We be taught from an early age that change is the one fixed in life. Typically we view change as one thing to be nervous about, one thing we should shift and modify for, and that the unknown might deliver us…effectively, something. On the flip facet, some change is sweet, even wanted and refreshing (as anybody who places a brand new coat of paint on a home will attest). I suppose you would say that even your views on change can change. Particularly when you have got somebody so as to add context that explains how a specific change advantages you.
It’s my hope that this weblog collection will assist you to do exactly that, as we face main modifications centered on a subject close to and pricey to my coronary heart: the up to date Cisco Automation Certifications and their related examination matters.
In case you missed the announcement in Could 2025, we’re renaming Cisco DevNet Certifications to Cisco Automation Certifications. On February 3, 2026, every certification stage (Affiliate, Skilled, and Professional) will transition to the CCNA/CCNP/CCIE taxonomy that’s so acquainted to our studying group, companions, and employers. Learn the announcement.
As of February 3, 2026, the Cisco Licensed DevNet Affiliate and the Cisco Licensed DevNet Professional will develop into often known as the CCNA Automation and CCIE Automation certifications, respectively. Identical check, new names. It’s that straightforward.
Nevertheless, after a lot thought and consideration, it was determined that the Cisco Licensed DevNet Skilled certification wanted greater than a reputation change. It wanted to align with immediately’s job market.
CCNP Automation: Reimagining the DevNet Skilled Certification
We wanted to align the CCNP Automation certification to check the abilities and necessities being seen available in the market immediately from our clients who’re using community automation engineers. A lot work was put into job function and activity evaluation, in addition to figuring out the {qualifications} of a certified candidate.
In spite of everything that work was executed, it was time to lock a bunch of material specialists from varied backgrounds and focus areas in a room to work out the examination matters checklist, the three of which had been launched on the finish of July.
A brand new method to testing
All Cisco certification exams bear an replace and alter course of every year. We modify solely as much as 10% of the examination matters, and typically not even that a lot. However within the case of the CCNP Automation, we simply couldn’t make that quantity match with how the exams wanted to be reshaped.
When first launched, the Skilled-level DevNet exams had been targeted very a lot on reworking community engineers into people who had been snug with writing purposes for community automation. These “community automation builders” wanted to be acquainted not solely with Cisco APIs and their features but in addition with the software program improvement lifecycle, utility deployment, and platforms, and the way to verify these purposes had been safe, accessible, resilient, and scalable.
What automation expertise do immediately’s engineers want?
These expertise are nice to have in your base of data, however the market wanted one thing totally different. Engineers who’re snug with automation frameworks and instruments and may:
- Create digital twins for pre- and post-change validations
- Leverage programmability ideas for operations and monitoring
- Snug navigating the brand new world of AI
We wanted to check a skillset that wasn’t “utility developer who understands a little bit of networking,” however “community engineer with expertise in network-specific automation frameworks to implement an end-to-end answer.”
Lofty objectives, however I really feel that our new examination matters hit all these areas (I could also be just a bit biased, since I used to be a kind of people locked in that room for hours).
Cisco Automation Certification examination matters are actually obtainable!
Obtain examination matters
So, what did we modify within the AUTOCOR?
In-Scope Platforms
On the high of the Examination Matters PDF, particular in-scope platforms are referred to as out.
- This reduces repetition within the examination matters.
- Focuses on the platforms it is best to examine for.
- Supplies boundaries for the scope, so that you don’t want to review each single Cisco product.
Preserve these platforms in thoughts as you progress via every of the domains.
Area Adjustments
- The examination moved from 5 domains of examine to 4.
- This will increase the examination weight on the primary two domains: Community Automation and Infrastructure as Code.
- These sections can be acquainted to community automation professionals, however with a modified focus.
- Fairly than testing on single-platform APIs, every activity within the Community Automation part is targeted on a answer that entails an automation instrument, corresponding to Ansible, Terraform, or Python.
In some situations, not all platforms might be configured for every activity (like utilizing NETCONF for ACI). This wasn’t an oversight; as a community automation skilled, you can be checked out as somebody to assist information an enterprise in direction of a correct answer and toolset, so you will need to know and perceive limitations and capabilities in addition to methods to accomplish a aim utilizing automation.
Infrastructure as Code part
Whereas instruments like Git are nonetheless necessary, once more, the main focus has shifted in direction of utilizing a CI/CD pipeline and GitOps to deploy community automation options, both in opposition to actual {hardware} or leveraging a digital twin simulation instrument.
Professionals want to know:
- CI/CD processes.
- Cisco Modeling Labs.
- Community sources of fact (for pulling information into pipelines for variables, configuration, and so on.).
The main target is on the answer quite than particular person elements.
Operations part
The emphasis is on methods to maintain an automation answer purposeful previous preliminary testing and deployment. To do that, key areas embody:
- Safety and secret administration (passwords, API keys).
- Making certain deployed automation options stay purposeful via network-centric testing.
- Utilizing model-driven telemetry on varied platforms to enhance community observability.
Take into accout, although, that the safety/secret administration (like passwords and API keys), certificates administration, and logging solely pertain to the community units or the automation answer being examined on, not on your complete utility stack (which is one thing an utility developer would care about).
We’re trimming the matters to house in on that community automation engineer persona and testing it via actionable expertise.
The change all of us knew was coming: AI
No trendy engineer will have the ability to perform with out some understanding of AI, its impression on our business, and methods to safely and successfully use its capabilities. Community automation engineers received’t be any exception to this, both. Nevertheless, we needed the examination matters to be crafted in such a means that introduced tangible, helpful expertise and AI purposes to the check, and I really feel like we hit the mark with these.
We needed the candidates to know the implications behind utilizing AI for his or her roles, together with:
- Ways in which AI might trigger hurt to a corporation, together with IP theft, information sovereignty, and simply “code that doesn’t work.”
- Likewise, community automation engineers ought to have the ability to determine when options will work and when they’re simply plain made up.
- This reinforces using AI as a instrument and assistant, quite than outsourcing the whole lot to a mannequin; if one thing breaks at 3 a.m., “AI made it” received’t be a suitable excuse to your leaders.
- The sensible purposes of AI within the networks.
- With the short rise of mannequin context protocol (MCP) servers getting used as conduits and extensions to LLMs for community automation, it was a no brainer to incorporate a Pythonic framework of MCP server improvement as a activity merchandise.
We additionally needed to be sure that our engineers might assemble an AI agent that may permit them to naturally speak to an LLM and carry out some form of community automation, presumably even utilizing a number of MCP servers.
Whereas we perceive the world of AI is quickly evolving, we felt that the abilities examined by these examination matters can be wanted and utilized by our clients and learners, and can develop into a part of the baseline data that any community automation engineer ought to know.
Does this transformation my DEVCOR research?
With such a serious rewrite of an examination, the reply to this query will at all times be “sure”. Whereas we all know that this might doubtlessly interrupt your research, hopefully, the extra context and reasoning why we made this transformation will assist you to really feel extra assured and cozy with making that change. Additionally, keep in mind that you’ve got till February 2, 2026, to take and move the current DEVCOR examination, so for those who really feel that you simply’re shut, proceed transferring on to get that move earlier than then.
When you do have to alter your research, although, all will not be misplaced. Lots of the ideas that exist inside DEVCOR, like API utilization, git instructions, use of Python, Ansible, and Terraform, and understanding Cisco platforms, will all come in useful in AUTOCOR. Your research can be accelerated with these ideas, so you possibly can concentrate on making use of these ideas in an entire automation answer.
Upleveling your automation pondering
You’ll additionally have the ability to uplevel your automation pondering and conversations, not simply understanding the how, however the why, which can profit you in your skilled profession. Lastly, when you don’t need to neglect the whole lot you realized about utility improvement and the related lifecycle, you received’t be required to recollect it on the brand new examination.
This can be a change, however it is a change for the higher. I’ll even be placing out an analogous breakdown of the ENAUTO 2.0, in addition to the brand new DCNAUTO (I contributed to all three exams), in an effort to really feel snug with these modifications as effectively.
Lastly, I promise that I’ll change one thing concerning the following components of this collection: I promise to not use the phrase “change” almost as a lot as I did right here. 😉
As at all times, you will discover me on LinkedIn or X (previously Twitter) if in case you have any questions relating to this or another examination. Blissful learning!
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