Cisco is highlighting two new AI-focused certifications aimed at IT infrastructure professionals. Its AI Technical Practitioner (AITECH) certification is designed to help tech pros build and validate the skills needed to support AI workloads across enterprise infrastructure. The company also recently introduced the Cisco AI Infrastructure Specialist Certification, which is geared for engineers, architects, operations teams, and service providers who need to run AI workloads reliably and at scale.
The AITECH certification provides foundational knowledge and practical experience with AI technologies and workflows. It focuses on the technical integration of AI across enterprise environments, covering areas such as infrastructure design, security, data management, and operations, according to Cisco.
The AI Infrastructure Specialist Certification is part of the CCNP Data Center track and is targeted at professionals who deploy, migrate, operate, monitor, and troubleshoot AI-based workloads on Cisco data-center infrastructure. Cisco says the Cisco AI Infrastructure Specialist certification is a focused credential that bridges traditional data-center/infrastructure skills with the emerging eeds of AI workload deployment and management. It’s designed to validate real-world operational capabilities rather than just theoretical AI.
“This new certification focuses on artificial intelligence and machine learning workloads, helping technical professionals become AI-ready and successfully embed AI into their workflows,” said Pat Merat, vice president at Learn with Cisco, in a blog detailing the new AI Infrastructure Specialist certification. “The certification validates a candidate’s comprehensive knowledge in designing, implementing, operating, and troubleshooting AI solutions across Cisco infrastructure.”
Separately, the AITECH certification is part of the Cisco AI Infrastructure track, which complements its existing networking, data center, and security certifications. Cisco says the AITECH cert training is intended for network engineers, system administrators, solution architects, and other IT professionals who want to learn how AI impacts enterprise infrastructure. The training curriculum covers topics such as:
- Utilizing AI for code generation, refactoring, and using modern AI-assisted coding workflows.
- Using generative AI for exploratory data analysis, data cleaning, transformation, and generating actionable insights.
- Designing and implementing multi-step AI-assisted workflows and understanding complex agentic systems for automation.
- Learning AI-powered requirements, evaluating customization approaches, considering deployment strategies, and designing robust AI workflows.
- Evaluating, fine-tuning, and deploying pre-trained AI models, and implementing Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) systems.
- Monitoring, maintaining, and optimizing AI-powered workflows, ensuring data integrity and security.
AITECH certification candidates will learn how to use AI to enhance productivity, automate routine tasks, and support the development of new applications. The training program includes hands-on labs and simulations to demonstrate practical use cases for AI within Cisco and multi-vendor environments.
Cisco is rolling out the AITECH certification in phases. The first training module—covering Generative AI Essentials—is available now through Cisco U., the company’s online learning platform. Additional modules and specialization areas, addressing topics such as AI security and compliance, model customization, and AI agents and orchestration, will follow. The final certification exam is expected to become available in December 2025.
For those interested in the Cisco AI Infrastructure Specialist Certification, Cisco recommends candidates complete the AI Solutions on Cisco Infrastructure Essentials Learning Path before taking the exam, which will first be available on February 9, 2026, at Cisco Live Amsterdam.
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