October was a month of exam updates rather than new launches. The biggest change for most readers is a date: Anthropic updates three of its four Claude exams on 7 December, and AWS retires its current Machine Learning Engineer exam on 14 January. If you are booking either, check which version you will sit.
This roundup covers changes announced between 3 October and 2 November 2026, checked against each vendor’s official pages.
Biggest changes
Anthropic: three Claude exams change on 7 December
Pearson VUE’s Anthropic page now says CCAO-F, CCDV-F and CCAR-P get updated content from 7 December 2026, with new exam guides due on 17 November. CCAR-F is not named in the notice. Access is unchanged: you still need a company email from a Claude Partner Network organization (Pearson VUE).
What to do: if your exam is before 7 December, prepare from the current guide. If it is on or after that date, wait for the 17 November guide before you commit to study material.
AWS: MLA-C01 retires on 14 January
The AWS Machine Learning Engineer – Associate is moving to a new version. The English MLA-C01 already ended on 28 September; the Japanese, Korean and Simplified Chinese versions run until 13 January 2027. MLA-C02 is in beta (English only, 85 questions, 170 minutes, US$75) and becomes generally available in all languages on 14 January. C02 adds foundation models and Amazon Bedrock and uses only multiple-choice and multiple-response questions (AWS).
Separately, the AWS AI Practitioner dropped its Italian and German versions after 15 October, leaving 10 languages.
Microsoft: AB-730 and AB-900 updated, AB-100 next
The AB-730 outline changed on 20 October and now includes a section on agents and Copilot Cowork. The AB-900 English exam was updated on 14 October with a minor change to its security skill; its weights stayed the same. The AB-100 English exam changes on 16 November, shifting weight from deployment towards planning and design (Plan 35–40%, Design 30–35%, Deploy 20–25%) (Microsoft Learn).
Good news for two Associate exams: AB-620 and AI-103 now have free official practice assessments on Microsoft AI Skills Navigator.
ISC2 publishes the outline for an AI security certification
ISC2 released the exam outline for a new AI security certification on 26 October. A free pilot exam runs in person at Pearson test centres from mid-December to 24 January for up to 3,000 selected candidates; the volunteer form closed on 4 November and pilot registration opens in mid-November. The credential has no name yet and is not expected to be fully available until 2027 (ISC2).
Our take: new and unproven as a credential, but ISC2 is well known in security, so this one is likely to carry weight once it launches.
Google Cloud: Agentic Architect moves out of beta
Beta registration for the Google Cloud Professional Agentic Architect has closed. Google says general availability registration opens in early to mid November, with a 2-hour exam at US$200 (the beta was 3 hours and US$120). Beta candidates who passed must finish the hands-on labs by 31 December (Google Cloud).
Also changed
- IAPP announced a new AI certification for legal professionals on 8 October. No exam or launch date yet. The main AI governance credential, AIGP, is unchanged (IAPP).
- SAP is offering one free attempt at its Joule Studio Developer exam, to be used by 31 December. SAP also added AI roleplays as a way to renew certifications from 20 October (SAP News). Mainly valuable inside the SAP ecosystem.
- Google Cloud now lists renewal through designated Google Skills courses or skill badges for the Professional ML Engineer and Generative AI Leader, alongside retaking the exam. The ML Engineer exam guide also now uses Agent Platform names in place of Vertex AI.
- AWS opened registration on 27 October for new versions of its Developer (DVA-C03) and Solutions Architect Professional (SAP-C03) exams. They now include generative AI content, though they are general cloud certifications rather than AI ones.
- NVIDIA lists an associate exam, AI Model and Application Development (NCA-AMAD): US$125, one hour, multiple choice plus a hands-on lab. NVIDIA does not give a launch date.
Coming up
- Mid-November: Google Agentic Architect general availability registration; ISC2 pilot registration for selected candidates.
- 16 November: AB-100 English exam changes.
- 17 November: new Anthropic exam guides for CCAO-F, CCDV-F and CCAR-P.
- 7 December: updated Anthropic exam content goes live.
- 31 December: deadline for SAP’s free Joule Studio attempt and for Google Agentic Architect beta passers to finish the labs.
- 14 January 2027: MLA-C01 retires; MLA-C02 becomes generally available.
No news from
OpenAI (still no public proctored exam), Oracle, Databricks, Salesforce, Snowflake, IBM, ServiceNow, Huawei, Alibaba Cloud, ISACA, PMI, CompTIA, GIAC, EC-Council, CertNexus, BCS, ARTiBA, USAII, and the ISO/IEC 42001 certification bodies (PECB, BSI, TÜV SÜD). There is still no official certification for the NIST AI RMF or the EU AI Act.
Every upcoming date in this roundup is also tracked on the AI certification changes and key dates page, updated each month.
Full details on each exam are in the guides linked above, and you can see all of them side by side on the comparison page. If you’re preparing for an AI certification exam, try our free practice material and prep kits.
Related reading
- Claude and Google have AI certifications. So where is OpenAI’s? — What OpenAI offers today, and what isn’t a certification.
- Which Claude certification should you take first? — Pick by the work you do, not the title.
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