New Certs: AI Associate & Data Cloud Consultant
Salesforce announced two new certifications this past week:
There has been a huge amount of individuals on LinkedIn getting the AI Associate certification in the past few days. It's been wild to see how many people are posting about it with excitement! The enthusiasm is almost like it was when Salesforce released the Business Analyst certification last year. Everyone rushing to get it quickly. I've seen a few people announce their new Data Cloud Consultant certifications, but nothing compared to the AI one.
This might be an unpopular opinion in the Salesforce community, but I do not plan to take either one of the new certifications. I do not feel they would be beneficial for me at the present time.
The AI Associate is classified as a beginner, associate level exam. Salesforce is targeting this exam at the new entry level folks coming in as an alternative before they take the Administrator exam. I think it is good to provide additional entry level options to those who have not passed the Administrator certification yet. Another reason I do not plan to take it is AI changes very quickly, so the certification is already outdated once they release it. The certification will not provide much value except showing that you have interest in AI. While it is good to show interest & learn about AI, I do not feel a Salesforce certification is truly the right direction for me to showcase that knowledge versus something more robust.
For the Data Cloud Consultant certification, that one is intriguing to me. Data Cloud is a newer Salesforce cloud. It is also a very expensively priced cloud that very few small to med-sized companies would be able to invest in. Data Cloud is something that would be used at very large companies that have a healthy budget to afford it. While I think Data Cloud skills will be in demand in the future, I do not plan to jump on the bandwagon to get the certification yet. I want to see how the market reacts to this new certification & if any job openings will list it as needed.
Dreamforce conference starts on Tuesday, so most likely more announcements to come!