Google launches artificial intelligence professional certificate on Coursera and offers free access to U.S. small businesses

By Marni Baker Stein, Chief Content Officer, Coursera

Today, Google launches its first Artificial Intelligence Professional Certificateexpanding the GenAI catalog on Coursera, which has attracted nearly 3 million sign-ups worldwide. This certificate helps professionals go beyond the basics and integrate artificial intelligence into their daily work through practical job skills. Each registered learner will also receive three months of free access to Google AI Pro to support hands-on learning and practice using Google’s most powerful models.

To help expand AI training across the country, Google is making the certificate free to U.S. small businesses, along with other tools to support adoption, such as Google Workspace Business Standard.

At the same time, AI fluency is quickly becoming the baseline expectation across roles and industries. More than half of the job openings requiring AI skills are now outside of information technology and computer science, underscoring how broadly AI is reshaping jobs. However, new research from Google and IPSOS shows that only 40% of American workers use artificial intelligence at work.

To help close this gap, Google analyzed hundreds of job descriptions and worked with employers to develop this program that focuses on general, transferable skills.

“The Google AI Professional Certificate turns the power of AI into real economic opportunity for every business and worker. Top employers and universities across the country will use this training to help their teams and students succeed,” said Lisa Gevelber, founder of Grow with Google. “By making this program free to America’s small businesses, we’re ensuring businesses of all sizes have the latest AI tools and training to give employees at every level the hands-on AI experience they need to thrive in today’s workforce.”

Through seven short courses and a hands-on capstone course, learners can work with tools such as Gemini, NotebookLM and AI Studio to tackle tasks such as research, data analysis, content creation and communication, while learning directly from Google experts.

This certificate goes beyond basic tips and emphasizes learning by doing, showing learners how to strategically use artificial intelligence to simplify work and solve complex problems. Responsible use of AI is implemented throughout the project, reinforcing the importance of human judgment in assessing outputs, managing risks and making decisions.

Courses included in the certificate include:

• Basic knowledge of artificial intelligence — Understand basic generative AI concepts and learn how to responsibly and ethically evaluate AI output for professional use.
• Artificial intelligence for brainstorming and planning — Use artificial intelligence to generate, refine and transform ideas into structured, actionable project plans.
• Artificial intelligence for research and insights — Collect, synthesize and validate information from multiple sources to support faster, more informed decisions.
• Artificial intelligence writing and communication — Develop clear, persuasive messages that are tailored to different audiences and high-stakes scenarios.
• Artificial intelligence content creation — Work responsibly with artificial intelligence to create, edit and comment on visual and multimedia assets.
• Artificial intelligence data analysis — Transform complex data sets into clear insights and compelling visuals to guide better decisions.
• Artificial intelligence application building — Build custom AI solutions that use natural language to automate real workplace tasks.

The certificate can be completed in ten hours, and by the end of the certificate, learners will have built a portfolio of work that includes reusable prompts, data-backed project plans, AI-generated research and visual assets, and custom AI-driven applications.

The content of this certificate focuses on immediately applicable skills, preparing professionals who want to future-proof their careers and organizations looking to upskill their teams.

We’re proud to partner with Google to give learners and small businesses greater access to the advanced AI training they need to scale AI fluency.

Sign up Google Artificial Intelligence Professional Certificate and learn more about Free for U.S. small businesses today.