AI Certifications for IT Pros: Cisco AITECH vs CompTIA SecAI+ Compared

AI skills have moved from “nice to have” to a line item in IT job postings across the US. Help desk teams are using AI assistants for tickets, network teams are testing AI-driven operations tools, and security teams are being asked to protect the company’s own AI apps.

Two new certifications are aimed squarely at working IT people rather than data scientists: Cisco AI Technical Practitioner (AITECH) and CompTIA SecAI+. They sound similar. They are not. This guide explains what each one covers and who should take which.

The quick comparison

	Cisco AITECH	CompTIA SecAI+
Exam code	810-110	CY0-001
Program	Cisco AI certifications	CompTIA Expansion Series (launched February 17, 2026)
Focus	Using AI productively and safely at work	Securing AI systems and using AI in security
Exam length	60 minutes	About 60 minutes (check CompTIA for final details)
Cost (US)	$150	Check the CompTIA store for the current price
Recommended background	General IT experience	3 to 4 years in IT, about 2 in hands-on security
Best for	IT generalists, network and support staff, developers, team leads	Security analysts, security engineers, GRC staff

Cisco AI Technical Practitioner (810-110)

Cisco designed AITECH for technical professionals who use AI tools in their daily work. It is practical rather than mathematical. You will not be asked to train a neural network.

The exam covers six areas:

• Generative AI models (20%): how large language models and diffusion models work at a practical level, cloud versus locally hosted models, context windows, tokens, retrieval-augmented generation and vector databases.
• Prompt engineering (15%): roles, instructions and constraints, few-shot and chained prompting, and defending against prompt injection.
• Ethics and security (15%): responsible AI principles, protecting company data when using AI tools, and AI-specific threats.
• Data research and analysis (10%): using AI to explore and prepare data while respecting privacy.
• Development and workflow automation (20%): AI across the software lifecycle, code generation, workflow design and keeping token costs under control.
• Agentic AI (20%): how agents differ from chatbots, designing and orchestrating agents, the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and keeping a human in the loop.

The exam is 60 minutes and costs $150, which makes it one of the more affordable vendor certifications available. It also counts toward recertification for other Cisco certifications, which matters if you already hold a CCNA or CCNP.

Who it suits: network engineers who want to understand the AI tools showing up in their operations platforms, help desk and support leads rolling out AI assistants, developers and automation engineers, and managers who need to make sensible decisions about AI use. It also pairs nicely with the new CCNA v2.0 exam, which adds a domain on AI in network operations starting February 3, 2027.

CompTIA SecAI+ (CY0-001)

SecAI+ launched in February 2026 as the first certification in CompTIA’s new Expansion Series. It is a security certification first and an AI certification second.

The four domains and their weights from CompTIA’s published objectives:

• Basic AI concepts related to cybersecurity (17%): AI, machine learning and LLM fundamentals, the AI lifecycle and the vocabulary security teams need.
• Securing AI systems (40%): adversarial attacks on models and data, securing LLM applications, and protecting AI deployments and their supply chains.
• AI-assisted security (24%): using AI for detection, triage, threat intelligence and automation, and understanding its limits in the SOC.
• AI governance, risk and compliance (19%): AI risk frameworks, regulation, policy and auditing.

Notice the weighting: 40% of the exam is about securing AI systems. That is the core of the certification. CompTIA recommends three to four years of IT experience, including about two years of hands-on security work, before attempting it.

Who it suits: security analysts and engineers, people in governance, risk and compliance roles, and anyone whose company is deploying chatbots, copilots or AI agents and needs someone to own the security side. If you already hold Security+ or a similar credential, SecAI+ is a logical next step.

How they differ in practice

A simple way to think about it:

• AITECH asks: can you use AI well and safely to get work done?
• SecAI+ asks: can you protect the organization’s AI systems and use AI to defend the organization?

There is overlap in prompt injection, data protection and responsible use, but the depth is different. AITECH treats security as one part of using AI responsibly. SecAI+ treats AI as a new attack surface that needs a full security program around it.

Which one should you take?

Choose Cisco AITECH if:

• You are a network, systems or support professional who wants practical AI skills now.
• You want a lower-cost, shorter exam to show employers you are current.
• You hold Cisco certifications and want something that also counts toward recertification.
• You are not in a security role and do not plan to be.

Choose CompTIA SecAI+ if:

• You already work in security or hold Security+.
• Your company is deploying AI tools and someone has to assess the risk.
• You want to specialize in an area that is growing quickly. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 21% growth for information security analysts from 2025 to 2035, with a median wage of $129,180 in May 2025.

Take both if you are a security-minded engineer who wants to cover both using and securing AI. Many people take AITECH first because it is quicker, then SecAI+.

Do AI certifications actually help in the US job market?

They help most when they sit on top of an existing skill set. An AI certification on its own will not get you a network or security job. A CCNA plus AITECH, or Security+ plus SecAI+, tells a hiring manager you have the fundamentals and you are keeping up with how the work is changing.

We are already seeing AI skills listed in postings for network operations, security operations and IT support roles, especially at larger employers and federal contractors. Being able to talk about prompt injection, data exposure risks and human oversight of AI agents in an interview is a real advantage right now, because many candidates cannot.

How to prepare

For either exam:

1. Use the tools, do not just read about them. Spend time with at least one major AI assistant and one coding assistant. Try to break them with prompt injection examples so you understand the risk.
2. Learn the vocabulary precisely. Tokens, context windows, embeddings, RAG, fine-tuning, agents and MCP all appear in exam questions.
3. Read the official objectives line by line. Both vendors publish them. Build your study plan around those lines, not around a random video playlist.
4. For SecAI+, connect AI to security basics you already know. Treat models, training data and prompts as assets, and think through confidentiality, integrity and availability for each one.

Our Cisco AI Technical Practitioner course and CompTIA SecAI+ course are both opening their first cohorts, with live evening classes in US time zones. If you are still building your foundation, start with our guides on the CCNA and Security+.