Hey {{First Name | there}},
My first cloud certification wasn’t AWS. It was Azure. 🤷♂️
I’d studied Economics at university — not Computer Science, not engineering, not anything remotely “techy.” But I was working at NHS England in a data role when a Cloud Data Engineering position opened up internally.
The team was building on Azure, so I asked for a secondment, got it, and threw myself in.
During that six-month secondment, I passed Azure Fundamentals. Then kept going. By the end of it, I had 4 Azure certifications — studying evenings, weekends, and every spare moment I could find.
That foundation helped me land my role at AWS. And here’s the interesting part — the AWS position didn’t require AWS-specific certifications. What they wanted was industry knowledge, the ability to design solutions, and the capacity to communicate complex ideas clearly.
But once I joined? My manager sat me down and mapped out a certification roadmap. A clear plan, a logical sequence.
I cleared 3 AWS certifications in 3 months. 🔥
Today I hold multiple AWS certifications, including the AI Practitioner. I’ve helped dozens of people plan their cert journey. And the single biggest thing I’ve learnt is this:
The order matters more than the effort.
Study the wrong cert first and you’ll spend months on concepts you’re not ready for. Study them in the right order and each one builds on the last — like stacking bricks instead of juggling them.
Whether you’re going for AWS, Azure, GCP, or CompTIA — the principle is the same. Here’s exactly how I’d map the AWS path if I were starting from scratch in 2026:
🗺️ Shola’s AWS Certification Roadmap for 2026
🟢 START HERE — FOUNDATION
1. Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02) — The front door. Covers AWS basics, cloud economics, and security. Trust me — it fills gaps you don’t know you have.
2. AI Practitioner (AIF-C01) — Massively underrated. Covers AI/ML fundamentals and AWS AI services. Want to future-proof your career? Non-negotiable.
🔵 LEVEL UP — ASSOCIATE
3. Solutions Architect Associate (SAA-C03) — The gold standard. Design resilient, cost-effective systems. The cert hiring managers recognise most.
4. Pick your lane:
→ Developer Associate if you write code daily
→ CloudOps Engineer Associate if you manage infrastructure
→ Data Engineer Associate if you work with data pipelines
🟣 GO DEEP — PROFESSIONAL & SPECIALTY
5. Solutions Architect Professional (SAP-C02) — The hardest AWS exam. Only attempt this after 1-2 years of real experience. It’s about trade-offs, not memorisation.
6. Generative AI Developer Professional (NEW) — Brand new for 2026. Covers RAG, agentic workflows, prompt engineering, and building production AI apps on AWS. This is the future.
7. ML Engineer Associate or Specialty certs — Only when you have a specific reason. Don’t collect certs for the sake of it.
Here’s the part most people miss: certifications don’t get you hired. But they get you past the filter.
There are now over 1.4 million active AWS certifications worldwide, and certified professionals earn an average of $12,000 more per year. The market is telling you something.
But think of certs like a driving licence. Having one doesn’t make you a Formula 1 driver — but without it, you can’t even get on the road.
The people who struggle aren’t the ones without certs. They’re the ones who collected 4 certifications and still can’t explain what they’d do in a real architecture scenario.
So my rule is simple: certify, then build. Never certify and stop.
Every cert you pass should be followed by a real project. Pass Cloud Practitioner? Build a static website on S3. That’s how you turn knowledge into proof.
💡 Your move this week:
1. Look at where you are right now. On the AWS path? Use the roadmap above. Going Azure, GCP, or CompTIA? Same logic — find the foundation cert first, then work up.
2. Write down ONE certification goal with a target exam date. Put it somewhere you’ll see daily.
3. Block 30 minutes a day for study. If you’re starting AWS, go to explore.skillbuilder.aws and search for “Cloud Practitioner Essentials.” It’s free, it’s official, and Module 1 takes about 90 minutes. Start there this weekend.
🗺️ Want the full visual roadmap? I made a PDF showing all 13 AWS certifications, colour-coded by level — with study times, costs, and the exact order I’d take them. It’s free.
Smarter news. Fewer yawns
Business news takes itself way too seriously.
Morning Brew doesn’t.
Morning Brew delivers a smart, skimmable email newsletter on the day’s must-know business news — plus games that make sticking around a little more fun. Think crosswords, quizzes, and quick breaks that turn staying informed into something you actually look forward to.
Join over 4 million professionals reading Morning Brew for free. And walk away knowing more than you did five minutes ago.
That’s what Shola’s Tech Notes is about — every Tuesday at 6 PM, one thing that moves your cloud career forward. Certifications, AI, hands-on projects, and real talk from inside AWS.
Hit reply and tell me: NEXT CERT — Which certification are you going for next — AWS, Azure, GCP, or something else? I’ll send you my top 3 study resources for that exact exam. 🎯
Certify smart, not hard,
Olushola
P.S. Know someone staring at the AWS certification page wondering where to start? Forward this — it might save them months of going in circles. And if you want the full visual roadmap with study times and costs, grab it free above. 🚀
P.P.S. Want personalised career guidance? Book a 1-on-1 mentorship session with me here