CAI-F · Fundamentals grade · Governance
Certified AI Governance Fundamentals — ISO/IEC 42001
The AI management system standard: what ISO/IEC 42001 requires of an organisation, clauses 4–10 and the Annex A controls in concept, and how an AIMS is evidenced.
2 hours examination · remote, proctored · valid 2 years
US$695
First membership year included
§ 1 — Intended candidates
Who this certification is for
The competency standard for the AI management-system approach — ISO/IEC 42001, the certifiable standard for organisational AI governance, and the common baseline beneath the Council’s sector credentials.
- Prerequisites
- No formal prerequisites. Candidates are expected to have professional experience in a governance, risk, compliance, or management-system function.
This is the Fundamentals grade of the AI Governance — ISO/IEC 42001 family — Professional and Fellow follow it.
§ 2 — Examination domains
What the examination covers
The examination is mapped to ISO/IEC 42001. Weightings are indicative until each syllabus is published.
- 01
Context, scope, and the AIMS20%
Clause 4: establishing what the management system covers and the context it operates in.
- 02
Leadership, policy, and roles15%
Clause 5: the AI policy, and the roles that answer for the system.
- 03
Planning and risk and impact assessment20%
Clause 6: AI risk assessment, impact assessment, and the treatment decisions that follow.
- 04
Support and operational controls20%
Clauses 7 and 8: resources, competence, documented information, and operational control.
- 05
Performance evaluation and improvement10%
Clauses 9 and 10: monitoring, internal audit, management review, and correction.
- 06
Annex A objectives and controls15%
The Annex A control objectives and controls, and judging which apply.
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. Standards are named in text only — no logo, and no implied endorsement.
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 a supplied organisational context, requiring the ISO/IEC 42001 requirements that apply and the evidence an AIMS would have to show.
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
- ISO/IEC 42001 vs NIST AI RMF: which framework, when
One is a certifiable management system standard, the other a voluntary risk framework. They are not alternatives, and treating them as such is a mistake.
- 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.