“IDC has estimated that the adoption of AI-powered cloud solutions will result in an additional 4.7 million direct jobs being created between 2022 and 2028 within the expanded Salesforce ecosystem”.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become increasingly central to Salesforce’s offerings. As companies embrace AI to drive efficiency, futureproofing your skills will be key. For example, according to a recent IDC Report, there is rising demand for data engineers, solution architects and business analysts to help drive business AI initiatives forward.
Understanding AI concepts, whether Salesforce specific or not, will be key in the years ahead. However, if you’re at the start of your AI journey, you may have questions. What resources should I use? Is Salesforce’s AI Associate certification the best place to start? Is it worth the effort? If any of these questions resonate with you, this post is here to help!
What is the AI Associate Certification?
Released at Dreamforce 2023, the AI Associate credential is an entry level qualification designed to test your understanding of basic AI concepts, both broadly and specifically to Salesforce. Some of the key topics covered include:
- AI concepts: Understand key AI topics such as computer vision, generative AI, predictive AI, types of machine learning and natural language processing (NLP).
- Data: Learn the importance of ‘data-centricity’ to successful AI, including:
- Data quality. For example, accuracy, completeness, consistency, timeliness, uniqueness and validity.
- Risks of poor-quality data. How poor data quality can lead to inaccurate outputs, biases, and potentially reputation harm and compliance issues.
- Data preparation. Approaches for cleaning and preparing data.
- Data governance. Why effective governance is important and how to approach managing and monitoring data security, privacy, compliance, accessibility, auditability and ethical use.
- Ethical and responsible AI use: Salesforce’s Trust AI Principles:
- Responsible. Safeguard human rights and data privacy.
- Accountable. Continuously improve AI usage through feedback.
- Transparent. Clarity on how recommendations and predictions are made (e.g. where data has come from).
- Empowering. Augment human capabilities (i.e. make more informed decisions and boost productivity).
- Inclusive. Ensure the benefits of AI are realised by all; not to the detriment of others.
- Use Cases: A high-level understanding of Salesforce’s AI capabilities and features to protect data security and privacy, such as the Einstein Trust Layer.
The AI Associate is not a technical certification. You won’t need to know how to implement specific solutions, the inner working of features or concepts, or understand theory in depth. Instead, your focus will be on understanding the landscape, gaining a broad view of key AI capabilities and considerations across the Salesforce platform.
Who is it for?
“The exam is intended for individuals from all backgrounds, including business leaders and professionals who may have knowledge of AI, whether they are beginners or individuals with more experience.”
As covered above, this is not a technical certification. Salesforce have made the syllabus deliberately inclusive. Any stakeholder wishing to know more about AI, and how it can be applied to Salesforce, may benefit from this certification.
However, if you are looking to study for a more technical deep dive into Einstein functionality and configuration best practices, the AI Specialist certification is likely to be a better fit.
Exam Format and Structure
As of the Summer ‘24 release exam guide, the format is as follows:
- Prerequisites: None.
- If you are new to Salesforce, it is recommended you start with the Salesforce Associate certification first. This will introduce you to the Salesforce ecosystem.
- Questions: 40 multi-choice questions
- Pass mark: 65% (26 out of 40 or above)
- Duration: 70 minutes
- Closed book (online or onsite proctored)
- Cost: As part of Salesforce’s AI for all programme, the first attempt at this certification is free from September 23rd 2024 until 5pm PST on December 31st 2025. Retakes cost $50 USD + local taxes. Refer to the FAQ for more info.
The exam itself consists of 4 key areas: AI Fundamentals, AI Capabilities in CRM, Ethical Considerations & Data for AI:
As you can see, the section weightings are heavily focus on Ethical Consideration of AI (39%) and Data for AI (36%). When preparing for the certification, it is prudent to focus more heavily on these topics.
Available Resources
As this certification has been out for a year now, there are plenty of resources available. Here are some of the key ones to help you prepare for the certification:
- Trailhead. Trailhead provides many free resources to help you prepare:
- Exam guide. Always start with the exam guide! It will cover the certification in detail and help you decide if it is the right one to focus on.
- Trailmix: There is an extensive Trailmix covering all the topics of the exam.
- Certification Prep Module: Great for revision. This module provides flash cards and practice exam questions.
- Focus on Force. Focus on Force provides comprehensive guides for the exam content, as well as practice questions with detailed feedback. The exam guide and practice questions are sold separately.
- Salesforce Ben. Salesforce Ben also provides great resources for anyone looking to prepare for the AI Associate certification. This course bundles the exam guide and provides two practice exams.
- Udemy. There are various AI Associate courses on Udemy. When I was preparing for the AI Associate exam, I found Deepika Khanna’s course helpful. Not only does it cover all the concepts but provides many opportunities for practical application.
I’d always recommend having a look around and seeing what the best resource is to help you achieve your goals. If you’re looking for more general advice, click here.
Tips for the Exam
Here are some tips for taking the exam:
- Take your time. When I took the exam, I found there was plenty of time available. Don’t rush.
- Understand Salesforce’s core AI products. You will not be asked detailed questions about products and their setup. However, you will need to know the common AI tools in Salesforce. For example, if a question asks about prioritising Leads, Einstein Lead Scoring will likely be a good fit.
- Pay attention to ethics. Over 1/3rd of your exam will relate to this topic. Understand what this means in the context of wider AI and in Salesforce specifically. For example, the different types of bias, how they arise, and what countermeasures are available.
- Learn Salesforce’s Trusted AI Principles. You will almost certainly have questions relating to this topic.
- Familiarise yourself with the Einstein Trust Layer. Whilst you will not have in-depth questions about this, it is a key set of features which will help you.
- Think about Data. As mentioned above, good quality data is essential. Also, remember that data must be used responsibly.
Is the AI Associate Certification worth it?
If you’re looking for a broad, non-technical overview of Salesforce AI offerings and key considerations, this certification is for you. Moreover, themes such as basic AI principles, ethics and data quality are transferrable. With the free (and low cost) training options, and the exam currently being offered at no cost, it is a great opportunity, even for those not directly working on Salesforce daily.
Summary
The Salesforce AI Associate certification provides a great opportunity to get started with AI. Studying for this certification will allow you to learn, or refine your knowledge of, AI in Salesforce. Specifically, the ever-growing array of capabilities, as well as the related concepts and considerations. With free and low-cost training options, as well as no cost for the exam itself (first attempt only), now may be a good time to study for the AI Associate certification.
Until next time, thanks for reading! 🐧
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