Real Skills for Real Careers: What Your Students Need to Standout

AI is fast becoming a baseline skill for employability.

Employers are rethinking job roles, workflows, and hiring criteria around AI. Academic program that don't adapt will find their students at a disadvantage.

CompTIA's AI course series helps educators and programs integrate practical, responsible AI skills into teaching and learning, quickly, confidently, and at scale.

Why AI skills can't wait

Employers aren’t just looking for technologists who understand AI; they’re looking for every new hire to be able to use AI tools productively and responsibly.

From CompTIA Tech Jobs research and employer feedback, several themes are clear:

• Job postings across roles (not just IT) increasingly reference AI, automation, and data-driven decision-making.
• Employers want “AI-literate” candidates: people who can use AI to research, write, analyze, create, and improve workflows.
• Organizations investing in AI report productivity gains, faster output and better personalization, raising expectations for new graduates.

The challenge for educators and programs

Academic leaders are being asked to:

• Integrate AI into curriculum without overwhelming existing courses
• Upskill faculty quickly, many of whom feel uncertain or cautious about AI
• Address ethics, bias, and academic integrity while still encouraging innovation
• Align to workforce needs, employer expectations, and industry-recognized frameworks
• Do all of this with limited time, support and resources

CompTIA’s courses for AI are built to meet these needs.

What's included: 

• Skill-centric learning: Each Essentials course is structured around a set of universal, in-demand skills, ensuring that learning aligns closely with workforce needs.
• Authentic assessment: Courses conclude with a practical, problem-based assessment so students and educators can be sure the skills learned are ready to be applied directly in real-world situations.
• CompTIA CompCert: Upon passing the assessment, students earn a CompTIA Competency Certificate (CompCert)—validation of skill mastery, not just course completion.

Courses available:

• AI Essentials
• AI Prompting Essentials
• Soft Skills Essentials
• Business Essentials
• Cloud Essentials
• Project Management Essentials
• Data Analysis Essentials*
• AI for Sales Essentials*
• AI for Marketing Essentials* 

*Coming soon

The Essentials Series is purpose-built for the classroom and other academic environments, giving educators a ready-made, up-to-date curriculum to supplement core courses, enrichment programs, and after-school offerings. By equipping students with validated skills, schools amplify learner employability and future readiness.

Experience a course for yourself, request preview access by filling out the form.