The basics
If you are looking to take on AWS certifications, you need to understand the basics.
Foundational Level: At this level, the exams focus on recognition and recall. Memorisation — you just have to remember the AWS services and their functions.
Associate Level: At this level, you have to understand the services and be able to apply them to real-life problems. You have to know what service is the best solution to solve a problem or fit a specific scenario.
Professional Level: At this level, you are expected to analyse problems at a deeper level. Usually, there may be more than one solution, and you are required to evaluate the most appropriate solution.
Specialty Level: This level is actually less complex than professional, but with more depth. It falls somewhere between associate and professional on a complexity scale, but it has more depth. You are expected to know details that you would only gain from experience.
The Long walk to freedom
My first exam was the Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02). I wrote this on the 19th June 2025, and to be honest, I did not know if I would pass it before the exam started. I used mostly Udemy to study for this one, specifically this course: https://www.udemy.com/course/aws-ai-practitioner-certified/?couponCode=PMNVD2025. I remember going in with my team — six of us on the same day to write the same exam at Netcampus, Block 5 Design Quarter, 128 Leslie Avenue, Fourways. It was me, Megamind, Magnus, Practitioner, Wifi Prophet, and El Capitan.
That was a long time ago. It took me three months before going for my next one: on the 26th September 2025, I wrote the Associate Developer (DVA-C02). This is when this crazy idea first came to me: “What if I just wrote all the certifications?” I mean, how hard can it be? Well, the craziest ideas in my life usually start with those words: “how hard can it be?” Like when I decided to start my business — how hard can it be? Or when I entered the Mont Aux Sources 50km run up the Drakensberg — how hard can it be? My mind locks into challenge mode when those three words appear, because I am truly curious to find out how hard it is going to be.
So I drafted my plan. I am an engineer, not a chance taker. A calculating machine: I review all pathways and calculate the path of least resistance. I don’t gamble; I take calculated risks. I charted my journey at that point through the rest of the certifications. I figured I could split the entire AWS certifications into two paths of related certs, couple my exams, and propel myself off the momentum of the last certification.
So after Developer Associate, I went for the CloudOps Engineer (16th October) and Solutions Architect Associate (17th October) — one after the next. Two weeks later, on 3rd November, I did AI Practitioner. I did another double at the end of November — Machine Learning (26th November) and Data Engineer Associate (28th November). See the logic here — the certificates are related. Data science, machine learning: I practically studied for them at the same time. I was supposed to do the specialty immediately, but something came up, and I only did it on 04 January 2026 — Machine Learning Specialty. While everyone was still sleeping off the New Year’s hangover, I was studying the confusion matrix.
On the 24th February 2026, I took the Generative AI Specialty beta exam. I was actually busy studying for the (PMI) Project Management Associate at the time — hence the long break.
The Solutions Architect Professional was a tricky one. I studied for that the longest. I expected it to be a difficult exam, and it did not disappoint. I wrote that on the 14th April 2026 and decided to do Advanced Networking next. The content overlaps a lot between these two; Advanced Networking has more depth on the same concepts. In May 2026, I wrote all three — 10th May: Advanced Networking, 17th May: Security Specialty, and 28th May: DevOps Professional. At this point, I was a pro exam writer. I could break down questions in memory and just see the answer.
On my last day, 28th May 2026, I went back to Block 5 Design Quarter, 128 Leslie Avenue, Fourways. By this time, I knew Natasha on a first-name basis. I had my lucky desk in the corner, and she knew exactly how many sheets of paper and what type of pen I needed. I even brought her a chocolate cake to say goodbye. She was happy and sad at the same time: weird feeling. I said, “Adios — you are seeing me for the very last time today.”
Exam Ranking
So many people have asked me, what is the most difficult exam of AWS. Everyone has their opinion on this one, but after writing them all, I can finally make this list.
I have seen similar rankings, and most agree: Advanced Networking is by far the hardest exam of AWS. Technically, the complexity should be less than professional level, but it’s not. It has great complexity and great depth. You really have to understand networking in great detail; you have to know the nuts and bolts of networking. Plus, it’s not just normal VPC networking that we work with all the time; there is a large chunk of the exam that focuses on hybrid networking, cross-region, and cross-region and hybrid. The questions are long, and it’s like reading a case study. Every question is a long story you have to keep in context, on a ticking clock. Time gets a lot of people on this exam, and guess what: there is no AWS practice full-length exam. This exam is tough. I highly recommend you write it after the Solutions Architect Professional, so you can bolt on the knowledge.
Solutions Architect is next. I feel this exam does not need to be hard, but it’s designed to be hard. There are a lot of trade-offs you have to make when analysing the distractors against the right answer. There are usually multiple correct answers, but one is more correct than the other. The dimensions of the boundaries are also increased: for example, you might have to trade off “cost”, “efficiency”, and “time” together and figure out which to prioritise for each scenario. And the difference could be just one word in the stem — you have to pay attention. You operate at 110% efficiency for the entire exam, because all the questions are hard, one after the other — just being thrown at you. You have to maintain a high level of focus, and this introduces mental fatigue. Honestly, in the end, it was mental fatigue that almost did me in on this exam. Those last 10 questions, I was just running on fumes. For this one, I highly recommend you do the practice exam, to sensitise your mind to the type of exam cadence and concentration you will need, and to manage your time.
Generative AI Developer was really challenging because it was new. I honestly struggled with position 3 between GenAI Developer and DevOps Engineer Professional. I feel they are on the same level, technically — but GenAI just narrowly sneaked through because: (1) it was 85 questions — I did the beta exam, and (2) you had to know DevOps and Generative AI, and there were questions there about Machine Learning (SageMaker) as well. There was just more that you had to know, and in detail too. I had mental fatigue on top of mental fatigue in that exam. What really helped me was: I had already done Machine Learning, so I could answer those questions; I had Data Science knowledge as well, so that front was covered; I had my Solutions Architecture Associate. . . I could fill in a lot of the gaps that I would have missed had I not done those other certifications first.
Bonus Tip:
After going through instructor led teaching on Udemy for example: or even instead of Udemy, try studying the AWS documentation. Reverse engineer the domains and tasks in the exam guide in to topics and study those topics in the documentation. Just print them out and study them like a textbook. You will thank me later, you are welcome.