A 5-week online cohort for senior engineers building AI systems in production, built around QCon talks.

Most teams are making the decisions that determine whether their AI systems survive production for the first time, with no external check on whether they're getting it right. These 5-week online cohorts are that check.

Join Hien Luu, Sr. Engineering Manager and author of MLOps with Ray, and a small cohort of senior engineers and software architects with a minimum of five years' experience.

Each week, apply a framework from QCon talks to real AI engineering challenges from your own work.

Next cohort: July 25, 2026

Limited places per cohort. Saturday, 09:00AM PDT

USD1,470 per cohort
Most companies reimburse for professional development.
Download our "Convince your boss" template.

Hien Luu

InfoQ Certified AI Engineering Cohort facilitator

Hien Luu

Facilitated by Hien Luu

Group

Confidential peer group

QCon

Apply QCon frameworks

QCon

Access 100+ QCon videos

InfoQ

Get published on InfoQ.com

Certification

Earn an InfoQ certification

We’ve helped thousands of senior software engineers, software architects and technical leaders adopt the right patterns & practices for over 20 years.
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Most teams are making the infrastructure, platform, and reliability decisions that determine whether their AI systems survive production for the first time, with no real way to know if they're getting them right until something breaks.

Five weeks of applying proven frameworks to your own work, with senior engineers from outside your organisation pushing back on your reasoning, is enough to change that.

Hien Luu
InfoQ Certified AI Engineering Cohort facilitator

Hien Luu

The 5-week learning journey.

Learning journey

WEEK 1:

Becoming an AI-Native Engineering Team

Separate real AI value from hype in your own organization. Identify where AI changes daily engineering habits and architectural tradeoffs, and where it doesn't.

WEEK 2:

Designing & Building RAG & Context Pipelines

RAG is the workhorse pattern of enterprise AI. Design retrieval architectures, knowledge graphs, and memory pipelines that stay grounded as data changes and queries get harder.

WEEK 3:

Designing & Building AI Agents

Build agentic systems that survive contact with production. Cover the full spectrum from single-purpose tools to multi-agent orchestration, including the tradeoffs between autonomy and control.

WEEK 4:

AI Platforms & Infrastructure

Design the platform layer that keeps AI systems running without overspending on inference. Decide what to centralize, what to federate, and how to route batch and real-time workloads.

WEEK 5:

AI Operational Excellence: Evals, Trust & Reliability

Build the evaluation and operational disciplines that keep AI systems dependable in production. The session covers the group capstone presentations for to a new or existing AI feature. The best articles get published on InfoQ.com.

Reserve your spot

Choose the cohort that works best for you. Start your 5-week learning journey today.

July

InfoQ Certified AI Engineering Program

(PDT - Los Angeles time)

  • Calendar Dates: Jul 25 and Aug 1, 8, 15, 22
  • Clock Time: Saturday, 09:00AM PDT
  • Location Location: Online (Zoom)

Most companies reimburse for professional development.
Download our "Convince Your Boss" template.

Who this program is for

These online cohorts are for senior engineers building or operating AI systems in production who want to pressure-test their architectural decisions with peers from different companies, publish on a platform senior technical people read, and build a peer group that outlasts the 5 weeks.

Designed for:

  • Senior Software Engineers
  • Staff Engineers
  • Principal Engineers
  • Engineering Managers
  • AI/ML Platform Engineers
  • Technical Leads responsible for AI systems.
Experience

How each week works

Format

1

Watch a curated QCon talk on your own time

2

Join a 4-hour live session with your facilitator and your cohort.

3

Apply frameworks in small-group exercises using real problems.

4

Take away something you can use at work that week.

Weekly homework

Each week, you'll complete a time-boxed exercise applying the session's framework to a real challenge from your work.

Capstone project

Throughout the cohort, you'll also draft a technical article. Each week builds on the last. In Week 5, you present your article to the cohort. The best get published on InfoQ.com

What you'll get.

Applied learning

Use it this week

Apply QCon frameworks to your actual work during 4-hour weekly live sessions.

Senior Peer Groups

Better decisions

Pressure-test your ideas alongside senior peers from diverse companies and industries.

Get published

Get published

Refine and publish a technical capstone article on InfoQ.com under your name.

Get Certified

Get certified

Earn an InfoQ certification as proof of your strategic technical leadership skills.

Your facilitator: Hien Luu

Hien Luu is a Sr. Engineering Manager at Zoox, leading the Machine Learning Platform team. He is particularly passionate about building scalable AI/ML infrastructure to power real-world applications. He is the author of MLOps with Ray and the Beginning Apache Spark 3 book. He has given presentations at various conferences including QCon San Francisco, QCon New York, and QCon London.

Credentials

  • Sr. Engineering Manager @Zoox
  • Author of MLOps with Ray
  • Speaker and Conference Committee Chair

Hien Luu

Sr. Engineering Manager @Zoox & Author of MLOps with Ray, Speaker and Conference Committee Chair

Frequently asked questions

Who can I contact for questions relating to payment?

You can contact us for any payment questions at payments@qconferences.com.

What payment methods do you accept?

We accept PayPal and major credit cards. A payment charged to your credit card or Paypal account is processed directly by us in the funds stated on the website.

What are the Terms of Participation?

The Terms of Participation can be found at https://certification.qconferences.com/terms-conditions.

What is the Cancellation and Refund policy?

Registration fees are not refundable.

Do you offer a template to help convince my boss?

Yes, we've developed a template you can use to explain to your boss how you can benefit from the cohort participation.

Do you offer in-person cohorts as well?

Yes, in-person cohorts are offered at select QCon conferences, such as QCon London and QCon San Francisco.

Can I pay for tickets by invoice?

Yes, you can opt to pay by invoice during the registration process by selecting the "Do You Want to Pay Later by Invoice?" checkbox.

What is the Privacy Policy, and how is my data being protected?

Our Privacy Policy details how we collect, use, and protect your data. You can find it at https://www.infoq.com/privacy-policy.

Can I register as a freelancer or self-employed professional?

Yes. The program is open to freelancers and the self-employed. When registering, simply enter your trading name or "Independent" in the Company Details section.

Who is behind the InfoQ Certified AI Engineering Program?

The program is a collaborative initiative between InfoQ and QCon, both of which are practitioner-driven brands owned by C4Media Inc.

What is InfoQ?

InfoQ is a practitioner-driven community news site focused on facilitating the spread of knowledge and innovation in professional software development.

Are scholarships or complimentary seats available?

We do not offer scholarships or complimentary seats for the InfoQ Certification at this time. Should this change for future cohorts, we will announce it via our official channels.

What is the code of conduct?

We are dedicated to providing a safe and inclusive experience for everyone. Our Code of Conduct can be found at https://certification.qconferences.com/code-conduct.

How will I gain access to the online cohort sessions?

Participants who registered for the online cohorts will receive an email with detailed instructions on how to join the sessions during the week prior to the start of the cohort.

What are the technical requirements for participation?

To ensure an optimal experience, you will need:

  • A stable internet connection: High-speed access for video conferencing.
  • Zoom: The latest version of the Zoom desktop client.
  • Slack: Access to our private workspace for peer networking and coordination.
  • A laptop or desktop: While mobile devices are supported, a computer is highly recommended for collaborative work and session participation.
How is the program structured?

The program consists of five live sessions held over five weeks, each lasting four hours, plus weekly assignments and a group Capstone project.

What is the weekly time commitment?

Each weekly session is a 4-hour live workshop. This is a significant time investment because we are not just watching talks.

We are undertaking the challenging, practical work of applying these frameworks to real-world challenges alongside your senior peer group.

Is this just another course?

This programme assumes you already have deep technical expertise. Each week is structured around a real decision you are working on, not a case study. The focus is the skills that senior engineers find hardest to get from inside their own organisation: pressure-testing decisions with peers, articulating tradeoffs to stakeholders, and making the kind of decisions that are difficult to reverse.

Why a cohort instead of just watching the talks?

Some of the most valuable learning happens in peer discussion. Hearing how others think through similar challenges can be just as useful as the session content itself.

Learning with a peer group gives you different perspectives, helps you build confidence, and makes it easier to apply what you learn in your own work. That's why this program is designed around a confidential peer group, live exercises, expert facilitation, and group-based project assignments, and not just self-paced study.

This cohort gives you the confidential peer group and an experienced facilitator to do that work, and you'll earn the InfoQ Certified AI Engineering Program (ICAEP) certification as a result.

What is the Capstone project, and where can I see examples?

The Capstone project is the final milestone where you co-author a professional technical article (2,000–3,000 words) applying the concepts covered. Examples can be found on InfoQ.com.

What are the criteria for receiving the certification?

Certification is awarded based on two factors: consistent attendance and active participation in the live sessions, and the successful completion of the group Capstone project.

Who is this cohort for?

This is for software engineers, AI/ML platform engineers, software architects, and technical leaders with at least 5 years of experience who are involved in setting technical strategy.

How do I earn the certification?

Certification is awarded based on active participation in the cohort and completion of the capstone assessment in Week 5.

InfoQ online cohorts

Architecture

Distributed systems and resilience patterns, decentralized architectural decisions, platform engineering, and integrating AI into your architecture practice.

Download Syllabus

Date: June 10, 2026

Time: Wednesday, 09:30AM BST

See upcoming cohorts

AI Engineering

RAG and context pipelines, agent design, AI platform and infrastructure decisions, and the evaluation and reliability disciplines that keep AI systems running in production.

Download Syllabus

Date: July 25, 2026

Time: Saturday, 09:00AM PDT

See upcoming cohorts

More Cohorts coming soon

We're adding more cohorts over the coming weeks. To be the first to know when they are live, sign up for our email notifications.

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Join the waitlist to get early access and scheduling updates for your preferred cohort.

We'll only email you with relevant updates about this program and our conferences.

Experience