Body of Knowledge and Exam Blueprint v2.1
AIGP Body of Knowledge v2.1 and exam topics
IAPP’s AIGP credential page links to Body of Knowledge and Exam Blueprint v2.1, effective February 2, 2026. Its four domains cover governance foundations, laws and frameworks, development governance, and deployment and use. Read the individual performance indicators beneath each domain to see what you should be able to do.
What are the four AIGP domains?
The blueprint gives a minimum and maximum question count for each domain. Use the ranges to plan coverage, then allocate extra time to your weakest competencies. The chapter column shows how the TestCertify kit organizes the same material. Use the full issuer blueprint and the free study plan below.
| Domain | IAPP question range | Kit chapters |
|---|---|---|
| I. AI governance foundations | 16–20 | 1–3 |
| II. Laws, standards and frameworks | 19–23 | 4–7 |
| III. Governing AI development | 21–25 | 8–10 |
| IV. Governing AI deployment and use | 21–25 | 11–13 |
I. AI governance foundations
Learn the terms the blueprint uses for AI systems, their effects, governance roles and organizational policies. Pick one familiar system and describe its intended use, affected people and owner. Assign someone to collect evidence, someone to review it and someone to make the decision. Then write down what you would escalate and which policy would tell you how.
Chapters 1–3 pair terminology and potential impacts with role assignment and lifecycle policy. Use a different example when you test your understanding so that you have to identify the role from the facts.
II. Laws, standards and frameworks
Study how existing laws may apply to AI and how AI-specific laws and governance frameworks fit alongside them. Chapters 4–7 move through data use, other existing legal categories, AI-specific applicability and governance tools. Make separate columns for jurisdiction, actor, activity, source type and relevant version so the concepts stay connected to facts.
Use NIST’s AI Risk Management Framework 1.0, published January 26, 2023, to find the voluntary Manage function and identify what would help an organization decide whether to continue a use. For a separate source-reading exercise, open the European Commission’s AI Act timeline and identify the system category, provision and applicable date before writing a note. Keep the date you checked the source beside the note so you can verify it again later.
III. Governing AI development
Follow a proposed system from purpose and design through data selection, testing and a release decision. Explain why a test would be relevant to the intended use, what evidence you would document, and which result would make you pause for more review. Chapters 8–10 follow design and risk assessment, validation evidence and release controls.
For a study exercise, describe a tool that works well on average but performs unevenly in one setting. Write down who should review the evidence, what information would resolve the uncertainty, and what decision can be made while that work is pending.
IV. Governing AI deployment and use
Study selection, impact assessment, vendor diligence, ongoing monitoring and changes after launch. Chapters 11–13 cover deciding what to deploy, checking external evidence and operating or retiring a system. Use one vendor proposal to practice asking for information on intended use, testing, oversight and what happens when the tool is updated.
Make a handoff note that names the owner, what will be monitored and what triggers review. Then change one fact about the use or affected group and explain what should be reassessed. This brings lifecycle vocabulary back to a decision you can defend in a scenario.
How can you study across the four domains?
Use the same example across the blueprint so you can see which facts each domain asks you to examine. Suppose an organization wants to adopt a tool that sorts incoming service requests. In foundations, describe the intended use and name a decision owner. In law and frameworks, identify the jurisdiction, activity and source that would help you check the scope.
For development, list the evidence you would need to understand how the tool was tested and where the results may fail to generalize. For deployment, decide what would be monitored, who would review changes and how the organization would fall back if the tool stopped working as expected. Read each exercise alongside the current blueprint indicators.
If you use materials from a previous edition, compare the indicator lists directly. Mark any objective that moved, changed or needs more detail, then use the issuer’s current document to update your study checklist.