Expect judgment, not just recall.
Candidates describe questions where two answers look right and the wording, such as "most appropriate", decides it. People who had passed Solutions Architect Associate say the same elimination habits helped.
AWS Certified AI Practitioner (AIF-C01) Exam Guide
Validates foundational knowledge of AI and generative AI concepts, foundation models, responsible AI and AWS AI services.
AIF-C01 checks that you understand how AI, machine learning and generative AI work, which AWS services fit which use case, and how to use AI responsibly and securely. Learn the concepts from one course, then practise judging between plausible answers and with ordering and matching questions.
Understand the exam
Syllabus
Domain 1Fundamentals of AI and ML20%
- 1.1Explain basic AI concepts and terminologies
- 1.2Identify practical use cases for AI
- 1.3Describe the AI/ML development lifecycle
Example scenario: A bank must explain every loan decision to regulators. Would you compare a traditional ML model or a foundation model first, and why?
Domain 2Fundamentals of GenAI24%
- 2.1Explain the basic concepts of generative AI (GenAI)
- 2.2Understand the capabilities and limitations of GenAI for solving business problems
- 2.3Describe AWS infrastructure and technologies for building GenAI applications
Example scenario: A chatbot's monthly bill doubled after prompts started including long documents. Which pricing factor explains this?
Domain 3Applications of foundation models28%
- 3.1Describe design considerations for applications that use foundation models (FMs)
- 3.2Choose effective prompt engineering techniques
- 3.3Describe the training and fine-tuning process for FMs
- 3.4Describe methods to evaluate FM performance
Example scenario: A support assistant should answer from the latest product manuals, which change weekly. Would you compare fine-tuning or RAG, and why?
Domain 4Guidelines for responsible AI14%
- 4.1Explain the development of AI systems that are responsible
- 4.2Recognize the importance of transparent and explainable models
Example scenario: A hiring model scores one group of applicants consistently lower. Which checks and AWS tools would you use to investigate?
Domain 5Security, compliance, and governance for AI solutions14%
- 5.1Explain methods to secure AI systems
- 5.2Recognize governance and compliance regulations for AI systems
Example scenario: Staff paste customer data into an internal AI assistant. Which controls would reduce the risk of that data leaking into responses?
Official AIF-C01 exam guide · Version 1.1, April 2026
Format
- Questions
- 65
- Duration
- 90 min
- Passing score
- 700 / 1000
- Delivery
- Test centre or online
- Languages
- English, Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish
Question types
Choose the single best answer from four options; one is correct and three are distractors.
CertUp example
A team wants a chatbot to answer questions from internal policy documents that change every week, without retraining a model. Which approach fits best?
Show answer
Use retrieval augmented generation with an up-to-date document index. The model reads the current documents at answer time, so nothing needs retraining.
Choose two or more correct answers from five or more options; you must select every correct option to get credit.
CertUp example
Which TWO actions help reduce harmful output from a customer-facing generative AI assistant?
Show answer
Apply content filters to prompts and responses, and test the assistant on varied inputs and review the results for bias. Filters block bad output, and testing finds issues before customers do.
Place three to five steps in the correct order; the question scores only if the selection and the order are both right.
CertUp example
Put the main steps of a machine learning project in the correct order.
Show answer
Collect and prepare the data, train the model, evaluate the model, deploy the model. Each step depends on the one before it.
Match each item in one list to the correct prompt in another; every pair must be right to get credit.
CertUp example
Match each task to the AI approach that fits it best (options are items to match to the numbered prompts 1 to 3).
Show answer
1 is unsupervised learning, 2 is supervised learning, 3 is generative AI. Unlabelled grouping, labelled prediction and content creation are three different approaches.
Eligibility and booking
Create an AWS Certification account with a personal email, choose AIF-C01 and schedule with Pearson VUE at a test centre or online. Non-native English speakers can request 30 extra minutes before booking.
Make a study plan
Read the exam guide's task statements first. Then take one course that covers generative AI and the AWS AI services, and use practice questions to sharpen your judgment between close answers.
Most candidates spend 20–50 hours. Plan for the low end if you already work with machine learning or AWS; add time if AI concepts and the AWS AI services are new to you.
- 1Understand the examRead the syllabus and format, check you’re eligible and pick a target date.2 h
- 3Learn the core conceptsWork through one main course or book, topic by topic.24 h
- 4Practice with mock examsTake timed practice tests and review every mistake.12 h
- 5Prepare for exam dayBook the exam and check the ID and delivery rules.2 h
Learn the core concepts
One course that covers the April 2026 outline is enough. AWS's free exam prep plan is the official route; a paid course adds more depth on Bedrock, Amazon Q and SageMaker.
Best free official courseExam Prep Plan: AWS Certified AI Practitioner (AIF-C01)
Best paid video course[NEW] Ultimate AWS Certified AI Practitioner AIF-C01
Best subscriptionAWS Certified AI Practitioner Exam PrepStudy the newest topics. Version 1.1 added agentic AI, the Model Context Protocol, context engineering and token-based pricing. Check that your course covers them, or read those task statements in the exam guide.
Practice with mock exams
Start with AWS's free question set, then use a practice bank that includes ordering and matching questions. For every miss, note which requirement in the question pointed to the right answer.
Official Practice Question Set (AIF-C01)
AWS Certified AI Practitioner AIF-C01 Practice ExamsOfficial Practice Exam (AIF-C01)Are you ready?
- You can explain when to use RAG, fine-tuning or prompt engineering.
- You can match common AI use cases to Bedrock, SageMaker AI, Amazon Q and the other in-scope services.
- You finish fresh timed practice exams and can explain why the close alternatives were wrong.
Prepare for exam day
Choose the checklist for your test-centre or online appointment.
Before going to the test centre
Before testing from home
- Bring two IDs, or one primary and one secondary ID, matching the name in your AWS Certification account.
- Arrive 15 to 30 minutes before your appointment.
- Store your belongings as instructed. Breaks are allowed, but the exam clock keeps running.
- Run the OnVUE system test on the computer and network you will use.
- Prepare a private room and a clear desk, and have one government-issued photo ID ready.
- Start check-in early. Arriving more than 15 minutes late forfeits the exam fee.
- You cannot leave the camera view or take a break during the exam.
You can reschedule or cancel up to 24 hours before the appointment, and reschedule twice at most. AWS posts results to your AWS Certification account within five business days.
Advice from exam takers
Bedrock and responsible AI run through several domains.
Pass reports note that Bedrock, guardrails and responsible AI appear across the exam rather than in one section, so learn them well.
Prior AI knowledge shortens preparation.
Candidates with an AI or ML background report passing after a few days of practice questions and notes. Others spent several weeks with a full course first.