The exam, explained
What is the AIGP?
The AIGP — Artificial Intelligence Governance Professional — is a certification from the IAPP, the International Association of Privacy Professionals. It tests whether you can govern AI systems responsibly: the laws that reach them, the risks they create, and the controls a team puts around building, deploying and monitoring them.
It is a governance credential, not an engineering one. You are not asked to build models or write code. You are asked to make and defend the decisions that keep AI trustworthy across its life cycle.
The exam at a glance
100
Questions
multiple choice
85
Scored
+ 15 unscored pilot items
180 min
Time
for the full exam
300
Passing score
on a 100–500 scale
The 15 pilot questions look identical to the scored ones and do not count, so the safe approach is to answer every question as if it counts. The score is reported on a scaled range, not as a raw percentage, so 300 is the line to clear rather than a fixed number of correct answers.
Who it is for
Anyone accountable for how an organisation builds, buys or uses AI. A technical or legal background helps, but neither is required — the exam is about governance.
- Privacy, governance and compliance professionals taking on AI oversight.
- Risk, audit and legal teams who need a shared language for AI controls.
- Product, data and engineering leads who answer to a governance function.
- Consultants and managers building an AI governance programme from scratch.
What the exam covers
Four domains. The blueprint weights them as below, so the two governance-of-practice domains carry the most marks.
- I
Understanding the foundations of AI governance
What AI is, why it is hard to govern, and how an organization sets expectations, roles and policies for trustworthy AI across the life cycle.
~21% of the exam · 3 competencies
- II
Understanding how laws, standards and frameworks apply to AI
How existing data-privacy and other laws reach AI systems, the main elements of AI-specific laws (anchored on the EU AI Act), and the principal standards and frameworks (OECD, NIST AI RMF, ISO).
~25% of the exam · 4 competencies
- III
Understanding how to govern AI development
Governance through the build: design decisions and risk management, data used for training and testing, and the controls around release, monitoring and maintenance.
~27% of the exam · 3 competencies
- IV
Understanding how to govern AI deployment and use
Governance on the receiving end: deciding whether and how to deploy, assessing systems and vendors, and governing use, monitoring and downstream harms over time.
~27% of the exam · 3 competencies
How GovCompass prepares you
You learn each concept in a short stepped lesson, practise it on scenario questions, and track an honest readiness measure built from how you answer — not from how much you read. A short diagnostic and your exam date set a study plan across the four domains.
Common questions about the AIGP
What is the AIGP certification?
The AIGP — Artificial Intelligence Governance Professional — is a certification from the IAPP (International Association of Privacy Professionals). It tests whether you understand how to govern AI systems responsibly: the laws that reach them, the risks they create, and the controls a team puts around building, deploying and monitoring them.
Who should take the exam?
It is built for people who are accountable for AI in an organisation — governance, privacy, risk, audit, compliance and legal professionals, and the product or engineering leads who work with them. You do not need to write code. You need to understand the decisions and controls that keep an AI system trustworthy.
Do I need a technical or legal background?
No. The exam is about governance, not engineering or case law. The lessons explain each technical idea and each legal instrument in plain English before they ask you to reason about it, so you can start from either a technical, legal or governance background.
What does the exam cover?
Four domains: the foundations of AI governance; how laws, standards and frameworks apply to AI; how to govern AI development; and how to govern AI deployment and use. The official blueprint weights them roughly 21 / 25 / 27 / 27 out of 100 questions, so the later two domains carry the most marks.
How is the exam structured?
The AIGP is 100 multiple-choice questions in 180 minutes. 85 questions are scored and 15 are unscored pilot questions that look identical, so you should answer every question as if it counts. Results are reported on a scaled score from 100 to 500, and the passing score is 300.
How long should I study?
That depends on your starting point and how much time you give it each week. The platform asks for your exam date, runs a short diagnostic, and builds a study plan that spreads the four domains across the weeks you have. Your readiness measure is based on how you answer questions, so you can see when you are actually ready rather than guessing.
How is this different from reading the textbook?
A textbook explains the material once and then leaves you to test yourself. Here you learn each concept in a short stepped lesson, practise it on scenario questions, and get feedback that explains why the right answer is right and why each wrong answer is wrong. Recalling and applying a concept builds exam-ready understanding faster than re-reading it.
Is the content kept current with the EU AI Act and other laws?
The lessons are written from primary sources — the EU AI Act, the OECD AI Principles, the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, ISO/IEC standards and GDPR — and are revised as those instruments and the exam blueprint change. AI governance law moves quickly, so always check critical facts against the primary source before you rely on them.
Can I try it before I sign up?
Yes. You can read one full lesson and answer a real sample question without an account. That is the actual product, not a mock-up, so you can judge the teaching and the question feedback before you commit.
Is this affiliated with the IAPP?
No. AI Governance Academy is an independent study aid. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the IAPP. “AIGP” and “IAPP” are trademarks of their owner, used here only to describe the exam this product helps you prepare for.
GovCompassis an independent study aid. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the IAPP. Exam facts on this page reflect the published AIGP format; always confirm the current format and policies on the IAPP’s own site before you book.