CompTIA AI Certification: What SecAI+ (CY0-001) Covers and Who Should Take It

CompTIA’s AI certification is SecAI+, exam code CY0-001, which launched on February 17, 2026. It’s a security specialty, not a beginner’s AI exam. The exam has a maximum of 60 multiple-choice and performance-based questions in 60 minutes, and you need a 600 on a scale of 100 to 900 to pass. CompTIA recommends real IT and cybersecurity experience first.

What Is CompTIA SecAI+?

SecAI+ is CompTIA’s certification for the point where AI and cybersecurity meet. The name stands for security plus AI, and the exam is built for people who already work in IT or security and now have to deal with AI.

That framing matters. If you came here looking for a general AI credential, SecAI+ is something else: a security credential that covers AI. That difference decides who should take it.

If you work in security, it’s a way to show you can handle AI-related risk and use AI tools in your work. If you’re new to both fields, it’s probably not the right first step.

What Are the Exam Details?

Here’s what CompTIA lists for the exam.

Performance-based questions are hands-on. Instead of picking an answer from a list, you work through a scenario. With 60 questions at most and 60 minutes, you’ll average about a minute each, and the performance-based ones take longer. So pacing is part of the skill.

CompTIA doesn’t list a price in the sources we used, so check CompTIA’s page for the current fee before you plan a budget.

What Does SecAI+ Cover?

CompTIA divides the exam into four domains, each with a weight.

The largest piece, at 40%, is securing AI systems. That means protecting the AI itself: the models, the data and the systems around them. It’s where the exam spends most of its time, so it should take most of your study hours too.

The second, AI-Assisted Security at 24%, flips the angle. Here AI is a tool that helps defenders do their jobs. Governance, risk and compliance is 19%, and basic AI concepts is 17%.

Notice the smallest domain is the AI basics. The exam assumes you can learn those quickly if you already know security. If you don’t know security, you’ll struggle with the largest domains.

Who Should Take SecAI+?

CompTIA recommends 3 to 4 years in IT and 2 or more years of hands-on cybersecurity, along with Security+, CySA+, PenTest+ or equivalent knowledge. That tells you who the exam is for.

It fits these people best:

• Security analysts who now review AI tools or defend systems that use them.
• IT professionals moving toward security who want to build AI knowledge on a solid base.
• Security engineers and testers who want a credential that shows current, relevant skills.

It’s a poor fit if you’ve never worked in IT. The recommended experience is a signal. You can sit the exam without it, but you’ll be learning two fields at once.

How Do You Prepare?

Start with CompTIA’s exam objectives for CY0-001. They list what’s tested in each domain. Build a checklist and mark what you already know.

If you hold Security+, CySA+ or PenTest+, you likely have the security base the exam expects. Your gap is probably the AI side, especially securing AI systems, since that’s the biggest domain.

A workable plan:

1. Download the exam objectives and build your checklist.
2. Spend most of your time on securing AI systems, since it’s 40% of the exam.
3. Work through AI-assisted security next, using real tools where you can.
4. Cover governance, risk and compliance, then the basics.
5. Practice performance-based scenarios, because they need hands-on familiarity.
6. Time a full practice run at 60 minutes.

Because the credential is new, study materials are still being built. Check dates on anything you use and compare it against CompTIA’s current objectives.

What Do the Question Types Ask of You?

CompTIA says the exam mixes multiple-choice and performance-based questions. They test different things, so prepare for both.

Multiple-choice questions check whether you know a concept or can pick the best response to a situation. They move fast if you know the material.

Performance-based questions put you in a simulated task. You might work through a scenario rather than recognize the right answer from a list. They take longer, and they reward hands-on practice more than memorizing.

Since the exam is capped at 60 questions in 60 minutes, a smart move is to answer the quick ones first and leave time for the scenarios. Check CompTIA’s page for how the exam software handles skipping and review.

How Should You Fit Study Around Your Job?

Most people who meet the experience recommendation are already working full time. That shapes how you study.

Short, regular sessions beat long, rare ones. Thirty to forty-five minutes on weekdays and a longer session on the weekend keeps material fresh without wearing you out.

Tie your study to your work. If you handle alerts, think about how AI tools could help with them, then compare your thinking with the AI-assisted security domain. If you review vendors, read the governance domain with that in mind. The connections make the material stick.

Find a colleague who’s also interested. Explaining a topic aloud shows quickly whether you understand it.

A Six-Week Plan You Can Adjust

Your pace depends on your background, so use this as a rough frame.

Weeks one and two. Read the objectives and build your checklist. Start on securing AI systems, the largest domain.

Weeks three and four. Finish securing AI systems, then move to AI-assisted security. Try hands-on exercises wherever you can.

Week five. Cover governance, risk and compliance and the AI basics. Take a practice test and review each miss.

Week six. Practice performance-based scenarios and a full timed run. Book the exam once you pass practice runs comfortably.

If you already hold Security+, CySA+ or PenTest+, you may move faster. If you’re newer to AI concepts, add a week or two at the start for the basics.

Why Does the Launch Date Matter?

SecAI+ launched in February 2026, which makes it very new. That has a few effects.

Employers may not yet recognize the name. Job postings that mention it may be few, and your experience will matter more than the credential. Check postings in your area before you invest.

Study resources may be thin or uneven, so lean on CompTIA’s own objectives.

And CompTIA estimates retirement about 3 years after launch, which is standard for its exams. That gives you a window. If you earn it, think about how you’ll keep your skills current once a new version appears.

How Does SecAI+ Relate to an AI Degree?

A certification like this one adds AI knowledge to existing security skills. A degree builds a deeper foundation across how AI works and how it’s applied. They’re different, and one doesn’t stand in for the other.

If you’re working in IT and considering a degree, these lists fit best:

• Online applied AI degrees is the closest match, since the focus is using AI on real problems rather than researching new methods.
• Online AI degrees for working adults is a good fit if you’ll study while holding down a job, which is the situation most SecAI+ candidates are in.

Many people do both. They earn the certification to show security-specific AI knowledge now, and work toward a degree for the longer arc. The certification can help in your current role, and the degree can open more options later.

For a wider view of how vendor exams, course series and university programs differ, see our guide to AI certifications.

What Jobs Can It Help With?

SecAI+ points toward security roles that touch AI. The most direct is information security analyst work, where analysts monitor systems and respond to threats, and where AI tools and AI-related risks are becoming part of the picture.

It may also help in broader AI-adjacent roles. Our overview of AI jobs shows how security fits among them.

If your interest is in oversight rather than hands-on defense, compare it with the IAPP AIGP, which focuses on governance. SecAI+ includes a governance domain at 19%, but the AIGP goes deeper on that one topic.

As with any credential, check the postings you care about. See how often SecAI+ appears, and weigh that against your experience.

Is SecAI+ Worth It?

It’s worth considering if you already work in security and expect AI to be part of your job. It shows initiative, and it gives you a structured path through a topic that’s moving fast.

It’s harder to justify if you’re new to the field, if employers in your area don’t mention it, or if you need a broader credential. In those cases, a degree or a more foundational certification may serve you better.

The experience recommendation is the key filter. If you meet it, SecAI+ is a natural next step. If you don’t, build the base first.

Questions to Ask Before You Commit

A few honest questions will tell you whether SecAI+ is the right use of your time.

Do you already work in security or IT? If not, the recommended experience is a big gap, and you may do better building that base first.

Will AI be part of your job in the next year or two? If so, the credential gives you a structured way to prepare. If not, it may be a distraction.

Does your employer value CompTIA credentials? Many IT teams know the brand, which can help. Ask your manager whether it counts toward raises, promotions or training budgets.

Are you planning a degree? If so, consider whether to take the exam before, during or after. There’s no single right order, but knowing your plan keeps you from paying for things in the wrong sequence.

What to Check Before You Book

CompTIA can change fees, objectives and exam details, so confirm these on its page:

• The current price and where you can take the exam.
• The latest exam objectives for CY0-001.
• The languages offered, currently English and Japanese.
• Any updates to the retirement estimate.

How We Checked These Facts

The exam code, launch date, question limit, duration, passing score, languages, recommended experience, domain weights and retirement estimate come from CompTIA’s SecAI+ page. Confirm everything on the official SecAI+ page before you study or register.