The Certified LLM Application Engineer (CLAE) is an advanced, vendor-neutral certification for the engineers who build production applications on large language models. It validates that you can design an LLM application, engineer prompts and context, build agents and tool use safely, integrate retrieval and knowledge, evaluate and test for reliability, and secure, deploy and operate the system with cost and monitoring under control. The exam is computer adaptive and performance-based, and the credential is kept current through continuing education.
| Level | Advanced. An engineer-level credential: it goes deep on building and operating LLM applications and assumes working software or ML experience. |
|---|---|
| Delivery model | Computer adaptive, three stages. Your score on each stage selects the difficulty of the next, so no two candidates sit the same paper. |
| Format | 120 questions. A performance-based exam that includes performance-based questions and multiple-choice questions. Concepts transfer across every model and framework. |
| Time | 180 minutes for the whole exam, timed. Autosaves every answer. |
| Scoring | You need a score of 700 out of 900 to pass. Results are reported on a scale of 100 to 900, and 700 corresponds to answering 72% of the exam correctly. Harder questions carry more weight, so a score means the same thing on any route. Multiple-response items and PBQs are all or nothing. |
| Retakes | No waiting period after a failed first attempt. Every attempt is paid for at the exam price. See the CertLabz Certification Retake Policy. |
| Voucher validity | 12 months from purchase, for one sitting. |
| Certification validity | 3 years. Renew with 75 CEUs per cycle and the $55 annual CE fee, or pass the current exam. Renewal details. |
| Language | English. |
| Credential | PDF certificate with QR code, public verification page, LinkedIn-ready credential ID. Issuer: CertLabz Certification Board. |
| Free resources | The exam objectives PDF and the ten sample questions PDF. |
| Workforce mapping | NICE Framework work roles: Secure Software Development (DD-WRL-003), Software Security Assessment (DD-WRL-005). O*NET occupations: Software Developers (15-1252.00). Self-declared by CertLabz, not reviewed by NIST or CISA. See the full mapping. |
A signed, verifiable:
The CLAE is a performance-based exam: it includes performance-based questions alongside multiple-choice questions. Instead of only picking A, B, C or D, you match layers to their jobs, order a tool-using request, fix a retrieval fault, and choose the control for a production risk. It is computer adaptive, is proctored and timed, needs no mandatory course, and tests building LLM applications rather than reciting buzzwords.
When to use an LLM, application layers, state, prompt and context engineering, and versioning.
Function calling, orchestration, least-privilege tools, RAG, hybrid search and reranking.
Evaluation sets, LLM-as-judge, regression tests, and detecting model-version changes.
Prompt injection defense, guardrails, cost control, monitoring and versioning.
Building production LLM applications is one of the most in-demand skills in software, and engineers who can ship safe, reliable, cost-controlled systems are scarce. Every route is shown here at once, so nothing is hidden behind a control you have to find.
United States pay reported by Glassdoor, checked September 2026. Pay varies by location, employer and experience. No certification guarantees a salary or a job.
| CertLabz CLAE | Databricks GenAI Engineer Associate | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Certification exam | Certification exam |
| Computer adaptive | Yes | No |
| Hands-on PBQs | Yes | No |
| Scope | LLM application engineering, vendor neutral | Generative AI on Databricks |
| Vendor neutral | Yes | Platform-based |
| Proctored | Yes | Yes |
| Questions | 120 | 45 |
| Time | 180 min | 90 min |
| Pass mark | 700 of 900 | Not published |
| Course required | No | No |
| Exam voucher | $199 | $200 |
Compiled September 2026 from the Databricks Certified Generative AI Engineer Associate page. That exam is oriented to one platform; the CLAE is vendor neutral. Product names and trademarks belong to their owners; CertLabz is not affiliated with any of them. Confirm current details with each provider.
Six reasons this credential is worth your time, and worth an employer's attention.
One price for the exam, set by its level. Bundles add the study guide and hands-on practice at a saving.
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Every form is drawn from a bank of more than 130 items to these exact weights, whichever adaptive route you take. Filter by the area you want to study.
The exam runs in three stages. Your score on each stage selects the difficulty of the next, so a strong candidate is stretched and a struggling one is measured fairly rather than swamped. No two candidates sit the same paper. Harder questions carry more weight, so a scaled score means the same thing whichever route you took.
Each exam can have up to 5 to 12 performance-based questions, drawn fresh on every attempt, alongside the multiple-choice questions. A PBQ is a task rather than a list: you match application layers, order a tool-using request, fix a retrieval fault, or choose a production control. They are scored all or nothing, so partial guesses do not pass.
Yes. Models, frameworks and providers are described generically. Where a question involves a feature, it is described by what it does, not by one product's API.
No. The CLAE is about engineering applications on existing models: architecture, prompting, agents, retrieval, evaluation and operations, not training model weights.
700 out of 900. Results are reported on a scale of 100 to 900, and 700 corresponds to answering 72% of the exam correctly.
There is no waiting period between a failed first attempt and a second attempt. Buy another voucher and sit the exam again when you are ready, and it will draw a fresh adaptive form from the bank. See the CertLabz Certification Retake Policy.
Yes, after three years. Keep it current by logging 75 CEUs during the cycle and paying the $55 annual CE fee before expiry, or by passing the current exam again.
The exam objectives PDF and the ten sample questions PDF. The CLAE Official Study Guide is a $50 ebook, included in two of the bundles. Hands-on practice comes with the All Access plan, included in the Complete bundle.
A laptop or desktop with a webcam and microphone, Chrome, Edge or Firefox, a stable connection, and a quiet private room for three hours. Phones and tablets are not supported.
CLAE is a continuing-education certification, like the CE credentials from CompTIA and ISC2. It is valid for three years from the day you pass. To keep it, log 75 continuing-education units during the cycle and pay the $55 annual CE fee before your expiry date. Or pass the current version of the exam again.
CEUs are logged from your CertLabz dashboard with supporting evidence. A certification that lapses can be reinstated only by passing the current exam.
Buy a voucher, study the objectives, sit the exam when you are ready. Your credential is issued the moment you pass.