XcellAcademy|Gemini & Google Cloud AI Certifications
Google's AI credentials. Who takes which.
0 Gemini and Google Cloud credentials for our team — Google Cloud certifications from Foundational to Professional, Gemini skill badges on Google Skills, Google certificates on Coursera and the free Gemini education certifications — with level, format, validity, US$ fee, renewal and source. Checked on Google's own pages on 13 November 2026, including the new Professional Agentic Architect and the move of exams to Pearson VUE.
Internal page, kept out of search engines. Tracker data stays in this browser.
Three exam levels, plus badges, in one ladder.
Google Cloud certifications come in three levels: Foundational and Associate last three years, Professional lasts two. None has a formal prerequisite. Around them sit skill badges earned in hands-on labs on Google Skills, Google certificates on Coursera and the free Gemini education certifications. Google does not publish exam codes, so this page uses full names.
“GOOGLE CLOUD” and “GEMINI” above are plain text in our own font, not logos. Vendor names and marks belong to their owners; official digital badges are issued by Google (through Google Skills, Credly or Accredible) and certificates by Coursera.
Every credential, checked at the source.
Filter by track, level or issuer, or search by name or topic. Each card shows format, duration, languages, validity, renewal, fee, prerequisites, status and the Google page it came from. Anything Google does not state is marked confirm.
Try a word such as “agent” or “Workspace”, or clear the filters.
Sources read 13 Nov 2026: cloud.google.com/learn/certification and each exam page (Generative AI Leader, Cloud Digital Leader, Associate Cloud Engineer, Associate Google Workspace Administrator, Associate Data Practitioner, Professional Agentic Architect, Machine Learning Engineer, Cloud Architect, Cloud Developer, Cloud Security Engineer, Security Operations Engineer); the Google Cloud certification FAQ and exam-delivery notice on support.google.com; Google Skills course pages and the Google Skills launch posts (Oct 2025); Coursera programme pages; the Gemini Certifications FAQ on Google for Education support. Fees are Google's US$ list prices, plus tax where applicable.
Which credential, in which order, for each role.
XcellHost's suggested internal paths for selling and running Gemini, Google Workspace and Google Cloud. Mandatory means mandatory in our suggested plan; Recommended is optional. Free badges and courses come first, paid exams after.
All paths are XcellHost suggestions, not Google requirements. Google sets no prerequisites for any of its certification exams.
One ribbon per credential, coloured by level.
Use them on the team wall, in slides or in the staff newsletter. Download any badge as SVG or PNG. 0 shown.
Illustrative XcellHost badge designs — not Google artwork, and not proof of a credential. Official digital badges are issued by Google; use those for LinkedIn and customers.
What it costs, how long it lasts, and what changed in 2026.
Google prices its exams in US dollars, plus tax where applicable. Every certification must be renewed to stay active, either through a renewal learning path on Google Skills or, for some, a shorter renewal exam.
| Level | Recertify from | Renewal via Google Skills | Renewal exam (where offered) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foundational · Associate | 180 days before expiry | Finish the renewal learning path in the last year of validity · extends 1 year | Cloud Digital Leader: 45 min, US$60, 20 questions, +3 years · Cloud Engineer: 1 hour, US$75, 20 questions, +3 years |
| Professional | 60 days before expiry | Same renewal learning path · extends 1 year | Cloud Architect: 1 hour, US$100, 25 questions on one gen AI case study, +2 years · others: renewal path only on the pages read |
| Expired | — | Not available | Take the standard exam again |
Windows and validity: Google Cloud certification FAQ (support.google.com). Renewal options and fees: each exam page on cloud.google.com, read 13 Nov 2026. Google warns that sitting the same exam while certified, outside the recertification window, can lead to rejected results or decertification.
| Change | What happened | What it means for us |
|---|---|---|
| Exam delivery: Kryterion → Pearson VUE | Last Kryterion test day 22 Feb 2026; first Pearson test date 2 Mar 2026. Registration stays in CM Connect (CertMetrics). | Book online-proctored or test-centre exams through CM Connect; test centres are found on Pearson VUE |
| Professional Agentic Architect added | New professional certification for building, evaluating, deploying and governing agents; Part 2 is hands-on labs | The flagship target for pre-sales and cloud engineers building Gemini agents |
| ML Engineer exam updated | Now reflects the move from Vertex AI to Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform | Use the new exam guide; older study notes may name retired products |
| Exams being updated after Next '26 | Google says exams are being refreshed for the Gemini platform and its data stack | Check each exam guide before booking |
| Security Operations Engineer | New English exam (exam guide 2.0) from 24 November | SOC staff booking after that date study the new guide |
| Professional Google Workspace Administrator | Exam guide marked “Retired”; the Associate level is Google's current Workspace admin certification | New admins sit the Associate exam (retirement date: confirm) |
| Google Skills launched | October 2025: Google says it keeps the best of Google Cloud Skills Boost and adds Google DeepMind, Grow with Google and Google for Education content | Skill badges and renewal paths now live on skills.google |
| Partner Advantage → Google Cloud Partner Network | Announced 16 Dec 2025 for Q1 2026: Select, Premier and Diamond tiers; specializations replaced by competencies | See the partner programme section below |
Google Cloud Partner Network, and where certifications count.
Google replaced Partner Advantage's two tiers and specializations with three tiers and a competency framework, rolled out in the first quarter of 2026 with a six-month transition. Certified people are part of every tier description and are the “capacity” half of each competency.
Select
Google: validates foundational skills, certified staff and initial customer impact.
Reported: US$250,000 partner co-sell annual contract value. Certification count: confirm.Premier
Google: established partners with documented customer results and deep certified technical skills.
Reported: US$2 million co-sell ACV. Certification count: confirm.Diamond
Google: elite specialists with audited multi-workload expertise and global delivery.
Reported: US$20 million co-sell ACV, 20 partner-implemented workloads, 30 co-sell-influenced opportunities and 200 professional certifications.Competency · Advanced
Google: capacity (technical certifications and sales credentials) plus capability (validated closed/won work). Independent of tier. Domains include AI, infrastructure, data analytics and security.
Named competencies and their headcounts: confirm in the Partner Network Hub.Tier descriptions: partners.cloud.google.com and Google Cloud blog, 16 Dec 2025. “Reported” thresholds: CRN Australia, 22 Jan 2026 (programme live 15 Jan 2026) — not on a Google page we could read, so confirm in the Partner Network Hub before quoting.
Partner readiness from the tracker
Counts active credentials in the staff tracker below, grouped by our own domain mapping. Indicative only — Google's competency rules decide.
What we claim, and what we are confirming.
This page states only what XcellHost has published about itself. Everything about our Google standing is marked confirm* until enablement checks the Partner Network Hub and CM Connect.
Our published credentials
ISO 27001, ISO 20000-1 and Microsoft Gold Partner, plus 24×7 NOC and SOC since 1999. None of these is a Google credential.
Partner Network tier
Whether XcellHost holds Select, Premier or Diamond, and through which engagement model. Not claimed here.
Competencies
Any AI, infrastructure, data, security or Workspace competency. Not claimed here.
Certified staff and vouchers
How many staff hold each Google credential, and any partner exam vouchers. The tracker below builds the list; enablement confirms vouchers.
*Need a confirmed count for a tender or a customer?
Ask enablement. They will check CM Connect certificates and Google Skills profiles and reply with what can be stated.
Who holds what, and what renews next.
Add a colleague and mark the credentials they have earned, with the date and their credential link. The tracker works out expiry (three years for Foundational, Associate and education; two for Professional), flags the recertification window, records renewals, follows each role path and feeds the readiness panel. It starts empty.
Data stays in this browser. Nothing is uploaded. Use Export to share a copy with your team lead, and Import to load it on another machine. Browser storage is unavailable, so data lasts until you close this tab — export it first.
Gemini and Google Cloud certifications, answered.
The closest is Generative AI Leader, Google Cloud's foundational certification on gen AI and Google's gen AI offerings. It is open to any role, with no hands-on experience needed: a 90-minute exam of 50–60 questions for US$99 plus tax, valid three years. Pair it with the free Gemini Enterprise skill badges on Google Skills.
Google Cloud's newest professional certification. It covers building agents with low-code tools and code, using coding agents, evaluating and deploying agentic workflows, and securing and governing them. Part 1 is a two-hour, US$200 multiple-choice exam in English; Part 2 is hands-on labs in Google Skills. Google recommends 3+ years building cloud solutions, including 1+ year on agentic solutions.
Foundational and Associate certifications last three years; Professional certifications last two. The Agentic Architect page currently states one year, which differs from the FAQ, so that card is marked confirm. You can recertify from 180 days before expiry (Foundational and Associate) or 60 days (Professional).
Two routes. Finish the designated courses and skill badges in the certification's renewal learning path on Google Skills during its last year, which extends it by one year; or, where offered, pass a shorter renewal exam — for example US$100 for Cloud Architect, US$75 for Cloud Engineer, US$60 for Cloud Digital Leader. If a certification expires, you take the standard exam again.
Registration stays in CM Connect (CertMetrics). Exams are online-proctored or taken at a Pearson VUE test centre — search for Google Cloud on the Pearson VUE site. Google switched from Kryterion: the last Kryterion test day was 22 February 2026 and Pearson testing began on 2 March 2026.
Google launched Google Skills (skills.google) in October 2025 as its home for AI and cloud learning. Google says it keeps the best of Google Cloud Skills Boost and adds content from Google DeepMind, Grow with Google and Google for Education — nearly 3,000 courses, labs and credentials. Skill badges and certification renewal paths now sit there.
For our AI trainers, yes. Gemini Certified Educator (K-12), Gemini Certified Faculty and Gemini Certified University Student are free, two-hour multiple-choice exams, valid three years, available in 13 languages including Hindi. If you fail or time out, you can retake after eight days.
The Coursera pages we read do not say, so validity is marked confirm. They are self-paced course series with a certificate from Google, billed through Coursera's US$49-a-month subscription in the US and Canada after a seven-day trial; pricing varies by country.
Google says certified staff validate the Select tier, certified technical depth matters for Premier, and competencies are partly measured by technical certifications and sales credentials. CRN reports the Diamond tier needs 200 professional certifications. Google's exact counts per competency are not on the pages we could read — confirm in the Partner Network Hub.
Tracker data stays in this browser only; export JSON or CSV to share it. The badges are illustrative XcellHost designs for internal recognition. Official badges come from Google — use those for LinkedIn and anything a customer sees.