Best Online Certifications for a Career Transition to AI

Key Infor­ma­tion:

• Pro­fes­sion­als from diverse indus­tries like busi­ness, health­care, and mar­ket­ing are piv­ot­ing into AI by com­bin­ing domain exper­tise with AI skills through online cer­ti­fi­ca­tions and hands-on experience.
• Online AI cer­ti­fi­ca­tions such as IBM’s Applied AI Pro­fes­sion­al Cer­tifi­cate, Coursera’s AI for Every­one, and Microsoft Azure AI Fun­da­men­tals offer acces­si­ble path­ways for non-tech­ni­cal pro­fes­sion­als to tran­si­tion into AI roles.
• Qual­i­ty AI cer­ti­fi­ca­tion pro­grams are project-based, indus­try-rec­og­nized, and often include career sup­port ser­vices like men­tor­ship, job place­ment, and port­fo­lio reviews to help learn­ers become job-ready.
• To tru­ly launch an AI career, learn­ers must go beyond earn­ing cer­ti­fi­ca­tions by apply­ing their skills to real-world projects, build­ing a GitHub port­fo­lio, and con­tin­u­ous­ly upskilling to keep pace with evolv­ing AI technologies.

Why Professionals Are Moving into AI

Did you know that the ideas for arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence (AI) start­ed in the 1940s? How­ev­er, it was only in 1956 that the term was coined at the Dart­mouth Con­fer­ence. By the 2020s, gen­er­a­tive AI and its wide­spread use in the arts and sci­ences exploded.

Indeed, AI isn’t the tech-indus­try buzz­word it once was. AI has trans­formed and con­tin­ues to trans­form human soci­ety and impact diverse indus­tries. In fact, every indus­try has its tech acronym for its AI version:

• fin­tech
• edtech
• legal­tech
• agtech

No won­der then many pro­fes­sion­als in a wide range of indus­tries are piv­ot­ing into AI careers. It applies to the busi­ness, finance, mar­ket­ing, and health­care industries.

These pro­fes­sion­als com­bine their domain exper­tise and AI skills through fur­ther edu­ca­tion. Doing so boosts their career growth and income potential.

But going back to school and earn­ing a degree in com­put­er sci­ence or a relat­ed field isn’t always viable. For­tu­nate­ly, you can explore the best AI cer­ti­fi­ca­tions online. These cer­ti­fi­ca­tions are an acces­si­ble way to upskill quickly.

If you’re inter­est­ed in these cer­ti­fi­ca­tions, read on. You’ll learn the top cer­ti­fi­ca­tions, who they’re for, and how to choose the right one.

Relat­ed:

• Top Agile Lead­er­ship and Man­age­ment Train­ing Programs
• Busi­ness Degree Pro­grams and Career Paths
• Best Cloud Com­put­ing Cer­ti­fi­ca­tions for Career Advancement
• Best Pro­fes­sion­al Cer­ti­fi­ca­tions for Remote Jobs and Careers

Can You Really Switch to an AI Career with an Online Certification?

Yes, you can, espe­cial­ly if you choose the right AI cer­ti­fi­ca­tions for career change. But AI cer­ti­fi­ca­tions aren’t the sil­ver bul­let either. You must engage in strate­gic upskilling, com­plete projects, and choose a spe­cial­iza­tion. Doing so means stand­ing out from the com­pe­ti­tion. The AI field is as com­pet­i­tive as it gets.

With that said, cer­ti­fi­ca­tions are a great way to start your AI career on the right foot. Cer­ti­fi­ca­tions val­i­date your skills and, thus, build cred­i­bil­i­ty, espe­cial­ly for self-taught learners.

But don’t treat cer­ti­fi­ca­tions as col­lectibles either. You must also gain hands-on expe­ri­ence and build prac­ti­cal skills. Think cap­stone projects, port­fo­lios, and case studies.

So, if you’re won­der­ing how to switch careers to AI, com­bine the­o­ry (i.e., cer­ti­fi­ca­tions) and prac­tice. Bet­ter yet, go for cer­ti­fi­ca­tion pro­grams that demand hands-on experiences.

Here are job titles that AI cer­ti­fi­ca­tions can lead to:

• Machine learn­ing engineer
• AI prod­uct manager
• Data ana­lyst with AI tools
• AI ethics consultant
• Prompt engi­neer

You can also enjoy career flex­i­bil­i­ty as an AI pro­fes­sion­al. This can mean dif­fer­ent things, too, such as being a spe­cial­ist or gen­er­al­ist. You may also want to explore dif­fer­ent indus­tries and shift between dif­fer­ent roles.

What to Look for in a Quality AI Certification

The best AI cer­ti­fi­ca­tions online have these major char­ac­ter­is­tics in common.

Accreditation or industry recognition

Go for online AI cours­es with cer­tifi­cates offered by: 

• Accred­it­ed insti­tu­tions, such as col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties (e.g., Stan­ford and MIT)
• Indus­try-rec­og­nized orga­ni­za­tions (e.g., IBM and Google Cloud)
• Rep­utable online plat­forms (e.g., Cours­era and edX)

Doing so means AI employ­ers rec­og­nize your train­ing and skills, too.

Project-based or hands-on curriculum

The best AI cer­ti­fi­ca­tions online empha­size prac­ti­cal action over rote mem­o­riza­tion. Choose pro­grams that include real-world projects, case stud­ies, and labs.

Industry-recognized tools and frameworks

Python, Ten­sor­Flow, PyTorch, and scik­it-learn are among these tools and frame­works. You’ll gain real-world skills and, thus, be more job-ready.

Options based on skill level (e.g., beginner or advanced)

If you’re an AI begin­ner, it’s obvi­ous that foun­da­tion­al cours­es are best. Then, as you gain more expe­ri­ence, go for more advanced certificates.

Career support

Look for effec­tive and acces­si­ble men­tor­ship, job place­ment, and port­fo­lio review services.

Best Online AI Certifications for Beginners

Start your AI career jour­ney with one or more of these cer­ti­fi­ca­tion programs.

AI For Everyone – Andrew Ng (Coursera)

This is the best arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence cer­ti­fi­ca­tion for begin­ners for many rea­sons. For starters, there’s no cod­ing need­ed. As such, it’s a great pro­gram for non-tech­ni­cal professionals.

As intro­duc­tions to AI go, it pro­vides a high lev­el of under­stand­ing of AI. Stu­dents learn what AI can and can’t do.

Google AI Education / Learn with Google AI

If you want to tran­si­tion to AI career but are a non-techie, con­sid­er this one, too. Google offers a wide range of free mod­ules and inter­ac­tive lessons for non-techies. Even com­plex top­ics become more approach­able with Google’s offerings.

It is par­tic­u­lar­ly true for the machine learn­ing and Ten­sor­Flow mod­ules. Stu­dents gain both the­o­ret­i­cal knowl­edge and prac­ti­cal skills.

IBM Applied AI Professional Certificate (Coursera)

IBM offers among the best AI cer­ti­fi­ca­tions online that cov­er the basics. Stu­dents learn the Python basics and key AI tools. The pro­gram also includes com­ple­tion of prac­ti­cal projects using IBM plat­forms and tools.

Indeed, if you’re look­ing for a sol­id entry point into AI, this is it. You can build your port­fo­lio with mean­ing­ful projects.

Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals

Microsoft also offers an AI cer­ti­fi­ca­tion for non-tech­ni­cal pro­fes­sion­als seek­ing tech-adja­cent roles. This is an intro­duc­tion to AI and cloud-based implementation.

Top Intermediate to Advanced AI Certifications for Career Transitioners

AI boot­camps and cer­tifi­cates have a hier­ar­chy, in a man­ner of speak­ing. Once you’ve learned the basics, you’ll want to move into the inter­me­di­ate and advanced programs.

DeepLearning.AI TensorFlow Developer Certificate

If you already have some cod­ing expe­ri­ence, con­sid­er this cer­tifi­cate pro­gram. Stu­dents must be famil­iar with Python and machine learn­ing concepts.

It is also a high­ly respect­ed cer­tifi­cate in the machine learn­ing job mar­ket. It’s ide­al for pro­fes­sion­als seek­ing a career change to arti­fi­cial intelligence.

Udacity AI Programming with Python Nanodegree

The pro­gram teach­es foun­da­tion­al skills in Python, NumPy, Pan­das, and PyTorch. Stu­dents com­plete real-world projects that devel­op their prac­ti­cal skills. The pro­gram also pro­vides men­tor sup­port and feedback.

MIT xPro AI and Machine Learning Certificate

This more advanced pro­gram is tar­get­ed at pro­fes­sion­als with a STEM back­ground. Stu­dents tack­le advanced top­ics in AI and ML theory.

There’s also a strong focus on real-world prob­lem-solv­ing. Stu­dents apply the­o­ry through sim­u­la­tions and case studies.

HarvardX: Data Science and Machine Learning Certificate (edX)

The pro­gram cov­ers Python, data wran­gling, and mod­el­ing, among oth­ers. The pres­ti­gious Har­vard brand makes it a sought-after cer­ti­fi­ca­tion pro­gram. But it isn’t about the glit­ter only — stu­dents gain a sol­id foun­da­tion for more spe­cial­ized AI roles.

AI Certifications with Career Coaching and Job Support

Springboard AI/Machine Learning Career Track

The pro­gram offers 1:1 men­tor­ship with indus­try pro­fes­sion­als. Com­pleters also have a job guar­an­tee, which career switch­ers appre­ci­ate. The struc­tured path­way means stu­dents get from zero to job-ready quickly.

CareerFoundry AI Specialist Program

Stu­dents receive career coach­ing ser­vices and men­tor­ship. The pro­gram is geared toward non-techie pro­fes­sion­als inter­est­ed in data and prod­uct roles.

These AI cer­tifi­cate pro­grams tend to be more expen­sive. Costs start at $6,900 for Career­Foundry’s pro­gram, for exam­ple. But their high­er return on invest­ment makes them worth the mon­ey and time. 

Specialized Certifications for Niche AI Career Paths

Do you want to com­bine your domain exper­tise and AI-spe­cial­ized skills? If yes, you may want to con­sid­er these spe­cial­ized certifications.

AI in Healthcare (Stanford Online or Coursera)

Med­ical pro­fes­sion­als who want to inte­grate AI into their prac­tice should con­sid­er it. Clin­i­cians, health­care admin­is­tra­tors, and researchers are ide­al can­di­dates. Stu­dents learn from expert Stan­ford fac­ul­ty with years of expe­ri­ence in AI and medicine.

AI in Marketing (Darden School of Business)

Mar­keters seek­ing to under­stand per­son­al­iza­tion, automa­tion, and data use in cam­paigns are wel­come. Stu­dents learn how AI tools can trans­form dig­i­tal mar­ket­ing. No pri­or cod­ing expe­ri­ence needed.

Responsible AI and Ethics (edX / UC Berkeley)

The pro­gram address­es the grow­ing need for AI ethics offi­cers and con­sul­tants. This is also use­ful for pro­fes­sion­als blend­ing domain exper­tise with AI knowledge.

How to Maximize the Value of Your Certification

The rise of online learn­ing for AI jobs means that it’s eas­i­er than ever to earn cer­ti­fi­ca­tions. But com­plet­ing cer­ti­fi­ca­tion pro­grams isn’t enough either. You must do more to max­i­mize their val­ue and stand out from the job competition.

Apply skills to personal or freelance projects.

Build your port­fo­lio through per­son­al AI projects. Bet­ter yet, offer your AI skills to local organizations.

Build a GitHub portfolio.

Show­case your prac­ti­cal AI skills by upload­ing code and notebook.

Join AI communities or Slack groups for networking.

Net­work­ing can lead to employ­ment and col­lab­o­ra­tion opportunities.

Tailor your LinkedIn profile and resume to highlight certification impact.

Every job appli­ca­tion must have its tai­lored sup­port­ing documents.

Combine certifications with micro-internships or volunteer work, if possible.

Qual­i­ty of engage­ment mat­ters, too. High­light the prac­ti­cal skills you’ve gained dur­ing your engagements.

Final Thoughts: Turning Certification into an AI Career

Earn­ing the best AI cer­ti­fi­ca­tions online is only the begin­ning. What mat­ters most are action and appli­ca­tion of your AI skills. For this rea­son, you must com­bine learn­ing with real-world practice.

Don’t stop with what­ev­er cer­ti­fi­ca­tions you’ve already earned, either. AI and its tools evolve rapid­ly, so con­tin­u­ous learn­ing is a must. Be curi­ous and adapt­able, and be in tune with the trends. Be pre­pared to learn, unlearn, and relearn through­out your AI career.

Also, your pri­or expe­ri­ence and exper­tise in what­ev­er domain isn’t wast­ed either. After all, AI thrives on domain knowledge.