Program comparison
AWS AI Business Strategist vs AWS AI Practitioner (AIF-C01): business judgment or AI foundations?
AWS AI Business Strategist vs AWS AI Practitioner (AIF-C01): compare scope, time, US exam cost, assessment and renewal.
AWS offers two entry-level AI certifications that test different things. AWS Certified AI Business Strategist, a beta exam, assesses business judgment for AI decisions and, in AWS's words, does not assess knowledge of AWS AI services. AWS Certified AI Practitioner (AIF-C01) validates foundational knowledge of AI, ML and generative AI concepts and AWS AI services. AWS says you can earn both. Facts were observed in the United States on 3 October 2026.
Choose AWS AI Business Strategist if you lead or support AI decisions and want to show you can evaluate AI investments, build business cases, design governance and scale adoption, without a test of AWS services.
Choose AWS AI Practitioner (AIF-C01) if you want a foundational check of AI, ML and generative AI concepts and of how AWS AI services fit business use cases.
At a Glance
| Feature | AWS AI Business Strategist[1] | AWS AI Practitioner (AIF-C01)[2] |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Beta exam. | Current exam; Italian and German versions retire after October 15, 2026. |
| Scope & Prerequisites | AI investments, business cases, governance and adoption; AWS services knowledge not assessed; no coding, AWS implementation experience or other AWS certification required. | Five domains on AI, ML and generative AI concepts and AWS AI services; up to 6 months of exposure to AI/ML on AWS; coding and model building out of scope. |
| Time Measure | 170 minutes. | 90 minutes. |
| Numeric US Cost | 50 USD beta exam price; standard exam price 100 USD, as shown in the United States on 3 October 2026. | 100 USD per attempt, as shown in the United States on 3 October 2026. |
| Assessment Mechanism | 85 questions, multiple choice and multiple response; test center or online proctored. | 65 questions, 50 scored; pass mark 700 on a 100 to 1,000 scale; test center or online proctored. |
| Expiry & Renewal | Renew by passing the latest version of the exam, for 3 more years, as of 3 October 2026. | Valid for 3 years; three exam routes renew it for 3 more years, as of 3 October 2026. |
Scope and Prerequisites
The AI Business Strategist page[1] targets product and program managers, consultants, business analysts and line-of-business leaders. AWS recommends basic AI familiarity and six months working with or alongside AI initiatives.
The AIF-C01 exam guide[3] targets people who use, but do not necessarily build, AI/ML solutions on AWS. Its domains weight foundation model applications at 28 percent, generative AI at 24 percent, AI and ML at 20 percent, and responsible AI and security, compliance and governance at 14 percent each.
Cost and Format
AI Business Strategist is offered in English and Japanese; the AI Practitioner page[2] lists 12 languages. Costs cover one exam attempt; preparation and retakes are separate.
Expiry and Renewal
The AWS recertification page[4] lists one renewal route for AI Business Strategist: pass the latest exam version. AI Practitioner renews by passing the latest AIF-C01, Machine Learning Engineer - Associate or Generative AI Developer - Professional exam. A certification must be active to renew.