EC-Council Expands AI Certification Portfolio as Malaysia Scales National AI Capability and Workforce Readiness

Aligned with Malaysia’s national AI push and the National Artificial Intelligence Office (NAIO), four new AI certifications and Certified CISO v4 build role-ready skills to adopt, defend, and govern AI at scale

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb. 11, 2026: EC-Council, creator of the world-renowned Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)credential and a global leader in applied cybersecurity education and training, today launched its Enterprise AI Credential Suite, introducing four new role-based AI certifications alongside Certified CISO v4, an overhauled executive cyber leadership program.

The dual launch marks the largest single expansion of EC-Council’s portfolio in its 25-year history, built for one clear reality: AI is scaling faster than the workforce trained to run, secure, and govern it.

Malaysia’s momentum is accelerating quickly. With the establishment of the National Artificial Intelligence Office (NAIO) launched in late 2024 to coordinate AI policy, innovation, and talent development, Malaysia has made its national direction clear: AI capability must move from ambition into execution across government and industry.

As AI shifts from pilots into daily operations, the demand is rising for structured, role-ready pathways that enable responsible adoption, stronger security, and clear governance at scale.

Malaysia’s AI push is also anchored in the country’s broader digital transformation agenda.

Under the MyDIGITAL Blueprint , the digital economy already contributes more than 23% of national GDP, underscoring how central AI and advanced technologies are becoming toMalaysia’s competitiveness and growth.

In Malaysia, adoption is expanding rapidly across finance, manufacturing, services, and digital government initiatives. This creates immediate need for professionals who can use AI responsibly, manage AI programs with discipline, protect AI systems from emerging threats, and apply governance that stands up in real operational environments.

For many organizations, the constraint is no longer interest in AI. The constraint is building job-ready capability to deploy it safely, defend it, and maintain accountability as usage scales.

“Malaysia’s AI direction is clear and the next step is capability at scale,” said Jay Bavisi, Group President, EC-Council. “This portfolio is built to help professionals develop practical skills across adoption, defense, and governance, so organizations can scale AI with confidence and clear accountability.”

The Enterprise AI Credential Suite is structured to mirror how AI capability is developed in practice. Artificial Intelligence Essentials (AIE) serves as the baseline, building practical AI fluency and responsible usage across roles, and it is supported by EC-Council’s proprietary Adopt. Defend. Govern. (ADG) framework, which defines how AI should be operationalized at scale in real environments.

Adopt: Prepare teams to deploy AI deliberately, with readiness and safeguards 1Defend: Secure AI systems against emerging risks, including prompt injection, data.poisoning, model exploitation, and AI supply-chain compromise Govern: Embed accountability, oversight, and risk management into AI systems from the outset

AI readiness

Within this structure, the four new certifications align directly to specific workforce needs across the AI lifecycle.

● Artificial Intelligence Essentials (AIE) builds foundational AI literacy.

● Certified AI Program Manager (CAIPM) equips to translate AI strategy into execution, aligning teams, governance, and delivery to drive measurable ROI and enterprise-scale intelligence.

● Certified Offensive AI Security Professional (COASP) Builds elite capabilities to test vulnerabilities in LLMs, simulate exploits, and secure AI infrastructure hardening enterprises against emerging threats.

● Certified Responsible AI Governance & Ethics Professional (CRAGE) Focuses on Responsible AI, Governance and Ethics at enterprise scale with NIST/ISO compliance.

Alongside the new AI certifications, Certified CISO v4 updates executive cyber leadership education for AI-driven risk environments, strengthening leadership readiness as intelligent systems become part of core business operations and security decision-making.

“Security leaders are now accountable for systems that learn, adapt, and influence outcomes at speed,” Bavisi added. “Certified CISO v4 prepares leaders to manage AI-driven risk with clarity, strengthen governance, and make informed decisions when responsibility is on the line.”

The portfolio also builds on EC-Council’s long-standing work with government and defense organizations, including its existing DoD 8140 baseline certification recognition, as AI security and workforce readiness take on greater national importance.

To explore the full range of training and certification opportunities, visit the EC-Council AI Courses library.

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