AWS re:Inforce 2024: New AI certifications debut

People with AI skills can boost their salaries by up to 47%, according to Amazon Web Services (AWS). In response, the cloud giant has launched a suite of new certifications and courses to help grow those skills.

At the recent AWS re:Inforce conference in Philadelphia, it announced the launch of two AWS Certifications focused on artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and generative AI, as well as a collection of free and low-cost training to help people prepare for certification exams. With industry-recognised credentials, it said, professionals looking to build careers in AI can be better positioned to compete for in-demand jobs in the booming cloud technology space.

AWS provided the following information on the new courses:

AWS Certified AI Practitioner is a foundational-level certification. It is designed for people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences to showcase their understanding of AI and generative AI concepts, their ability to recognize opportunities that benefit from AI, and their knowledge on using AI tools responsibly.

AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer – Associate is designed for individuals with at least one year of experience building, deploying, and maintaining AI and ML solutions on AWS. It is beneficial for people who want to demonstrate their ability to make AI models available for real-time usage.

AI will transform the way people work across multiple roles. According to a study commissioned by AWS, organisations are willing to pay a premium for professionals with AI skills. This includes salaries that are up to 47% higher for IT workers, 43% higher for those in sales and marketing, and 42% higher for those in finance, among other fields.

Organisations recognise that taking advantage of AI and generative AI will require a broader skill set beyond programming. This includes professionals in marketing, sales, project and product management, HR, finance, accounting, and beyond. By earning this certification, non-IT professionals can feel greater confidence when identifying opportunities that are well-suited to AI, or when collaborating with technical teams. IT professionals with limited exposure to AI/ML and generative AI can make informed decisions while leveraging their core skills when building or managing AI solutions.

 Scaling AI models for real-time usage allows businesses to serve more users or achieve accurate results. This requires proficiency in ML engineering that covers aspects like optimising model performance, managing computational resources efficiently, updating model versions seamlessly, and securing an AI solution. This certification validates an individual’s skills in developing, deploying, maintaining, and monitoring AI, ML, and generative AI solutions. These are essential skills to influence business objectives like serving millions of users daily, reducing costs of building AI models, faster response time, and rapid model training.

In line with Amazon’s “AI Ready” initiative to provide free AI skills training to 2-million people globally by 2025, anyone can get started learning and preparing to earn an AWS Certification with new digital training available on AWS Skill Builder, its digital learning centre.

For training resources for AWS Certified AI Practitioner, one can take advantage of eight free courses, including Fundamentals of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, Exploring Artificial Intelligence Use Cases and Application, and Essentials of Prompt Engineering. Students will learn about real-world use cases for AI, ML, and generative AI; how to select a foundation model (FM); and concepts and techniques involved in crafting effective prompts.

Meanwhile, for training resources for AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer – Associate, three new courses teach concepts like data transformation and techniques, feature engineering, and strategies for bias mitigation and data security. 

Click here (https://aws.amazon.com/certification) for more information on the new certifications, and to enroll in an exam prep plan.