CAIA-AUD-F · Fundamentals grade · Assurance
Certified AI Audit Fundamentals
For internal and IT audit functions that must plan, execute, and report an audit of an AI system, and stand behind the finding.
2 hours examination · remote, proctored · valid 2 years
US$695
First membership year included
§ 1 — Intended candidates
Who this certification is for
For internal and IT-audit functions that must plan, execute, and report an audit of an AI system — and stand behind the finding. An open, no-prerequisite entry point below the advanced audit credentials in the market.
- Prerequisites
- No formal prerequisites. Recommended: an audit qualification or experience in an internal or IT audit function.
This is the Fundamentals grade of the AI Audit family — Professional and Fellow follow it.
§ 2 — Examination domains
What the examination covers
The examination is mapped to AI audit and evidence practice: control testing, evidence sufficiency, and the audit trail. Weightings are indicative until each syllabus is published.
- 01
Audit planning and scoping20%
Converting "audit our AI" into an executable scope with defined criteria, boundary, and period.
- 02
Control identification and testing25%
Identifying and testing controls across the AI lifecycle, including systems whose behaviour is probabilistic.
- 03
Evidence and working papers25%
Evidence sufficiency, audit trail, and working-paper standards that let another auditor reach the same conclusion from the same file.
- 04
Assurance concepts and boundaries15%
Assurance concepts, and the boundary between an audit and a conformity assessment.
- 05
Reporting the finding15%
Reporting a finding a sceptical reader can challenge, graded proportionately and tracked to closure.
Curriculum mapping indicates alignment of learning content with published frameworks. It does not constitute endorsement by, or certification under, any standards organisation or regulator.
§ 3 — Preparation
What preparation is anchored to
Candidates prepare independently against the published materials.
The Council certifies individuals — it sells no preparation of any kind, and how a candidate prepared is never visible to an assessor. How impartiality is protected.
§ 4 — Assessment
How candidates are assessed
Examination centred on an audit context supplied at the start, requiring an evidence sufficiency assessment and a written finding with a proposed grading.
Every script is marked twice — an AI assessor first and provisional, an independent human assessor second and final. The credential carries a unique identifier any employer can check on the public register.
§ 5 — Questions
Questions about this certification
What does the examination cost?
US$695, with the first year of membership included. Nothing is payable until you register for a sitting.
When can I sit the examination?
Registration is open now through the candidate portal; examination sittings run from the October 2026 window and are scheduled at booking.
Scheme-wide questions are answered on the FAQ and in the candidate handbook.
§ 6 — Further reading
Background reading
- AI assurance vs AI audit vs AI risk assessment
Three terms used interchangeably that mean different things, have different outputs, and require different independence. A practitioner-level distinction.
- What is AI assurance? A practitioner's definition
Producing credible, independently reviewable evidence that an AI system works as intended — and how that differs from governance and compliance.
§ 7 — Register
Register for this examination
Create a candidate account and register now; sittings are scheduled from the October 2026 examination window and the examination fee is US$695, with the first year of membership included. Members pay a reduced rate on every examination.
Register — candidate portalThe Council is pursuing ISO/IEC 17024 accreditation; no accreditation is claimed until it is held. Accreditation status.