EMA AI Extension
For engineering managers who lead AI adoption, and teams that build and run AI-powered products. Added to an EMA ladder credential, it examines what goes beyond the AI judgment every ladder credential already certifies.
An extension, not a level
The ladder measures how far your judgment reaches: one team, several, an organisation. The extension measures something across it: how you lead AI, at whatever scope you lead. So it sits beside the ladder, needs a valid EMA-I, EMP-II or EME-III when you sit it, and carries no numeral. Competency TJ-5 of the core framework is the baseline it assumes; this examination goes deeper and never contradicts it.
Six competencies, three of them technical
Every question maps to one competency of the EMA AI Standard v1.0, and each sitting draws them at the weights below. The technical competencies test judgment about technical decisions; no question asks you to write code, a prompt or a configuration, or to name a product.
- AI-18 q
Adoption strategy and staged bets
where AI earns its place, sizing a bet to teach, and when to stop
- AI-210 q
Governance, security and compliance
data flows, injection and agency risks, proportionate policy, regulated uses
- AI-312 q
AI-assisted software delivery· technical
accepting generated code, agent permissions, review and testing when code is cheap
- AI-412 q
Building AI-powered products· technical
choosing the approach, evaluations, non-determinism, cost and model dependencies
- AI-510 q
Operating AI systems in production· technical
quality and cost signals, model changes as production changes, AI incidents
- AI-68 q
Capability, roles and measuring impact
building skill, protecting early careers, assessing people, measuring honestly
The ladder’s rules, with one addition
- 01
A ladder credential first
A valid EMA-I, EMP-II or EME-III is checked when you order and again when the sitting starts. Once the extension is issued, it runs on its own validity.
- 02
On demand
Once you obtain the examination, a sitting opens straight away and stays valid for 180 days.
- 03
Continuous timing
The clock runs for 90 minutes from the moment the sitting begins. Closing or reloading the browser does not pause it.
- 04
Drawn at the published weights
Each sitting draws its 60 questions by the outline’s per-competency weights, fixed for that sitting.
- 05
Scored against the standard
Answers are scored automatically against the published 75% pass mark. There is no curve or quota.
- 06
Two years, then renew
The extension is valid for 2 years, because AI practice moves faster than the rest of the discipline. Renew by passing the examination for the version current then.
A credential anyone can check
has demonstrated the knowledge, judgment and competency required by the examination, and is hereby conferred the professional designation of
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Check a credential now
Anyone can check a credential without an account. The result shows the holder, the certification, its dates, its status, and the standard it was examined against.