For employers · Specify, shortlist, verify

Hire AI talent
you can verify.

Every CV now says AI, and most hiring managers have no way to tell a weekend course from five years of production work. IoAI accreditation is a filter you do not need to be an AI expert to apply: four recognised levels, evidence-based assessment, and a public verification page for every Accredited Member.

Talk to the Institute See the four levels

— The four levels —

What the letters
tell you.

Post-nominals after a name are a claim the Institute has already checked. Each level is earned through assessment, never bought, and each one tells you something different about the person in front of you.

IoAI · Student

Student

Learning, seriously.

Actively building AI competence with a professional body behind them, and already committed to the IoAI code of ethics.

Graduate · Apprentice · Career changer

AIoAI · Associate

Associate

The standard hiring bar.

Applying AI professionally, with evidenced competence across the core domains of the framework. Self-directed on real work.

AI engineer · Data scientist · ML engineer

PIoAI · Professional

Professional

Leads AI work end to end.

An experienced practitioner with two or more years of professional practice, assessed on case studies of work they have actually delivered.

Senior engineer · Lead practitioner · AI lead

FIoAI · Fellow

Fellow

Has shaped the field.

Awarded by nomination for distinguished contribution. Strategic capability and a track record of influence across the profession.

Head of AI · CTO · Director

The same four levels also make a useful frame for internal grading and promotion, not just hiring.

— Behind the credential —

How accreditation
is earned.

When you specify IoAI accreditation, this is what you are asking for. No level is awarded on payment alone.

Step 01

Application

A candidate applies at the level their experience supports, with a one-off assessment fee of £29.99. The level is never bought, only the assessment.

Step 02

Evidence-based assessment

Competence is demonstrated against the IoAI competency framework: evidence at every level, case studies at Professional, nomination at Fellow.

Step 03

Code of ethics

Every Accredited Member signs and is held to the IoAI code of ethics. Hire the letters and you hire someone who has agreed, in writing, to a standard.

Step 04

Annual renewal and CPD

Accreditation renews annually with continuing professional development, so the credential reflects current practice rather than a one-off pass.

— Copy and paste —

Spec it
like this.

Drop-in language for listings, tenders, and career frameworks. Copy the block you need and reword it to your tone of voice: the point is to specify what good looks like, not just how many years of it.

job-listing.txt

Desirable: IoAI accreditation at Associate level
or above (AIoAI, PIoAI, FIoAI).

Required: Accredited Membership of the Institute
of AI at Professional level (PIoAI), or equivalent.

Candidates should hold, or be working towards,
IoAI accreditation.

tender-clause.txt

The supplier should demonstrate that key AI
personnel hold IoAI accreditation at
Professional level (PIoAI) or above.

Evidence: a link to each named individual's
public IoAI verification page.

grade-mapping.md

| Grade    | IoAI level   | Post-nominals |
| -------- | ------------ | ------------- |
| Entry    | Student      | SIoAI         |
| Mid      | Associate    | AIoAI         |
| Senior   | Professional | PIoAI         |
| Director | Fellow       | FIoAI         |

— Publicly verifiable —

Verify before
you hire.

Every Accredited Member has a live public verification page: a shareable link showing their level, status, and validity dates. No account needed, no call to make, no word to take.

theinstituteofai.co.uk/verify/jane-doe

THE INSTITUTE OF AI · IOAI

Jane Doe

Associate

Level

Associate

Active since

2025

Expires

2026

Verified Accreditation

Credential ID

IoAI-A-1306

Ask for the link

Make the verification page a field on your application form. Accredited candidates have one and share it readily; the rest is signal too.

Check level and status

The page shows the level held, current status, and validity dates. Match it against what your listing asked for before the first interview.

Trust the page, not the PDF

Certificates can be doctored; a live page served by the Institute cannot. If a CV and the verification page disagree, believe the page.

— Separate, and free —

Show your own side
of the bargain.

The UK AI Readiness Charter is a public commitment to responsible, accountable AI, in ten plain-English principles. Free to sign, and entirely separate from accreditation: neither one requires the other, and many employers do both.

Read the Charter Talk to us first

— Two ways in —

Take the guide,
or bring your team.

— The employer guide

Everything on this page, in a document you can circulate.

The levels explained, the drop-in listing language, tender clauses, the grade mapping, and the verification playbook, written for HR and talent teams. Download a copy to circulate.

Download the employer guide

— Accredit your team

Put your own people through the same framework.

Group accreditation for engineers, data scientists, and AI leads, typically funded from the CPD budget. The same standard you specify in hiring, applied to the team you already have.

See organisation partnerships