20 Top AI Certifications to Know

In the midst of the AI boom, demand for artificial intelligence professionals is at an all time high. To help, many organizations are rolling out programs, courses and other training opportunities as a way for people to bolster their AI abilities. Whether you’re a seasoned professional looking to upskill, or a novice taking your first steps into the world of AI, these certifications can help increase your credibility in this highly competitive job market.

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20 Top AI Certifications to Know

Offered through Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, this self-paced certificate is made up of two courses — CS50’s Introduction to Computer Science and CS50’s Introduction to Artificial Intelligence with Python. It is offered via edX, and includes several projects where you can gain exposure to concepts like algorithms, reinforcement learning, machine learning and other AI-related topics. By the end of the course, Harvard says learners have enough knowledge of artificial intelligence principles to design these systems on their own. 

• Price: $518
• Duration: 6 months (5 to 14 hours per week)
• Prerequisites: None

The Artificial Intelligence Board of America (ARTiBA) is an independent certification body that helps set the standards for AI professionals, and its Artificial Intelligence Engineer (AIE) Certification is one of the most credible certifications for those wanting to advance their career in AI. To receive the AIE certification, you must first undergo an evaluation process that assesses your abilities in various AI-related areas. From there, you’re put on one of three tracks depending on your skill level — ranging from Associate Degree to Master’s Degree — and receive specialized resources that cover concepts like natural language processing (NLP), cognitive computing and deep learning. Participants are then given 180 days to study and pass the exam.

• Price: $550
• Duration: 180 days
• Prerequisites: Depending on the track, participants need at least two years of professional computing experience, as well as a good understanding of programming

Available both on the MIT campus and through live virtual lessons, this professional certification program emphasizes the applications of AI and machine learning in several emerging fields, including IoT, smart manufacturing and computer vision. It is primarily designed for people who work in computer science or related fields, managers who want to better understand AI and how it could be used in their business and professionals looking for hands-on AI experience. You must complete at least one of the Machine Learning for Big Data and Text Processing courses and then can choose from a selection of electives, which focus on everything from computational design to bioprocess data analytics. All coursework must be completed within three years.

• Price: Ranges from $2,500 to $4,700
• Duration: 3 years
• Prerequisites: None

This 6-course certification program is designed to equip you with the knowledge they need to start a career in AI engineering and further your skills. Available through the Coursera platform, it consists of video lectures, readings and hands-on projects that teach you how to use Python in various classification techniques and apply popular machine learning libraries (PyTorch, Tensorflow, Keras) in areas like object recognition and text analytics. You will also learn how to build, train and deploy different types of deep architectures, including convolutional neural networks and recurrent networks.

• Price: Free with a Coursera subscription ($59/month)
• Duration: 2 months (10 hours a week)
• Prerequisites: None

This is a foundational credential for people developing, integrating and maintaining applications using generative AI and large language models (LLMs) with Nvidia products. And it’s primarily geared toward people already working in the industry, such as data scientists, machine learning engineers, DevOps engineers and so on. The exam covers a range of topics, including the fundamentals of neural networks and machine learning, prompt engineering, data analysis and Python libraries for LLMs. To prepare, Nvidia offers several online training courses —  some instructor-led, others self-paced — that vary in duration in price-point.  

• Price: $135
• Duration: 1 hour (valid for 2 years)
• Prerequisites: A basic understanding of generative AI and LLMs

Offered online through edX, this program teaches the basics of how machine learning, AI and deep learning all work and fit together, as well as how AI can be applied in the real world. Content is spread over two courses — Google AI for Anyone and Google AI for Javascript Developers with Tensorflow, which teaches learners how to create applications using Google’s pre-made models as well as their own. The program is self-paced and is intended for beginners.

• Price: $598
• Duration: 3 months (3 to 4 hours per week)
• Prerequisites: None

This program is available through the Coursera platform, providing you with the skills you need to train, fine-tune and deploy generative AI models (particularly LLMs) across various applications. Over the course of three modules, you’ll gain foundational knowledge and a functional understanding of how generative AI works, from data gathering and model selection to performance evaluation and deployment. You’ll also learn how to apply various training, tuning and inference methods to maximize model performance based on a particular project.  

• Price: Free with a Coursera subscription ($59/month)
• Duration: 3 weeks (5 hours a week)
• Prerequisites: Some experience coding in Python, and a basic understanding of machine learning 

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Facilitated by the SuperDataScience team and other instructors, this self-paced program is available on the Udemy platform. Through various videos, articles and downloadable resources, you’ll learn how to bring data science and AI into real-world applications. You can make a virtual self-driving car, develop AI to beat games, and build an AI doctor chatbot by fine-tuning and re-training Meta’s open source Llama 2 LLM with medical information. Plus, once you complete the course, you get three extra AI systems, along with a video lecture explaining their implementation and Python code, and a free extra course on generative AI and LLMs with cloud computing.

• Price: $199.99 for the course, or with a Udemy subscription ($20/month)
• Duration: 16 hours
• Prerequisites: Understanding of high school math and basic Python knowledge

Offered through Stanford’s School of Engineering, this instructor-led graduate certificate offers a deep dive into the foundations of artificial intelligence. Since it is designed like a proper degree course, it requires a significant time commitment (about 15 to 20 hours per week for lectures and homework assignments) and at least a 3.0 GPA in each course. All students are required to take either Artificial Intelligence: Principles and Techniques or Machine Learning, and then you can pick three electives depending on your interests, whether that be in robotics, natural language understanding or data mining. 

• Price: Ranges from $18,928 to $23,296
• Duration: 1 to 3 years, depending on learner’s pace
• Prerequisites: Strong background in programming (C/C++, Python, Javascript), college-level calculus, linear algebra, statistics and probability and a bachelor’s degree with a minimum 3.0 GPA. Each course may have its own additional prerequisites

This certification is made for existing AI engineers who want to validate their abilities to design and implement AI systems using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, Azure AI Search and Azure Open AI. The exam covers a range of skills, from planning and managing Azure AI solutions to implementing technology like generative AI and computer vision systems. Microsoft also offers several resources to help participants prepare, some of which are self-paced while others are instructor led. You will have 100 minutes to complete your exam.

• Price: $165
• Duration: 100 minutes 
• Prerequisites: Knowledge of Python and C# programming languages. Each course may have its own additional prerequisites

AI for Everyone is a beginner-friendly, non-technical AI certification for people who want to get a comprehensive introduction to AI concepts, terminology and applications, as well as a better understanding of the ethical and societal implications surrounding AI. This course consists of four modules, adding up about 10 hours of video lectures, quizzes and exercises. It is hosted on the Coursera platform courtesy of DeepLearning.AI, and is taught by prominent AI researcher Andrew Ng.

• Price: Free with a Coursera subscription ($59/month)
• Duration: 3 weeks (2 hours a week)
• Prerequisites: None

UC Berkeley designed this certification for business professionals interested in leveraging AI in their own business. The online program consists of both live and recorded lectures, as well as case studies, assignments and interactive discussion groups. Lessons cover various aspects of AI and its applications, starting with fundamental concepts and then going into more specific areas. You also learn how to build an AI team and study the technology aspects of AI so you can communicate effectively with that team. This all culminates in a capstone project, where you build and execute an AI initiative at your organization.

• Price: $2,800
• Duration: 2 months (4 to 6 hours a week)
• Prerequisites: None

This is a product design certification course offered by the Emeritus platform, in conjunction with MIT xPro, that primarily targets AI-focused UX designers, product managers and startup founders. The 8-week program explores the intricacies of AI product design, the fundamentals of machine learning and deep learning and ways to implement AI products into real business operations and industries. You also learn how to create their own AI-based product proposal, which you can later present to managers, investors or other stakeholders.

• Price: $2,950
• Duration: 8 weeks (6 hours a week)
• Prerequisites: Basic Python experience, as well as knowledge in calculus, linear algebra, statistics and probabilities

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Available online through the Coursera platform, this beginner-level certification program is intended for people who want to learn how to create their own AI products, such as AI chatbots and virtual assistants. This is a 10-course series, where you learn the fundamentals of software engineering, generative AI, prompt engineering, and programming languages like HTML, Javascript and Python. You also learn how to build and deploy your own AI apps with IBM’s Watson AI services during hands-on labs and projects — including a voice assistant, an AI meeting companion and a voice-enabled language translator.

• Price: Free with a Coursera subscription ($59/month)
• Duration: 6 months (4 hours a week)
• Prerequisites: None

This online training program is designed to help you learn and tailor your existing edge AI skills to Nvidia’s Jetson computing technology. The certification comes in two tracks — Jetson AI Specialist, which anyone can complete, and Jetson AI Ambassador, which is exclusively for educators and instructors. To earn your certificate, you have to complete the Jetson AI Fundamentals course, as well as a series of hands-on projects and open source content and assessments. The program also has specific hardware requirements, including a Jetson developer kit, a microSD card, a camera and a PC or laptop (Windows, Mac or Linux).

• Price: Free, but the required Jetson developer kits start at $500
• Duration: 4 hours
• Prerequisites: Basic familiarity with Python and Linusx, plus teaching or training experience for the Jetson AI Ambassador track

The Professional Machine Learning Engineer certification is a skill-based exam to determine how effectively you can design, develop, automate, scale, orchestrate and monitor machine learning models using the Google Cloud platform and technology. The test is made of 50 to 60 multiple choice and multiple select questions, and can be taken in-person or online. No coursework is required to earn the certification, but you can prepare by following the Machine Learning Engineer learning path, which includes online and in-person training courses.

• Price: $200 
• Duration: 2 hours
• Prerequisites: None (Google recommends participants 3+ years of industry experience, including 1 or more years designing and managing solutions in Google Cloud)

Offered through Purdue University, this program is a collaboration between Simplilearn, IBM and the university itself, and is designed for AI professionals who want to improve their skills through an online bootcamp format. Courses are organized into foundations, core, capstone and electives, and cover concepts like model training, conversational AI, speech recognition and generative AI. You will also have access to live lectures led by industry experts covering industry topics like explainable AI and ChatGPT.

• Price: $4,800
• Duration: 11 months
• Prerequisites: A minimum of 2 years work experience, a bachelor’s degree and a basic understanding of programming and mathematics

This multidisciplinary program integrates courses from San Francisco State’s computer science and philosophy departments, as well as its Lam Family College of Business. The courses are designed to teach professionals and graduate students the ethical, legal and policy issues related to artificial intelligence, and addresses specific areas of concern ranging from healthcare to social media to autonomous transportation. The program consists of 10 course units (both in-person and online) and a 10-page research report on a specific application of ethical issues to AI. By the end, the university says students will understand how privacy and transparency relate to AI, how to balance ethics with business needs, and how to comply with AI ethical standards and laws.

• Price: Dependent on your current registration status with San Francisco State University
• Duration: 10 course units
• Prerequisites: Students must be current graduate students at the university or be willing to apply for admission into a graduate business certificate program and have at least a bachelor’s degree

Available through the Coursera platform, this program is designed for data scientists looking to enhance their AI skills. To earn the certification, you must complete a series of five online self-guided courses that show you how to apply AI to solve business problems, follow a methodical machine learning workflow, and use open source tools to develop, test and employ AI solutions while protecting user privacy. You will also complete a project, such as a machine learning workflow to predict demand, a regression, classification or clustering model, or a convolutional neural network.

• Price: Free with a Coursera subscription ($59/month)
• Duration: 2 months (10 hours a week)
• Prerequisites: None

Delivered through live virtual lectures, this intensive program provides you with a comprehensive and deep understanding of generative AI and the ways it can be applied across various industries and contexts. It is primarily designed for leaders, managers and investors interested in learning more about generative AI. Upon completing the courses, MIT says you will be able to understand the history and terminology of generative AI, employ generative AI for domain-specific tasks like video summarization or automated research and spot potential opportunities and challenges from using generative AI.

• Price: $3,125
• Duration: 3 weeks (10 hours a week)
• Prerequisites: None