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Course spotlight: Coursera’s Google AI Essentials
Our assessment: Best for beginners
Coursera’s Google AI Essentials stands out as a flexible, beginner-friendly course that shows how to use generative AI to speed up everyday work tasks such as writing emails, summarizing meetings or solving math problems.
- Learn prompt engineering techniques such as few-shot prompting.
- Identify generative AI’s potential biases and see how to reduce harm.
- Determine whether generative AI is right for the tasks you need to do.
- Plan ahead on how to keep up with the rapidly developing field of generative AI.
Earlier this year, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang predicted that generative AI is “closing the technology divide” in part because of prompt engineering, or the ability to call information and actions from the AI model through natural language. Programming remains an important skill, he said, but “We all need to learn how to prompt AIs.”
What is prompt engineering?
Since generative AI interprets natural language, prompt engineering is the process of structuring and choosing the right words for the model to interpret. Prompt engineering can be deceptively simple, sometimes involving directly telling the AI model what audience it should write for, or emphasizing when an element of the prompt is “really, really important.” Prompt engineering can seem mysterious, but there often isn’t much of what is typically thought of as engineering involved at all. However, prompt engineering does intersect with a lot of other elements of working with generative AI, all of which involve a lot to explore and learn.
SEE: We’ve curated the best courses for learning about AI generally.
While there are a lot of courses on prompt engineering, we’ve chosen modules that specifically result in certificates of completion. You can use these certifications to work toward your professional goals. Certifications can be included on your resume to show initiative and continuing education. We based our selections on reviews, community sentiment, the depth and variety of topics offered and the practicality of the information.
Other good resources for exploring prompt engineering, which may or may not include options for receiving a certification, are Learn Prompting and DeepLearning.AI.
Disclaimer: This article is sponsored by Coursera.
Best prompt engineering certifications: Comparison table
CourseCostDurationSkill level
Google AI Essentials (Coursera)$20 per monthFour hoursBeginner
The Complete Prompt Engineering for AI Bootcamp (2026) (Udemy)$119.9922.5 hoursIntermediate
Generative AI for Data Engineers Specialization (Coursera)$20 per month with a 7-day free trialEight weeks at two hours per week Intermediate
Prompt Engineering Specialization (Coursera)$20 per month with a 7-day free trial.Four weeks at 10 hours per weekIntermediate
Generative AI with LLMs (Coursera)$31Two weeks at 10 hours per weekIntermediate
Google AI Essentials: Best for beginners
The enrollment date will always be the current date. Image: Coursera/Screenshot by TechRepublic
One of the elements this course covers is to “Write clear and specific prompts to get the output you want,” but this course is also a good overview of generative AI and results in a certificate of completion. This course and certification were produced as part of Grow with Google, a workforce training initiative; therefore, you can be reassured Google quality assurance applies to the material.
This course consists of these modules:
- Introduction to AI.
- Maximize Productivity with AI Tools.
- Discover the Art of Prompt Engineering.
- Use AI Responsibly.
- Stay Ahead of the AI Curve.
Pricing
This certification costs $20 USD per month after the 7-day free trial.
Duration
Coursera states the course takes four hours to complete, but students can learn at their own pace.
ProsCons
- Google approved.
- Doesn’t take long to complete.
- Covers a wide range of topics.
- Doesn’t focus on only prompt engineering.
- Not very technical.
Prerequisites
This course has no prerequisites.
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The Complete Prompt Engineering for AI Bootcamp (2026): Best for established professionals
Udemy occasionally has sales; the pictured sale price ends June 27. Image: Udemy/Screenshot by TechRepublic
The Complete Prompt Engineering for AI Bootcamp (2026) is a hands-on Udemy course that covers the strengths and weaknesses of ChatGPT, GPT-5, Midjourney, GitHub Copilot, Veo3, and other major AI models. Learners will explore the “Five Principles of Prompting,” apply prompt engineering techniques across 20+ real-world text and image generation projects, and build Python coding patterns and tooling skills for running and scaling AI systems in production.
Pricing
This course typically costs $119.99, but it is sometimes on sale; learners can also choose a Udemy subscription for $13 per month.
Duration
This course includes 22.5 hours of video, as well as assignments you will need to complete at your own pace.
ProsCons
- Thorough and hands-on.
- Course materials are updated often.
- Instructors work in the field of prompt engineering.
- Lists of example prompts are included in course materials.
- Some reviewers say the content can be repetitive.
- Relatively expensive.
Prerequisites
To take this course, you should be able to read and write in Python.
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Generative AI for Data Engineers Specialization: Best for data engineers
This certification involves three courses, all managed by IBM professionals. Image: Coursera/Screenshot by TechRepublic
Developed by IBM, this specialization results in a certification proving you’ve completed three courses:
- Generative AI: Introductions and Applications
- Generative AI: Prompt Engineering Basics
- Generative AI: Elevate Your Data Engineering Career.
I recommend completing all three courses to get the most value from the certification, but you can choose whichever topic and timeline work best for you. Throughout the specialization, learners build skills in identifying generative AI tools for text, code, image, audio, and video; creating effective prompts; applying generative AI to data engineering processes; and evaluating real-world use cases for ETL and data repositories.
Pricing
All three courses can be accessed with a 7-day free trial, which includes unlimited access to all courses in the Specialization. After the trial ends, access costs $20 USD per month, and learners can cancel anytime with no penalties before the trial ends.
Duration
The certification takes eight weeks to complete at two hours per week, but learners can follow a flexible schedule and complete it at their own pace.
ProsCons
- Taught by IBM professionals.
- Get up-to-date on tools used in prompt engineering.
- Covers generative AI from a data engineering perspective, which is good for adding to an existing skill set.
- May be too general for people looking only for prompt engineering or who are not interested in data engineering.
Prerequisites
People taking the data engineering section should have some experience in data engineering. The introductions to generative AI and prompt engineering do not require prerequisites or experience.
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Prompt Engineering Specialization: Best for people who work with ChatGPT
Completing this specialization requires taking three courses: Prompt Engineering for ChatGPT, ChatGPT Advanced Data Analysis, and Trustworthy Generative AI. Image: Coursera/Screenshot by TechRepublic
The Prompt Engineering Specialization from Vanderbilt University on Coursera includes three courses:
- Prompt Engineering for ChatGPT
- ChatGPT Advanced Data Analysis
- Trustworthy Generative AI
We chose this specialization because it focuses on the specifics of prompt engineering with one popular AI application — ChatGPT — but also covers how to produce results that are as accurate as possible from generative AI in general.
Pricing
All three courses can be accessed with a 7-day free trial, which includes unlimited access to all courses in the Specialization. After the trial ends, access costs $20 USD per month, and learners can cancel anytime with no penalties before the trial ends.
Duration
The certification takes four weeks to complete at 10 hours per week, but learners can follow a flexible schedule and complete it at their own pace.
ProsCons
- Includes sections on AI trustworthiness and hallucinations.
- Includes hands-on assignments.
- Covers mostly ChatGPT.
- Some content between courses may be repetitive.
- May not have been updated recently or thoroughly (it still refers to Google Gemini as Bard).
Prerequisites
For the ChatGPT Advanced Data Analysis portion, a ChatGPT+ subscription and access to Code Interpreter are required. If you’re taking the Trustworthy Generative AI course, you should have some familiarity with other generative AI applications like Google Gemini or Anthropic’s Claude.
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Generative AI with LLMs: Best for people who use AWS
This course was created in part by AWS. Image: DeepLearning.AI/Screenshot by TechRepublic
DeepLearning.ai was founded by Andrew Ng, who also co-founded Coursera, and offers a wide variety of free courses — some of which, like this one, are co-hosted on Coursera. This course focuses on using AI with AWS. It includes “advanced prompting techniques” and configuration parameters for generative AI. It may be especially suitable if you already know your way around AWS and want to build and deploy AI with it.
Pricing
This course costs $31 and includes access for six months.
Duration
This course takes two weeks to complete at 10 hours per week, but learners can complete it at their own pace.
ProsCons
- DeepLearning.AI instructors are generally regarded to provide practical information without fluff.
- Focuses on specific, practical skills that may be useful if you use AWS in your work.
- Some reviews point out the “lab” sections used entirely pre-built code and do not require the learner to build their own.
Prerequisites
This course is appropriate for people already working as data scientists, research engineers, or machine learning engineers. You should have some experience working in Python if you want to take this course.
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Bottom line: Finding the right prompt engineering certification
The right prompt engineering certification will depend on your experience level, career goals, and preferred learning style. In general, look for a program that covers current AI tools and models, includes hands-on projects, and teaches practical prompting techniques you can apply to real-world workflows. A strong certification should also go beyond basic prompt writing by explaining how to refine outputs, evaluate AI responses, and use generative AI responsibly and effectively.
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