AWS Certified AI Practitioner Exam: Bridging the Communication Gap on AI Between IT and Business

(Disclaimer: This post reflects my personal experience only and should not be construed as official guidance for exam preparation or the exam itself.)

As I recently completed my Certified AI Practitioner Exam, I realized that the preparation process itself is one concrete step for achieving IT-business alignment. I believe senior management should leverage this as an approach to becoming an AI-first organization.

More Than Just AWS Services

The exam, contrary to what some might expect, isn't about memorizing AWS services. Instead, it focuses on understanding what tools you need and what you want AI to achieve for you in particular business scenarios. This approach is invaluable for both IT professionals and business users alike.

The beauty of having gone through the preparation lies in its ability to bridge the knowledge gap between Business and IT. The exam can be attempted by business professionals, requiring no IT background, but it doesn’t mean there is no learning curve. There's still significant work to be done, both for IT professionals to know what questions to ask the business side, and for business users to understand what aspects of AI they need to consider.

The Right Logic and Language

The exam preparation equips you with two crucial elements:

1. The right logic
2. The right language

These are essential when it comes to exploring AI for businesses. You don't need to know the nitty-gritty details of implementation, but you do need to know the right language to discuss the best implementation approach.

Understanding AI or GenAI Capabilities in Business Contexts

It's not just about knowing AI or GenAI use cases. The real value comes from understanding the capabilities of AI (including GenAI) in particular business settings, how it relates to business operations, and what impact it creates.

The preparation promotes problem-solution thinking. It illustrates how AI – not just GenAI – can be helpful, and sometimes how traditional AI approaches make more sense in terms of time, money, and human resources.

The preparation touches upon key in successful GenAI adoption, such as Prompt engineering, the art of effectively instructing AI systems. (See more: The Power of Words: How Prompt Engineering is Reshaping Business, detailing how crafting effective prompts is becoming a critical skill for business users and decision-makers alike. It's about crafting the right instructions - or prompts - to input the business domain knowledge for AI to output the downstream business benefits. It is all part of grasping the skills for strategic AI communication.)

The Power of Data-Driven Thinking

One of the other valuable aspects of the exam preparation is how it encourages you to always start by asking, "Where is the data?" This question alone is a powerful alignment tool between tech and business.

Data always originates from the business side at some point in the operations, and business users are always the consumers of data products, including AI. So, who are better than the business users themselves to know the top-line or bottom-line problems they want data to solve?

The Importance of Precision in AI Discussions

The exam preparation also pinpoint how to be precise in your AI discussions. Let's take the concept of “inference accuracy" as an example:

• What percentage of accuracy are we aiming for?
• From what evaluation perspective?
• How often should we measure accuracy?
• Are there conditional factors affecting accuracy?
• Do we need real-time accuracy, or can we allow for some lagging?

These are the kinds of nuanced questions that the exam preparation helps both business and technical to consider and articulate.

Bridging the Gap: A Path to AI-First

By attaining the certification, you have at least demonstrated that you have the communication capacity to bridge the gap between IT and business. But imagine the power your organization could yield if most business users were equipped with the right language to talk AI?

When business users can effectively communicate about AI, they can leverage their domain knowledge to accelerate AI adoption.

A Call to Action for Business Leaders: Future-Proof Your Organization in the AI Era

As AI continues to reshape the business landscape, it's up to you, the business leaders, to guide your organizations through this transformation. Your decisions will significantly impact your company's ability to compete and innovate tomorrow.

See the exam preparation as an opportunity here to close the gap between IT and business. Encourage your IT teams to explain AI concepts in practical business terms. At the same time, motivate your business teams to get familiar with AI concepts. Their industry knowledge, combined with AI understanding, can drive meaningful innovations.

Helping your teams prepare for AI certifications isn't just about using the number of certified practitioners as part of the innovation branding. It's about equipping your entire organization with the know-hows to make the most of AI.

This is where visionary leadership comes in.

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