AIP-C01 study guide · 2026

The 5 AIP-C01 domains, explained

5 domains and 20 official task statements. Foundation Model Integration, Data Management, and Compliance carries the most weight at 31%. Each guide explains what the domain covers, how its questions are framed and where candidates lose marks.

Start with Domain 1 See all domains
Questions
75 (65 scored, 10 unscored)
Time
180 minutes
Passing score
750 / 1000
Outline
AIP-C01 exam guide (current, generally available)

Exam blueprint

Bar widths follow the official weights. Weight ranges are drawn at their midpoint.

  1. 1 31%
  2. 2 26%
  3. 3 20%
  4. 4 12%
  5. 5 11%
  1. 1 Foundation Model Integration, Data Management, and Compliance
  2. 2 Implementation and Integration
  3. 3 AI Safety, Security, and Governance
  4. 4 Operational Efficiency and Optimization for GenAI Applications
  5. 5 Testing, Validation, and Troubleshooting

All 5 domains

20 official task statements 95–133 hrs suggested study

  1. Domain 01 31%

    Foundation Model Integration, Data Management, and Compliance

    The heaviest AIP-C01 domain covers designing GenAI solutions, choosing and customizing foundation models, preparing data for them, building vector stores and retrieval, and governing prompts, mostly with Amazon Bedrock, SageMaker AI and OpenSearch Service.

    Inside this domain

    • Analyze requirements and design GenAI solutions
    • Select and configure FMs
    • Implement data validation and processing pipelines for FM consumption
    • Design and implement vector store solutions
    • and 2 more task statements

    Watch for Fine-tune for fresh facts

    Task statements
    6
    Questions est.
    ~20
    Study time est.
    30–40 hrs
  2. Domain 02 26%

    Implementation and Integration

    This domain covers building agentic systems with tools and MCP, deploying foundation models, connecting GenAI to enterprise systems and CI/CD, integrating Bedrock APIs reliably, and using AWS developer tools to build and troubleshoot GenAI applications.

    Inside this domain

    • Implement agentic AI solutions and tool integrations
    • Implement model deployment strategies
    • Design and implement enterprise integration architectures
    • Implement FM API integrations
    • and 1 more task statements

    Watch for Agent will stop itself

    Task statements
    5
    Questions est.
    ~17
    Study time est.
    25–35 hrs
  3. Domain 03 20%

    AI Safety, Security, and Governance

    This domain covers protecting GenAI applications end to end: filtering harmful inputs and outputs, reducing hallucinations, detecting prompt injection, protecting sensitive data, tracking lineage for compliance and applying responsible AI principles such as transparency and fairness.

    Inside this domain

    • Implement input and output safety controls
    • Implement data security and privacy controls
    • Implement AI governance and compliance mechanisms
    • Implement responsible AI principles

    Watch for System prompt as security

    Task statements
    4
    Questions est.
    ~13
    Study time est.
    18–25 hrs
  4. Domain 04 12%

    Operational Efficiency and Optimization for GenAI Applications

    This domain covers running GenAI applications efficiently: reducing token spend, choosing cost-effective models, caching, cutting latency, raising throughput, tuning inference parameters and monitoring token usage, quality, tools and vector stores in production.

    Inside this domain

    • Implement cost optimization and resource efficiency strategies
    • Optimize application performance
    • Implement monitoring systems for GenAI applications

    Watch for Bigger model for everything

    Task statements
    3
    Questions est.
    ~8
    Study time est.
    12–18 hrs
  5. Domain 05 11%

    Testing, Validation, and Troubleshooting

    The smallest AIP-C01 domain covers evaluating GenAI output quality, comparing models, testing retrieval and agents, validating deployments, and troubleshooting context window, API, prompt and retrieval problems in foundation model applications.

    Inside this domain

    • Implement evaluation systems for GenAI
    • Troubleshoot GenAI applications

    Watch for Accuracy for free text

    Task statements
    2
    Questions est.
    ~7
    Study time est.
    10–15 hrs

Study the heaviest domains first

Marks follow weight. This order puts the most marks behind you first, across about 95–133 hrs of study.

  1. 1 Foundation Model Integration, Data Management, and Compliance 31% · 30–40 hrs
  2. 2 Implementation and Integration 26% · 25–35 hrs
  3. 3 AI Safety, Security, and Governance 20% · 18–25 hrs
  4. 4 Operational Efficiency and Optimization for GenAI Applications 12% · 12–18 hrs
  5. 5 Testing, Validation, and Troubleshooting 11% · 10–15 hrs

Try one

Practice questionDomain 1: Foundation Model Integration, Data Management, and Compliance

A legal team's RAG assistant on Amazon Bedrock returns irrelevant passages when users search by exact case numbers such as 'CV-2024-0193', while conceptual questions work well. What change best improves retrieval for these queries?

One trap from every domain

The answer that looks right, and the clue that gives it away.

  • Domain 1

    Fine-tune for fresh facts

    Clue Content changes often or answers must cite sources.

  • Domain 2

    Agent will stop itself

    Clue An agent runs up cost or repeats the same tool call.

  • Domain 3

    System prompt as security

    Clue Requirement says enforce or guarantee a behavior.

  • Domain 4

    Bigger model for everything

    Clue Many simple, repetitive queries and a cost complaint.

  • Domain 5

    Accuracy for free text

    Clue Responses are open-ended or conversational.

Other Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning certifications

Study guides for exams that overlap with AIP-C01.

Practise what you read

AIP-C01 domains: common questions

How many domains are in the AIP-C01 exam?

AIP-C01 has 5 domains with 20 official task statements between them: Foundation Model Integration, Data Management, and Compliance, Implementation and Integration, AI Safety, Security, and Governance, Operational Efficiency and Optimization for GenAI Applications and Testing, Validation, and Troubleshooting.

Which AIP-C01 domain carries the most weight?

Foundation Model Integration, Data Management, and Compliance is the heaviest at 31%, followed by Implementation and Integration (26%). The lightest is Testing, Validation, and Troubleshooting (11%). Weights come from Amazon Web Services's official outline.

What is the AIP-C01 exam format?

Questions: 75 (65 scored, 10 unscored). Time allowed: 180 minutes. Passing score: 750 / 1000.

How long should I study for AIP-C01?

Our planning estimate is 95–133 hrs across all domains, split by weight. It is an editorial estimate, not an official figure, so adjust it to your experience and to how you score on practice questions.

Where should I start?

Start with Foundation Model Integration, Data Management, and Compliance, because it carries the most marks, then work down by weight. Use the checklist on each domain page to confirm you can do what the domain asks before moving on.

Which outline is this guide based on?

This guide follows AIP-C01 exam guide (current, generally available), published by Amazon Web Services. It was last reviewed in October 2026.

Domain names, weights and task statements come from Amazon Web Services's official outline (AIP-C01 exam guide (current, generally available)). Question counts and study hours are editorial planning estimates, not official figures. Last reviewed October 2026.