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ISACA launched AAIR on April 15, 2026 for risk professionals who already hold a qualifying credential and now have AI systems in the risk register. This guide covers the three domains and their weights, the 90-question exam, the 27 designations that let you sit it, what it costs as of October 2026, and how AAIR compares to CRISC, AAIA and AAISM.
AAIR is ISACA's advanced AI risk credential, launched on April 15, 2026 for experienced IT risk professionals who now have to assess and manage the risk AI brings into the enterprise.
It validates the ability to evaluate AI-related vulnerabilities, assess opportunities and impacts, and manage AI risk across the full life cycle. The exam is 90 multiple-choice questions in 2.5 hours. What it tests is the risk practitioner's job pointed at AI: weighing AI use cases against risk appetite, picking treatment strategies, evaluating controls, and reporting AI risk to management and the board. Nobody asks you to build a model.
Like its siblings, AAIR is an add-on with a hard prerequisite. You need an active qualifying designation, such as CRISC, CISM, CISA or CISSP, from a list of 27 that ISACA publishes. ISACA says the program focuses on AI-specific risk and does not cover foundational IT risk concepts, so it expects you to bring that foundation with you.
AI strategy and use cases, ownership and accountability, policy, regulation and ethics. 37% of the exam.
Risk from design or procurement through training, validation, deployment and decommissioning. The lightest domain at 21%.
Risk scenarios, treatment, controls, metrics, supply chain and incident response. The heaviest domain at 42%.
Four things that set AAIR apart as AI systems move into production and start showing up in the enterprise risk register.
ISACA already had AAIA for auditors and AAISM for security managers. AAIR is the third in the set and the only one written from the risk function's side of the table. The question it keeps asking is whether an AI use case fits the organization's risk appetite, and what the risk team should recommend if it doesn't.
AAIA takes audit credentials and AAISM takes CISM or CISSP. AAIR accepts 27 designations, from CRISC, CISM, CISA, CGEIT and CDPSE to CISSP, CGRC, CIA, CRMP, PMI-RMP and a long list of accounting credentials. People coming from security, audit, privacy or financial risk all have a way in.
AI Risk Program Management is 42% of the exam, twice the weight of the life cycle domain. That means risk scenarios, treatment, KRIs and reporting, supply chain and incident response. Our guide on GRC certifications for 2026 covers the CRISC foundation underneath it.
ISACA does not claim a DoD 8140 mapping for AAIR, and the exam outline doesn't tie it to a single framework by name. Domain 1 covers AI frameworks, regulatory compliance and legal considerations, and the obvious reference points for that work are the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, ISO/IEC 42001 and the EU AI Act.
If your organization already runs one of those, much of Domain 1 will feel like mapping work you've done before, now pointed at AI use cases instead of IT systems.
The certification, the exam and what it takes to keep AAIR, as published by ISACA in October 2026.
AAIR covers the risk side of AI. If your work also touches audit, security or policy, one of these fills in the rest of the AI governance picture.
ISACA's Advanced in AI Audit is for auditors who give independent assurance over AI. It uses the same 90-question format but takes a CISA, CIA or CPA as the prerequisite. AAIA tests the controls that an AAIR holder helps choose.
ISACA's Advanced in AI Security Management is for security leaders who secure and govern AI systems. It requires an active CISM or CISSP, and both of those also qualify you for AAIR, so one prerequisite opens both doors.
The IAPP Artificial Intelligence Governance Professional comes at AI from the policy and law side, with deep EU AI Act coverage and no prerequisite. Worth a look if your risk role also has to own the regulatory reading.
You earn AAIR on top of a credential you already hold, usually in risk, security or audit. From there it points toward the other AI credentials around it.
The required base
The add-on
Settle two things before you commit. Can you sit it, and should you pursue AAIR rather than one of its ISACA siblings? Here's a straight answer to both.
You're eligible now.
ISACA lists 27 designations that qualify. Five are its own: CISA, CISM, CRISC, CGEIT and CDPSE. The rest include CISSP and CGRC from ISC2, the IIA's CIA and CRMA, the RIMS CRMP, PMI-RMP, the American Bankers Association's CERP and CRCM, and accounting designations such as U.S. CPA, ACCA and CGMA. ISACA also expects proven experience in IT risk or advisory roles, though it doesn't set a number of years.
Earn the prerequisite first.
There is no test-first path for AAIR. You need a qualifying designation to register, and you submit proof that it's active when you apply for certification. For most people heading toward AI risk, CRISC is the better first investment. It's ISACA's core IT risk credential, it qualifies you for AAIR, and it covers the foundational risk concepts the AAIR program assumes you already have.
ISACA aims AAIR at risk practitioners at staff, manager and director levels. These are the roles it fits, and each one assumes risk or governance experience you already have.
Runs the AI side of the enterprise risk program, classifying AI use cases against risk appetite, keeping AI risks in the register and recommending treatment. This is the role AAIR was built around.
Decides how AI risk folds into the existing ERM framework and briefs senior management and the board on AI exposure, from model failures to third-party AI dependencies.
Turns AI regulation such as the EU AI Act into policies, controls and training, and makes sure AI controls land in the same taxonomy as everything else in the GRC program.
Reviews AI and machine learning models across design, training, validation, monitoring and retirement, watching for drift, bias and inaccurate outputs. Common in financial services.
Assesses AI vendors, models and APIs before and after contract, including data usage and intellectual property terms in service agreements, as part of supply chain risk management.
Helps client organizations build AI risk frameworks, set tolerance levels and stand up oversight that holds up to audit and regulatory scrutiny.
CRISC is ISACA's core IT risk credential and one of the 27 that qualify you for AAIR. AAIA and AAISM are AAIR's AI siblings, built on the same exam format for auditors and security leaders. Here's how the four line up.
| AAIR | CRISC | AAIA | AAISM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issuer | ISACA | ISACA | ISACA | ISACA |
| Focus | AI risk management | IT risk and controls | AI audit and assurance | AI security management |
| Prerequisite | 1 of 27 listed designations | 3 yrs IT risk experience | CISA, CIA, or CPA | Active CISM or CISSP |
| Exam Format | 90 questions, 2.5 hours | 150 questions, 4 hours | 90 questions, 2.5 hours | 90 questions, 2.5 hours |
| Passing Score | 450 / 800 | 450 / 800 | 450 / 800 | 450 / 800 |
| Renewal | 30 CPEs over 3 years | 120 CPEs over 3 years | 30 CPEs over 3 years | 30 CPEs over 3 years |
| Exam Cost | $459 / $599 | $575 / $760 | $459 / $599 | $459 / $599 |
| Best For | Risk pros managing AI | IT risk practitioners | Auditors assuring AI | Security leaders governing AI |
Exam costs are ISACA member and non-member prices as of October 2026. All four need an existing credential or experience before you can certify, and qualifying lists change, so check ISACA's current list before you register.
Certification Matchups: the published facts, strengths and weak spots of 33 certifications, side by side.
Our ISACA AAIR boot camp covers all three domains in three days, live online or in person, with ISACA's official courseware, practice questions and a mock exam, and your $459 exam voucher included. It's built for risk professionals who already hold a qualifying designation.
Choosing among ISACA's AI credentials, the frameworks behind AI risk work, and where AAIR fits in GRC.
AAISM is for security managers, AAIA for auditors, AAIR for risk professionals. How the three ISACA AI credentials differ in prerequisites and domains, and which one matches the job you already do.
A role-by-role map of the 2026 AI credentials, from vendor fundamentals to the ISACA trio, including when AAIR is a closer fit than AAIA.
The questions that clarify the choice: your jurisdiction, the frameworks you already run, and the role you actually play. Where AAIR sits next to AAISM, AIGP and ISO 42001.
How CRISC, CISA, CISM, CGRC and the newer ISACA AI credentials line up across governance, risk and compliance work, and which pillar each one leans toward.
The frameworks and accountability structures behind AI oversight, from the NIST AI RMF and ISO/IEC 42001 to the EU AI Act, and the context the first AAIR domain builds on.
How the ISACA calendar-year CPE cycle works, when one activity can count toward more than one ISACA certification, and what it costs to keep several credentials active.
Why ISACA built three role-specific AI credentials on top of CISA, CISM and CRISC instead of one broad exam, and how that approach compares with AIGP and SecAI+.
The AAIR job practice is split into three domains, and the weights are uneven. Program management carries twice the weight of the life cycle domain. Click any domain for what it covers.
Where AI sits in the organization and who answers for it. AI models, frameworks, strategies and use cases, how AI lines up with organizational processes, ownership, oversight and accountability, AI policies, procedures and training, regulatory compliance and legal considerations, and trustworthiness, ethics and societal impact, including ESG.
The lightest domain. Risk at each stage of an AI system's life, from design, development or procurement and documentation, through model training, testing and validation, to implementation, maintenance and decommissioning. It also covers how AI data and assets are inventoried and managed.
The heaviest domain. Identifying and assessing AI risk scenarios (threats, vulnerabilities and attacks), choosing treatment strategies, evaluating, selecting and validating controls, AI risk metrics, monitoring and reporting, AI supply chain risk, and incident response, BIA, business continuity and disaster recovery for AI.
Domains and weights reflect the ISACA AAIR Exam Content Outline as published with the AAIR Exam Candidate Guide (June 2026). ISACA updates its outlines on a regular cycle.
The questions candidates ask most often when researching the Advanced in AI Risk certification.
AAIR, short for Advanced in AI Risk, is ISACA's advanced AI risk credential. ISACA launched it on April 15, 2026 for experienced IT risk professionals. It validates the ability to evaluate AI-related vulnerabilities, assess opportunities and impacts, and manage AI risk across its life cycle. It isn't a beginner credential, and you need a qualifying designation before you can sit it.
AAIR fits IT risk managers, enterprise risk and GRC professionals, and risk advisors who already hold a qualifying designation and now have AI use cases to assess. ISACA aims it at staff, manager and director levels. Auditors who assure AI are usually better served by AAIA, and security leaders by AAISM.
No, but CRISC is the most direct path. ISACA accepts 27 designations, including CISA, CISM, CRISC, CGEIT, CDPSE, CISSP, CGRC, CIA, CRMA, CRMP, PMI-RMP and accounting credentials such as U.S. CPA and ACCA. You must hold one before you register for the exam, and it has to stay active while you hold AAIR.
As of October 2026 the AAIR exam costs $459 for ISACA members and $599 for non-members. After you pass there is a one-time $50 application processing fee. Exam fees are nonrefundable, and registering gives you six months to sit the exam. Training Camp's AAIR boot camp includes the $459 exam voucher.
The AAIR exam is 90 multiple-choice questions in 2.5 hours, delivered by PSI at a test center or through remote proctoring. Each question has four options and one best answer, and some arrive as a short scenario followed by two or more questions. You need a scaled score of 450 on ISACA's 200 to 800 scale to pass.
The three AAIR domains are AI Risk Governance and Framework Integration at 37 percent, AI Life Cycle Risk Management at 21 percent, and AI Risk Program Management at 42 percent. Program management covers risk scenarios, treatment, controls, metrics, supply chain risk and incident response, and it carries the most weight on the exam.
You report at least 10 CPE hours every year and 30 over each three-year cycle, all relevant to AAIR's AI risk content. You also pay an annual maintenance fee of $45 for ISACA members or $85 for non-members and follow ISACA's Code of Professional Ethics. Your prerequisite designation has to stay active as well.
ISACA does not claim a DoD 8140 mapping for AAIR, and its AAIR pages don't mention one. If you need a credential for a DoD 8140 work role, check the current DoD qualification matrix before you rely on AAIR. Its value today comes from ISACA's standing in IT risk and the AI risk work the exam tests.
All three are ISACA advanced AI credentials with the same 90-question, 2.5-hour exam and the same fees. AAIR is for risk professionals who own AI risk, AAIA is for auditors who verify AI controls, and AAISM is for security leaders who secure AI systems. The prerequisites differ, and AAIR has the widest list of the three.
CRISC covers IT risk and controls in general, with a 150-question, four-hour exam and a three-year experience requirement. AAIR applies risk practice to AI systems and assumes you already have that foundation. CRISC is one of the designations that qualifies you for AAIR, so CRISC first and AAIR second is the natural order.
Yes. ISACA introduced AAIR with a beta program in December 2025 and launched it on April 15, 2026. It joined AAIA for audit and AAISM for security as ISACA's third advanced AI credential. ISACA is also running a beta for a fourth, Advanced in AI Governance (AAIG).
For risk professionals who already hold a qualifying designation and are being asked to assess AI use cases, AAIR is the ISACA credential written for that exact job. It's new, so hiring managers know it less well than CRISC for now. If you don't hold a qualifying designation yet, earn one first, and CRISC is the most direct choice.
Tell us which designation you hold, how you plan to fund training, or how many people on your team need AI risk skills, and we'll help you map out the right path.