Aligned with Germany's AI strategy and Digital Strategy 2025 priorities, four new AI certifications and Certified CISO v4 build role-ready skills to adopt, defend, and govern AI at scale
BERLIN, Feb. 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EC-Council, creator of the world-renowned Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) credential, and a global leader in applied cybersecurity education, today launched its Enterprise AI Credential Suite, with four new role-based AI certifications debuting alongside Certified CISO v4, an overhauled executive cyber leadership program. The dual launch is the largest single expansion of EC-Council's portfolio in its 25-year history, built for one clear reality: AI is scaling faster than the workforce trained to run, secure, and govern it.
The launch is aligned with Germany's national push to translate AI ambition into practical capability, reflecting priorities in Germany's AI strategy and Digital Strategy 2025. As adoption accelerates, the AI skills gap is emerging as a key bottleneck: more than 60% of German companies cite a lack of AI talent as the leading barrier to implementation. Looking ahead, Germany could face a shortfall of up to 780,000 technology professionals by 2030, with AI and cybersecurity roles among the most difficult to staff.
"Germany's AI momentum is real, especially across industry and critical services," said Jay Bavisi, Group President, EC-Council. "This launch is about building workforce capability that keeps pace. Practical skills to adopt AI responsibly, defend AI systems under real conditions, and govern AI with accountability as deployment moves into production."
Role-Aligned Certifications
The Enterprise AI Credential Suite is structured to mirror how AI capability is developed in practice. Artificial Intelligence Essentials (AIE) serves as the baseline, building practical AI fluency and responsible usage across roles, and it is supported by EC-Council's proprietary Adopt. Defend. Govern. (ADG) framework, which defines how AI should be operationalized at scale in real environments.
Adopt: Prepare teams to deploy AI deliberately, with readiness and safeguards
Defend: Secure AI systems against emerging risks, including prompt injection, data poisoning, model exploitation, and AI supply-chain compromise
Govern: Embed accountability, oversight, and risk management into AI systems from the outset
Within this structure, the four new certifications align directly to specific workforce needs across the AI lifecycle.
- Artificial Intelligence Essentials (AIE) builds foundational AI literacy.
- Certified AI Program Manager (CAIPM) equips to translate AI strategy into execution, aligning teams, governance, and delivery to drive measurable ROI and enterprise-scale intelligence.
- Certified Offensive AI Security Professional (COASP) builds elite capabilities to test vulnerabilities in LLMs, simulate exploits, and secure AI infrastructure hardening enterprises against emerging threats.
- Certified Responsible AI Governance & Ethics Professional (CRAGE) focuses on Responsible AI, Governance and Ethics at enterprise scale with NIST/ISO compliance.
Alongside the new AI certifications, Certified CISO v4 updates executive cyber leadership education for AI-driven risk environments, strengthening leadership readiness as intelligent systems become part of core business operations and security decision-making.
"Security leaders are now accountable for systems that learn, adapt, and influence outcomes at speed," Bavisi added. "Certified CISO v4 prepares leaders to manage AI-driven risk with clarity, strengthen governance, and make informed decisions when responsibility is on the line."
The portfolio also builds on EC-Council's long-standing work with government and defense organizations, including its existing DoD 8140 baseline certification recognition, as AI security and workforce readiness take on greater national importance.
To explore the full range of training and certification opportunities, visit the EC-Council AI Courses library.
About EC-Council:
EC-Council is the creator of the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) program and a leader in cybersecurity education. Founded in 2001, EC-Council's mission is to provide high-quality training and certifications for cybersecurity professionals to keep organizations safe from cyber threats. EC-Council offers over 200 certifications and degrees in various cybersecurity domains, including forensics, security analysis, threat intelligence, and information security.
An ISO/IEC 17024 accredited organization, EC-Council has certified over 350,000 professionals worldwide, with clients ranging from government agencies to Fortune 100 companies. EC-Council is the gold standard in cybersecurity certification, trusted by the U.S. Department of Defense, the Army, Navy, Air Force, and leading global corporations.
For more information, visit: www.eccouncil.org
Media Contact:
press@eccouncil.org
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