Who It Is For
The CAIP is the foundation credential for professionals applying AI in their daily work. It is designed for professionals in any function using AI tools in daily work, managers and team leads setting the standard for AI use in their teams, analysts, marketers, operations and HR staff building applied AI skills, and career changers establishing a verified foundation in AI. No technical background is required.
Exam Specification
| Credential | Certified AI Practitioner (CAIP) |
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| Track | Foundation credential (entry to the Professional Track) |
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| Assessment format | Proctored examination (100% of the assessment weighting) |
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| Contact hours | 16 contact hours across two days |
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| Certification fee | USD 1,600 |
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| Validity | 3 years from award date |
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| Renewal | 20 CPD hours per 3-year cycle, logged with AICA |
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| Retake policy | Reattempt after a 14 day waiting period, up to 3 attempts in any 12 months |
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| Delivery | Through Authorized Training Partners, online or center-based |
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| Verification | Cryptographic registry entry, QR-verifiable digital badge, Open Badges 3.0 |
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Exam duration and question counts are set in the Candidate Handbook and are not published here. The full proctoring, retake, appeals, renewal and revocation terms are on the exam policies page.
Course Learning Objectives
- Explain, in plain language, what AI, machine learning, generative AI and agentic AI systems do, where each is strong and where each fails, and set realistic expectations for a given task.
- Construct prompts that supply the context, constraints and examples a tool needs, and iterate deliberately when a first result misses the mark.
- Apply AI tools to everyday workflows such as drafting, analysis, summarization, research and review, with human checks at the points where an error would carry cost.
- Evaluate whether the data behind a task is fit for purpose, and identify quality problems that would mislead an AI tool or the person relying on it.
- Protect confidential, personal and commercially sensitive information when working with AI, including recognizing what must never be entered into a public tool.
- Verify AI output against reliable sources before acting on it, and disclose AI assistance where colleagues, clients or organizational policy would reasonably expect to know.
- Evaluate an AI tool against a genuine requirement, weighing capability, cost, data handling and vendor credibility, and recommend adoption, rejection or deferral with reasons.
Learning Units
LU1: AI & Machine Learning Fundamentals
2.5 contact hours · Day One
- LO 1.1Distinguish AI, machine learning, generative AI and agentic AI, and describe in plain language what each is doing when it produces a result.
- LO 1.2Explain common failure modes, including hallucination, staleness and bias, and predict where a given tool is likely to be unreliable.
- LO 1.3Set realistic expectations for what an AI tool will and will not deliver on a specific task.
LU2: Prompt & Context Engineering
3 contact hours · Day One
- LO 2.1Construct prompts that state the task, audience, format and constraints, and supply the context the tool needs to do the work well.
- LO 2.2Diagnose a weak result, identify what was missing from the prompt, and revise deliberately.
- LO 2.3Adapt prompting technique across different tools and models.
LU3: Applied AI in Business Workflows
2.5 contact hours · Day One
- LO 3.1Identify the tasks in a workflow where AI genuinely improves speed or quality, and the tasks where it does not.
- LO 3.2Build an AI step into a routine workflow, with a human review point placed where accuracy matters.
- LO 3.3Measure whether the change actually saved time or lifted quality.
LU4: Data Fundamentals & Quality
2 contact hours · Day Two
- LO 4.1Judge whether the data behind a task is fit for purpose, using recognized quality dimensions.
- LO 4.2Identify data problems that will mislead an AI tool or its user, and decide when a human check is non-negotiable.
LU5: Responsible & Secure AI Use
3.5 contact hours · Day Two
- LO 5.1Protect confidential, personal and commercially sensitive data when using AI tools, including recognizing what must never be entered into a public tool.
- LO 5.2Verify AI output before relying on it, and disclose AI assistance where colleagues, clients or organizational policy expect it.
- LO 5.3Apply organizational policy and basic data protection obligations to daily AI use.
LU6: AI Tool Evaluation & Selection
2.5 contact hours · Day Two
- LO 6.1Evaluate an AI tool against a real requirement using a structured set of criteria.
- LO 6.2Recommend adoption, rejection or deferral with reasons, and recognize when no tool is the right answer.
Assessment Blueprint
| Learning Unit | Assessment Method | Indicative Emphasis |
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| LU1: AI & machine learning fundamentals | Proctored examination | Core emphasis |
| LU2: Prompt & context engineering | Proctored examination | Core emphasis |
| LU3: Applied AI in business workflows | Proctored examination | Core emphasis |
| LU4: Data fundamentals & quality | Proctored examination | Supporting emphasis |
| LU5: Responsible & secure AI use | Proctored examination | Core emphasis |
| LU6: AI tool evaluation & selection | Proctored examination | Supporting emphasis |
| All units | Proctored examination | 100% of assessment weighting |
Emphasis descriptors are qualitative. AICA does not publish fixed question distributions; each examination is assembled against the competency benchmarks for all six domains, and certification decisions are made independently by the AICA Certification and Standards Authority.
Credential Terms
| Credential validity | Three years from the date of award. |
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| Renewal | Through Continuing Professional Development: 20 CPD hours per three-year cycle, logged with AICA. |
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| Retake | Unsuccessful candidates may reattempt after a 14 day waiting period, up to a maximum of three attempts in any 12 months. |
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| Appeals | Certification decisions may be appealed to AICA's Certification and Standards Authority. |
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| Proctoring | The examination is proctored, online or center-based, through Authorized Training Partners. |
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| Conduct | Certification requires agreement to the AICA Code of Professional Conduct. |
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Verification
Every CAIP credential is issued with a unique credential identifier recorded in the AICA verification registry, a QR-verifiable digital badge, and an Open Badges 3.0 export. Each credential is signed with the AICA registry key and recorded in a public transparency log, so any employer can check it against its live registry record. Verify any credential at aicauthority.org/verify.
