.50

Certified Offensive AI Security Professional (COASP)

Offered by global cybersecurity technical certification body EC-Council, the Certified Offensive AI Security Professional (COASP) certification is designed for security professionals tasked with overseeing AI security and governance. The certification focuses on AI risk and security from the standpoint of offense and defense, with an emphasis on threat intelligence, AI/ML engineering, security engineering, and AI security architecture.

Exam fee: $650

Certified AI Program Manager (CAIPM)

Another offering from the EC-Council, the Certified AI Program Manager (CAIPM) certification promises to “transform experienced professionals into enterprise-ready AI program managers.” This certification demonstrates your ability to adopt, apply, and secure AI initiatives in real-world organizational settings, closing the gap between the technical side of AI and business strategy. It’s best suited for those in technology leadership, risk and compliance, business operations, and security or IT operations who want to validate that they have the latest AI knowledge to grow their careers.

Exam fee: $450

ISACA Advanced in AI Security Management (AAISM)

ISACA offers the Advanced in AI Security Management (AAISM) certification for security professionals who want to validate their AI knowledge and skillsets for employers. As organizations prioritize security and risk management with AI implementation, validating your AI security skills can go a long way toward drawing the attention of employers. ISACA offers two other AI-specific certifications, the Advanced in AI Risk (AAIR) and Advanced in AI Audit (AAIA) certifications, if the AAISM isn’t the right fit for your career.

Exam fee: $50

Microsoft Certified AI certs

Microsoft offers a wide breadth of AI certifications, including AI Transformation Leader, AI Business Professional, Azure AI Engineer Associate, GitHub Copilot, Azure Data Science Associate, and several more. There are options for entry-level certifications, mid-level, and high-level certifications for more experienced IT professionals. Topics cover everything from Microsoft specific tools such as Azure and Copilot, while others focus on topics such as cloud, security, development, engineering, and more.

Exam fee: Varies by certification

PMI Certified Professional in Managing AI (PMI-CPMAI)

The PMI Certified Professional in Managing AI (CPMAI) certification is designed for project managers, technologists, data experts, and consultants who want to grow their skills with AI. Through this certification, you’ll learn how to turn AI visions into actionable plans, navigate fast-changing technologies, unite cross-functional teams, and deliver measurable outcomes. It’s a tool-agnostic exam that demonstrates your ability to manage complexity, align diverse teams, and create solutions that deliver business success.

Exam fee: $899 for non-members; $699 for members

SAS Certified Professional: AI & Machine Learning

The SAS Certified Professional: AI & Machine Learning certification comprises three specialist-level certifications focused on machine learning, natural language and computer vision, and forecasting and optimization. You’ll need to attend a series of five training courses and complete three separate certification exams to earn this designation. The exams cover software such as SAS Visual Data Mining and Machine Learning, SAS Visual Text Analytics, SAS Visual Forecasting, and SAS Optimization.

Exam fee: $5,845

Certified Artificial Intelligence Scientist (CAIS)

The United States Artificial Intelligence Institute (USAII)’s Certified Artificial Intelligence Scientist (CAIS) certification is an entry-level AI certification designed for business leaders, managers, delivery managers, program managers, directors, and CXOs. It’s best suited for those interested in upskilling and better understanding how to improve business outcomes using AI tools. To qualify for this certification, you’ll need at least four years of experience in AI, ML, data science, business analytics, business intelligence, engineering, finance, or management along with a master’s degree or equivalent in any academic discipline.

Exam fee: $1,195