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Overview

📖 AWS re:Invent 2025 - The Evolution of AWS Skills Validation (TNC106)

In this video, Ike Ogbo from the AWS Certification team introduces AWS microcredentials, a new hands-on skills validation method that goes beyond traditional certifications. Unlike standard exams, microcredentials involve building and troubleshooting directly in the AWS console, creating tangible portfolio artifacts. Two credentials launched on Skill Builder: Agentic AI and Serverless Challenge, both 90 minutes, taken on personal computers without proctoring. These address limitations of certifications and portfolios by validating practical ability, not just theory. Beta testers found them highly engaging. Microcredentials have no prerequisites, help build portfolios for career advancement, and will continuously evolve with technology. The session encourages practitioners to book exams and organizations to incorporate skills-based validation into hiring practices.

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Main Part

Introducing AWS Microcredentials: A New Approach to Skills Validation

All right, everybody, starting now here in Theater 3, the evolution of AWS skills validation. Come on in, check it out. It’s all yours. All right. Thank you everyone. Thank you for joining me today. I know this is the last day of re:Invent and you’re ready for replay, but I really appreciate you coming here to listen to this. You will leave here with a strong understanding of AWS microcredentials and how we see the future of AWS skills validation.

My name is Ike Ogbo. I’m part of the AWS Certification team. I’m a Solutions Architect within AWS. This sliding talk format forces me to be brief, but we will cover a number of topics. The current and the future of AWS skills validation, microcredential exam details, the benefits of validating skills in this way, and most importantly, how you can participate.

Let’s talk about the current state of skill validation. Certifications have been and will continue to be a significant part of how early and mid-career people assess their knowledge. They do have some limitations, though. The question types available in a standard AWS certification exam can only validate so much. Personal portfolios that showcase work are good for developers, but they are non-standard and take extensive time for hiring managers to vet the work and also showcase passion projects.

How many of you here have hired someone in the past? Who have hired someone? Raise your hand. Let me see your hand. Awesome, awesome. Okay. Of those people, of those of you that raised your hands, how many went and visited their GitHub link, visited the candidate’s personal portfolio and their website? Oh, you did? Awesome. Okay, you’re in the right place. And if you haven’t hired anyone, you’re in the right place too.

So these methods of skill validation aren’t as flexible as they could be. AWS is introducing a new way to validate skills, which is called microcredentials. I’ll give you a personal experience. So like 10 years ago when I started learning AWS, 10 years ago, now I know what a spring chicken I am. So I started taking the certifications, but it wasn’t cutting it. I continued to be asked where is my portfolio. Even after I went on to take all the certifications, got my golden jacket, it wasn’t cutting it. I noticed that something was still missing. It’s that portfolio.

So what I was asking is, okay, if I don’t have AWS knowledge or I’m not working with AWS projects, how do I build portfolios? What scenarios do I use? How do I do it? It was hard, but now, as we go through, you’ll see how that would eliminate that issue I was facing 10 years ago. What a young guy I am.

Microcredentials are a great tool to dive deep on a particular skill or set of skills. The microcredentials we are now offering are hands-on. Test takers will actively build and troubleshoot in the AWS console. You’re getting that muscle memory on. This is an opportunity for cloud practitioners to prove they can apply the theory they learned either through certifications or other training. This covers how a task is accomplished, not just what needs to be done.

Many beta testers, even those beyond the targeted skill level, have reported that microcredential challenges are engaging. They are very engaging. After sitting for AWS exams more than 20 times, I may or may not have zoned out during a certification exam at one point because of all the reading, so much. You know how tiring it is. Who here has taken an AWS certification? Okay, good, good. Who has taken a professional level exam? Okay, you know how verbose that is. It can be tiring.

The two credentials we have launched today are developed and scored with a similar methodology and rigor to our certification exams. Future microcredentials will also follow the rigorous scoring process.

How AWS Microcredentials Work: Exam Details, Benefits, and Call to Action

These two microcredentials are available today on Skill Builder. The microcredential labs are paired with the relevant training to prepare candidates to pass. These are included with Skill Builder subscription. The Agentic AI lab challenges candidates to build AI agents into an existing web application, a task many organizations face today. You’re already using AI in most of your organizations. The Serverless Challenge asks users to diagnose and build various components of AWS native web applications like using Lambda functions and API Gateway and all our serverless services. Think about some labs you might like to see next and meet me to talk about it after this presentation.

I wanted to share some detail on the exam environment. Candidates take these exams on their own computers, not in a test center. You don’t have to drive anywhere. You take it in the comfort of your home. The candidates will use their own browsers with no need to install special software. These exams aren’t proctored. No one is watching you through the camera if you’re taking exams at home. Nobody’s watching you. You’re doing it on your own time. The first two challenges that we’ve launched today have a 90-minute duration. We expect future exams to fall right around the same time range.

Candidates have access to an architecture diagram as part of the exam so that they can refer to where they are in a particular challenge. These microcredential exams are separate from AWS certifications. They are separate, meaning that there are no prerequisites to take the exams. We will incorporate this into our certification paths as recommendations, not requirements, but candidates can take this as they please. You can take it as you please. Maybe the most important detail for organizations is that these credentials take place in AWS accounts provisioned by AWS. At this point, the benefits should be clearer.

First is skill validation. AWS microcredentials go beyond theory. They validate real hands-on ability through practical lab challenges, so you can get all that muscle memory. This gives employers confidence that candidates can actually do work, not just memorize facts. It’s real life scenarios. Portfolio development is next. Each microcredential produces tangible artifacts, lab outputs, solutions, and demonstrations of applied skills. Learners build a portfolio they can show to hiring managers or their internal leadership for promotion and for validation. This creates a stronger narrative for career advancement. Here is not just what I know, but what I’ve built.

The next is mutual benefit. Microcredentials solve problems on both sides of the hiring equation. Employers want validated skills and learners want a way to signal their capability without waiting months for major certifications. Microcredentials meet this in the middle with lower risk, higher clarity, and faster value. The last but not the least is continuous evolution. Technology changes fast. It evolves. As you can see, each re:Invent we come in, things are evolving. We are bringing in new stuff. And microcredentials will evolve with it. AWS will continuously update these credentials to reflect the latest industry needs: AI, data engineering, cloud security, and so on. This ensures that learners stay current and employers can trust the relevance of the skills being demonstrated.

We received a lot of feedback during our beta testing. We tested with internal and also external candidates to polish these new exams.

Take a few seconds to read this candidate feedback that we received from a beta tester. Give me a thumbs up when you’re done. Awesome. All right. So this kind of feedback is exactly what we were aiming for when creating these challenges.

Here is the QR code. You can scan it, and it sends you to AWS Skill Builder. When you scroll down a little bit, you will see microcredentials there. Okay, so rounding this up, our call to action is twofold. One, for practitioners, keep your skills current by booking a microcredential exam. Book it as soon as possible. Incorporate skills-based validation into your professional development. Build a portfolio that demonstrates your practical cloud abilities within these microcredentials.

For organizations, evaluate current hiring practices and skill assessment methods. Pilot AWS’s new validation approaches in recruitment. Invest in employee skill development using practical validation tools. Partner with AWS to customize validation to specific organization needs. The next time we speak, I hope to share data and anecdotes from candidates and hiring managers about their experiences with these credentials.

Thank you and good luck. Please complete our survey in your re:Invent app. If you have any questions, I would like to chat. I’m still here. If you have any questions on this, yeah, go ahead. As an employer validate

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