Getting Databricks Certified Is Now Easier With Free Overview Courses

Databricks Academy offers training and certifications across data & AI personas, enabling users and organizations to be more productive and do more in less time. From data analysis to ML,, users can master new skills, regardless of their experience level, and technologies. We've seen customers make a huge impact on their organizations and even their own careers by completing our certification trainings.

Today, we're excited to announce free certification overview courses for data analysis, data engineering, and machine learning to help users do their day-to-day jobs more efficiently and organizations increase performance. By getting Databricks certified, users can be confident in their knowledge to help overcome the toughest data & AI challenges.

Customers are already seeing the value today. Andrew Fletcher, Partner at Valorem Reply, says "we see certifications as a real benefit to the individual and company. For an individual, career-wise, we look to put them through the certification process. It's structured and you can begin to understand the complexity of the product and you can solve business problems and build credibility as a team."

Which certification overview courses are available for free?

Each certification overview course has learning objectives that will help users grow and demonstrate their knowledge in many key areas. The following certification overview courses are now available for free through Databricks Academy:

• Databricks Certified Associate Developer for Apache Spark Exam, which includes:
  • Basics of the Apache Spark architecture
  • Applying Spark DataFrame API to complete individual data manipulation tasks, including: selecting, renaming and manipulating columns; filtering, dropping, sorting, and aggregating rows; joining, reading, writing and partitioning DataFrames; and working with UDFs and Spark SQL functions.
• Databricks Certified Data Analyst Associate Exam, which includes:
  • Overview of Databricks SQL and its capabilities
  • Managing data with Databricks tools and best practices
  • Using structured query language (SQL) to complete tasks in the Lakehouse
  • Creating production-grade data visualizations and dashboards
  • Developing analytics applications to solve common data analytics problems
• Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate Exam, which includes:
  • Using Databricks Lakehouse Platform and its tools
  • Building ETL pipelines using Apache Spark SQL and Python
  • Incrementally processing data
  • Building production pipelines for data engineering applications and Databricks SQL queries and dashboards
• Databricks Certified Data Engineer Professional Exam, which includes:
  • Using and the benefits of the Databricks platform and developer tools
  • Building optimized and cleaned data processing pipelines using the Spark and Delta Lake APIs
  • Modeling data into a Lakehouse using knowledge of general data modeling concepts.
  • Ensuring data pipelines secure, reliable, monitored, and tested before deployment
• Databricks Certified Machine Learning Associate Exam, which includes:
  • Using Databricks Machine Learning and its capabilities within machine learning workflows
  • Implementing correct decisions in machine learning workflows
  • Implementing machine learning solutions at scale using Spark ML and other tools
  • Understanding advanced scaling characteristics of classical machine learning models
• Databricks Certified Machine Learning Professional Exam, which includes:
  • Managing machine learning experiments and version control
  • Managing machine learning model lifecycle
  • Implementing strategies for deploying machine learning models
  • Monitoring models for drift detection

How can you access the free certification overview courses?

Current customers can log into Databricks Academy and find Databricks certification overview courses under Catalog 001.

Other data & AI professionals and enthusiasts can also access the overview courses by creating an account at Databricks Academy. Once you're logged in, you can access the overview courses in catalog DB005a.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between the free certification overview courses and a full certification exam prep course?

The free overview courses give a high-level summary of each exam's key learning objectives, letting you gauge your readiness before committing to deeper study. Full exam prep courses, found in the Databricks training catalog, go further with hands-on labs and instruction covering the same material in much greater depth. In short, the overview courses are an introduction rather than a replacement for complete exam preparation.

What does the Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate exam actually test you on?

The Data Engineer Associate exam evaluates your ability to use the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform for foundational data engineering tasks, including data ingestion, ETL with PySpark, and working with Lakeflow Jobs and CI/CD. It also checks your knowledge of troubleshooting, monitoring, optimization, and governance and security on the platform. This builds on the broader ETL and Lakehouse topics summarized in the associate-level overview course.

Are there other Databricks certifications besides the six covered by these overview courses?

Yes, Databricks offers additional certifications beyond the six described in the overview courses, including the Generative AI Engineer Associate certification, which assesses the ability to design, build, and deploy generative AI solutions on Databricks. There is also a Context Engineer Associate certification focused on designing and governing context for AI agent systems. These reflect how Databricks Academy's certification offerings have grown beyond the original six exams.

What real-world benefit have companies seen from getting employees certified?

Companies like Valorem Reply view certification as a benefit to both the individual and the organization, helping employees build credibility and solve business problems more effectively. As Valorem Reply's Andrew Fletcher put it, the structured certification process helps people "understand the complexity of the product" and "build credibility as a team." This makes certification both a career-building tool for individuals and a performance asset for organizations.

Do you need prior experience to take the certification overview courses?

No prior experience is required to start the certification overview courses, since they're designed for users "regardless of their experience level." The courses span multiple personas, from data analysis to machine learning, so people at different skill levels can find a relevant starting point. This makes them accessible whether you're new to Databricks or looking to formalize skills you already have.