The 10 best generative AI courses in 2025

GenAI course recommendations

While it's helpful to learn what new AI technology can do, it's equally important to learn about AI's challenges and limitations, such as bias, AI hallucinations, data leakage and new security vulnerabilities.

"The key is helping business users understand what AI can and cannot do, so they can avoid being oversold or starting projects with a low likelihood of success," said Josh Koenig, co-founder and chief strategy officer at Pantheon.

Enterprises can train and support employees through workshops that help them use AI tools and platforms. One option is to look for GenAI training resources that provide concrete examples, including practical situations where AI has made a real impact in solving business problems.

Using online research and participant ratings, we identified 10 of the top GenAI courses. The information below includes a short description of each course, the provider's name and course link, and details on duration, difficulty level and cost.

1. Generative AI for Everyone

Taught by Andrew Ng -- founder of DeepLearning.AI, co-founder of Coursera and an adjunct professor at Stanford University -- this course has more than 3,300 reviews and a rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars. Participants will learn the fundamentals of GenAI, including common applications and limitations, as well as the complete lifecycle of a GenAI project. Tips on crafting effective prompts and hands-on exercises let attendees practice what they have learned. The potential benefits and challenges of GenAI are also examined.

Provider name: DeepLearning.AI on Coursera

Course link: https://www.coursera.org/learn/generative-ai-for-everyone

Number of courses/duration: The course has three modules and takes approximately five hours.

Level: Beginner

Cost: Free

2. IBM Generative AI Engineering Professional Certificate

Taught by the IBM Skills Network Team and updated in November 2024, this course has a 4.7 rating from more than 1,300 participants. It offers essential skills in GenAI, large language models (LLMs) and natural language processing. Participants will learn AI design, prompt engineering and deep learning using Python, and frameworks such as BERT and GPT. The program highlights practical experience through hands-on labs and a guided project, enabling candidates to create their own AI applications.

Provider name: Coursera

Course link: https://www.coursera.org/professional-certificates/ibm-generative-ai-engineering

Number of courses/duration: Sixteen courses are included. The recommendation is to study six hours a week for six months.

Level: Beginner

Cost: Free

3. Generative AI in Learning and Development

With 2,500-plus reviews and a rating of 4.6, this course lets participants explore GenAI's effect on instructional design, personalized learning, upskilling and internal mobility. Advantages of the technology, such as scalable customized learning, learning measurement and ethical considerations, are outlined. Participants explore how to use GenAI to enhance learning and development initiatives and align strategies with relevant business goals and metrics.

Provider name: Dr. Terri Horton on LinkedIn Learning

Course link: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/generative-ai-in-learning-and-development

Number of courses/duration: This 30-minute course includes a certificate of completion.

Level: Beginner

Cost: Free through June 6, 2025

4. Certification in Generative AI In Cybersecurity

With a 5-star rating on LinkedIn, this course from the Global Skill Development Council equips participants with the skills they need to use GenAI to detect and respond to cyberthreats. Topics covered include generative models and how they can be used to analyze malware as well as automate and improve security. AI biases, ethical considerations and the role of agentic AI for threat surveillance are also explored. One-to-one sessions with a trainer/subject matter expert are included, as well as weekly group mentor sessions with industry experts to brainstorm about the technology.

Provider name: Global Skill Development Council

Course link: https://www.gsdcouncil.org/certified-generative-ai-in-cybersecurity

Number of courses/duration: The course lasts approximately three months, at 20 hours of study per week, and includes a certification exam.

Level: Beginner to intermediate

Cost: $400.00

5. Introduction to Generative AI Learning Path Specialization

With a 4.6 rating from more than 2,000 reviews, this comprehensive introduction to GenAI focuses on LLMs, their applications and ethical considerations around responsible AI development. Interactive quizzes -- with immediate feedback -- assess participants' understanding of key concepts and highlight areas that might require further exploration. Upon completion of the course, participants can earn a career certificate from Google Cloud.

Provider name: Coursera, taught by Google Cloud Training

Course link: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/introduction-to-generative-ai

Number of courses/duration: This four-course series lasts one month at 10 hours per week.

Level: Intermediate; requires some related experience.

Cost: Free

6. Complete Generative AI Course With Langchain and Huggingface

With 8,000-plus reviews and a rating of 4.6, the course focuses on building advanced GenAI applications using the LangChain framework and Hugging Face models. Participants will learn about system architecture, deployment strategies for cloud and on-premises environments, and the development of retrieval-augmented generation pipelines. The training includes integrating and customizing Hugging Face's pre-trained models into LangChain applications, along with hands-on experience applying GenAI in areas such as chatbots and data augmentation.

Provider name: Udemy

Course link:https://www.udemy.com/course/complete-generative-ai-course-with-langchain-and-huggingface

Number of courses/duration: The course includes 54 hours of on-demand training videos, two articles, 62 downloadable resources and a certificate of completion. Participants should be familiar with Python and have a basic understanding of machine learning as well as deep learning concepts and APIs.

Level: Intermediate

Cost: $94.99

7. Generative AI

This 4.8-star-rated nanodegree program, which was updated on April 10, 2025, covers GenAI technology from the basics to mastering text generation with LLMs. Participants will learn about image creation in computer vision and apply AI in real-world scenarios. Course materials cover foundational theories and the skills needed to build chatbots and AI agents, equipping participants with job-ready expertise.

Provider name: Udacity, part of Accenture

Course link: https://www.udacity.com/course/generative-ai--nd608

Number of courses/duration: This six-course program offers 24 lessons and lasts approximately 52 hours. Prerequisites include database fundamentals and intermediate Python skills.

Level: Intermediate

Cost: $999.00 for the individual course; monthly access pricing is also available.

8. Generative AI for Business Leaders

GenAI is transforming content creation and redefining work processes. The technology automates tasks and enhances innovation in various industries and economies. Understanding how GenAI works and its potential disruptions is essential for business leaders. This short course by Tomer Cohen, chief product officer at LinkedIn, has a rating of 4.7 based on nearly 20,000 reviews and offers insights and tools to use GenAI for business reinvention. The course is part of a Professional Certificate from Microsoft.

Provider name: LinkedIn Learning

Course link: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/generative-ai-for-business-leaders

Number of courses/duration: This course lasts 57 minutes.

Level: Intermediate

Cost: Available with a free 30-day trial

9. Artificial Intelligence A-Z 2025: Agentic AI, Gen AI, and RL

This course, which emphasizes intuition and real-world applications, was updated in March 2025 and has a rating of 4.4 stars based on more than 45,000 reviews. Participants will learn essential AI concepts through hands-on projects, including building eight different AIs, such as an AI agent, Deep Q-Learning models and an AI doctor chatbot using Meta's Llama 2. Participants will gain beginner to expert skills in coding self-improving AIs with Google Colab templates. A free course on GenAI and LLMs with cloud computing is presented upon course completion, as well as three extra algorithms: Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG), Full World Model, and Evolution Strategies & Genetic. Each one comes with a video lecture explaining its implementation, a mini PDF and the Python code.

Provider name: Udemy

Course link: https://www.udemy.com/course/artificial-intelligence-az

Number of courses/duration: The course includes 22 sections and 128 lectures, totaling 15 hours and 15 minutes in length. It requires high school math and basic Python knowledge.

Level: Intermediate to advanced

Cost: $199.99

10. Advanced Prompt Engineering

This course focuses on advanced prompt engineering techniques to enhance AI-driven offerings. It has a 4.8 rating and is taught by Sander Schulhoff, founder of Learn Prompting. Participants will explore methods such as few-shot prompting, chain-of-thought reasoning, self-refinement and problem decomposition that enable AI models to return more accurate and reliable outputs. The course equips AI practitioners to design and refine effective prompts for improved performance across diverse AI models. When participants purchase a Learn Prompting Plus subscription, they receive a certificate for each completed course.

Provider name: Learn Prompting

Course link: https://learnprompting.org/courses/advanced-prompt-engineering

Number of courses/duration: The course consists of five modules over three days (self-paced).

Level: Advanced

Cost: $21 per month

Various methods of generative AI training

It's essential to consider the various modalities of GenAI training resources.

Sri said the most common training methods include in-person workshops and seminars, which are highly interactive and provide immediate feedback and networking opportunities. Online courses let users choose when and where to study, but they require self-discipline and might lack personal interaction.

YouTube is another excellent resource for learning GenAI basics and keeping up with trends. Many short-form videos provide a quick summary of the field, such as TechTarget's "Ultimate Guide to Generative AI for Businesses." Video tutorials and webinars also let users pause, rewind and review material as often as needed.

"However, video tutorials are only sometimes up to date and lack real-time feedback," Sri said. He recommends a blended learning experience that combines various techniques to achieve a well-rounded experience, such as an online course paired with an in-person workshop.

AArete, a global management and technology consulting firm, uses the acronym FOCUS to balance all aspects of learning about GenAI, according to Priya Iragavarapu, vice president of data science and analytics. The FOCUS acronym stands for the following:

• Fundamentals. Users must understand basic AI concepts, terminologies and types, and where those technologies can be used.
• Operational integration. Business users must learn to incorporate AI into existing workflows, processes and decision-making structures within the business.
• Compliance and ethics. Business users don't need to be AI experts, but they do need enough information on data privacy, ethical considerations and responsible AI use to operate within best practice guidelines.
• User-centric applications. Business users must consider how AI can improve customer experience, enhance employee productivity and solve specific business challenges. They need to have enough context to pursue AI opportunities while keeping users in mind.
• Sustained development. AI training is a continuous need. Look for bite-sized training snippets to learn the same concept in multiple ways to boost understanding.

The future of training resources

The technologies and uses of GenAI are rapidly evolving. Sri expects that different training modes, interactivity and content will evolve as the technology becomes more accessible. Tutorials will become more interactive and provide real-time, step-by-step guidance and feedback. Businesses will increasingly create virtual environments known as sandboxes, where users can experiment with GenAI models without the risk of affecting real-world systems. This will provide a safe space where users can refine their skills and test various scenarios.

Sri believes that, as GenAI evolves, training content will incorporate more real-world use cases relevant to various industries. Ethics and bias education will also be more significant. Businesses must focus on educating users about responsible AI usage, data privacy and ways to mitigate unintended consequences. GenAI will also lead to more dynamic content generation of personalized examples, exercises and scenarios that align with users' learning objectives and skill levels.

Editor's note: This article was updated in May 2025 to provide updated course information/pricing and to improve the reader experience.

Kim Hefner is a managing editor for Informa TechTarget's Pillar Content Team.

George Lawton is a journalist based in London. Over the last 30 years, he has written more than 3,000 stories about computers, communications, knowledge management, business, health and other areas that interest him.