Are AI Certifications Worth It?

Learning AI skills has emerged as a common piece of career advice as employers increasingly integrate AI into day-to-day work. This has led to the emergence and rapid expansion of new academic degrees, bootcamps, online courses, and professional certifications. Workers have responded en masse, hoping to stay relevant and incorporate the new technology at work. As the market for AI credentials explodes, it is important to ask: Are these AI certifications worth it?

A recent Brookings Institution working paper using Revelio Labs data offers important context. The authors found that non-degree credentials deliver meaningful wage returns – but only when they are relevant to the worker's occupation. The findings from this study set the stage for the current AI certification wave. Are workers pursuing credentials that are genuinely relevant to their jobs, or are they accumulating low-value certifications that signal engagement with AI without delivering meaningful returns? READ MORE