CTSince October 1, 2026, using an AI hiring tool is no longer a defense in ConnecticutCOColorado repealed its AI Act — the ADMT law replacing it starts January 1, 2027CACalifornia's ADMT rules under the CCPA carry that same January 1, 2027 dateTXTexas TRAIGA has been in force since January 1, 2026 — penalties reach $200,000HIHawaiʻi's two AI acts took effect on approval, July 14, 2026ILIllinois's AI-in-employment rules have applied since January 1, 2026 — frontier-model audits start January 1, 2028US1,561 state AI bills introduced in 2026 — see which states you need to care aboutCANCanada has no AI Act — but Québec's automated-decision law has applied since September 2023
GOVERNBOX.ai AI Leadership Course

From AI literacy to Certified AI Officer

There are 7 credentials. The AI Governance Lead is free: all you need is an email address. The 6-level ladder above it starts with the literacy baseline you can require of all your staff and ends with the executive who answers to the board. Buy one level at a time with no account, or get every level with a paid plan.

7 credentials45 modulesA quiz after every moduleVerifiable on LinkedInLevels from $49.00 each, or included with a paid plan

Put together by Jim Tunnessen,Former 2× Federal CIO / CAIO / CTO / CPO. Your course link arrives by email and keeps your progress. If you later open a GOVERNBOX.ai account with the same address, your courses and credentials come with you.

Start the AI Governance LeadExplore the ladder
The path at a glance
L6Certified AI OfficerGBX-CAIO
L5AI Governance Program ManagerGBX-AIGPM
L4AI Program ManagerGBX-AIPgM
L3AI Project ManagerGBX-AIPM
L2AI ManagerGBX-AIM
L1AI FellowGBX-AIF
★AI Governance Lead · includedGBX-AIGL

You need each level to enroll in the next. Level 5 also requires the AI Governance Lead, so the two paths join there.

7credentials, each with its own ID
45modules across them
20–50final-exam questions, by level
80%to pass every final exam
The ladder

Pick a level to see what it covers

One included credential and a 6-level ladder beside it, each level for a different job, from every staff member to the executive accountable for AI. Each level is a prerequisite for the next. Every ladder exam draws from a question pool twice its size, so the credential reflects the whole curriculum and not one lucky draw.

Included with every plan
The ladder
↳ Level 5 also requires the AI Governance Lead
Level 1

AI Fellow

Credential GBX-AIF

Bought on its own with just an email, or included with any paid GOVERNBOX.ai plan. No prerequisite.

On its own: $49.00 · included with any paid plan

Who it’s for. Every staff member, volunteer, board member and new hire — the organization's AI-literacy baseline.

5modules, a quiz after each
25exam questions, from a pool of 50
80%to pass the final exam
  1. 01What AI Is, and Isn'tWalkthrough
  2. 02How Machines Learn
  3. 03Using AI Safely at WorkWalkthrough
  4. 04Risk, Rules and Rights
  5. 05Working with AI: Leaders, Projects and ProgramsWalkthrough

To enroll: You can start with just your name and an email address. No account or trial needed. 3 of the 5 modules are guided walkthroughs.

Ways to get it

Four ways in, depending on who is learning

You can start with just your name and an email address. No account or trial needed. After that it depends on the level and on whether you are learning yourself or rolling it out to a team.

Free with your email

The AI Governance Lead is free for anyone. Enroll below with your name and email address and we’ll email you your course link. No account or trial.

Included with every paid plan

Starter, Pro and Agency include all 7 credentials. Anyone with a login in your organization enrolls from Certification in the sidebar, at no extra charge. Each level still needs the one before it.

Buy one credential

Not on a paid plan? Buy a single level, once, with no subscription and no account. Enroll below, then pay on your course page. The purchase is yours; the levels before it are still required.

  • AI Fellow$49.00
  • AI Manager$49.00
  • AI Project Manager$99.00
  • AI Program Manager$99.00
  • AI Governance Program Manager$249.00
  • Certified AI Officer$249.00

Roll it out to your staff

On a paid plan, an Admin can assign the AI Governance Lead or the AI Fellow to everyone on your staff list. Each person gets a personal link by email and needs no login or seat. The higher levels are taken one person at a time, each with their own login.

How you earn it

The same steps at every level

  1. Work through the modules at your own pace. A short quiz follows each one.
  2. Sit the final exam: 20–50 questions depending on the level, 80% to pass. Each sitting draws from a larger pool.
  3. At levels 3, 4, 5, 6, submit the applied work the level asks for. A GOVERNBOX reviewer grades it against a rubric; the Certified AI Officer also sits an oral board.
  4. Receive the credential: a verification page anyone can check, a PDF certificate, a live badge, and one-click Add to LinkedIn.
How it’s taught

Guided walkthroughs you read at your own pace

The odd-numbered modules of every ladder level are guided walkthroughs. Each one tells a story in prose, lists the key points, and draws every slide and product screen as a figure: tables, sequences, comparisons. You don’t need sound, and you can skim it and come back to it.

AI Project Manager · Module 1 · The AI Project LifecycleWalkthrough

Why AI projects are different

  • The deliverable is a ratio, not a certainty.
  • Data readiness is a dependency on the critical path, not an input that arrives at launch.
  • You cannot know the achievable accuracy before you try.
  • Iteration is the method, not a failure of planning.
Conventional projectAI project
DeliverableA functionA ratio
DataAn inputA dependency
EstimateAn estimateAn experiment
ReworkA defect signalThe method

Figure 1. Four differences, and each one breaks a habit you have earned.

One case, start to finish

At Levels 3 and 6, the walkthroughs follow one fictional organization through the whole level. In the AI Project Manager course, Riverbend Community Foundation builds a model that ranks emergency-assistance applications for review. A program officer makes every decision, and the project has to reach a stated recall target before it ships.

A quiz after every module

You pass each module’s quiz before the next one opens. The final exam covers the whole level. From Level 3 up, applied work graded by a GOVERNBOX reviewer completes the credential.

Taught in the product you’ll use

When a lesson points at a GOVERNBOX screen, the figure gives the path and what to look for there. You practise in the same place you’ll do the work.

See your team’s progress

An organization can see who has earned a credential and who is still working toward one, right inside GOVERNBOX.

Who put it together

Written by someone who has done this work

The curriculum was written by the founder of GOVERNBOX.ai, from AI governance programs run in practice rather than assembled from templates. It is taught for the person who now carries that responsibility at their own organization, usually without a team of specialists behind them.

About the founder
Jim TunnessenFounder & CEO, GOVERNBOX.ai
Former 2× Federal CIO / CAIO / CTO / CPO
  • Co-author of ACT-IAC's AI Playbook for the U.S. Federal Government (2020)
  • Former member of the federal Chief AI Officers (CAIO) Council
  • D.Eng. candidate in Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning (expected 2027)
The credential

Something you can actually show

Every level issues its own credential and ID

The credential number shows which level you earned, so a verifier can see it at a glance.

GBX-AIGLGBX-AIFGBX-AIMGBX-AIPMGBX-AIPgMGBX-AIGPMGBX-CAIO

Add it to your LinkedIn profile

One click fills in the certification name, the issuer, the date, the credential ID and the verification link. Nothing to type.

A link anyone can check

Every credential gets its own verification page showing the holder, the date and the exam score. Paste it anywhere and it renders as a card.

A PDF and an embeddable badge

Download the certificate for an application, or paste the live badge into an email signature — it stays current without you replacing it.

What we will not claim. This is a training credential issued by Gradient Descent LLC, not a regulatory qualification or an accreditation, and it does not certify any organization’s compliance with any law. It says you completed this curriculum and passed its exam (and, at the upper levels, its applied assessment, graded by a GOVERNBOX reviewer) — which is exactly what the verification page says too. It does not expire, and it stays verifiable whether or not you or your employer ever hold a GOVERNBOX.ai subscription.

Why AI governance, in one briefingCheck your organization’s readiness first
Start where everyone starts

The AI Governance Lead is free. Start with your email.

Every ladder level can be bought one at a time with no account, or is included with a paid plan. See the ways to get it.

How to take it

You can start with just your name and an email address. No account or trial needed.

  1. Choose a credential and enter your name and email.
  2. Open the course link we email you.
  3. A ladder level opens after its one-time payment. The AI Governance Lead is free.

We’ll use your email to send your course link and your credential. Already have an account? Sign in and enroll from the Certification page.