You can see it againUnder pressure people bring back shapes and positions long after the wording has gone.
Picture superiority · Shepard 1967, Standing 1973
DATABRICKSDatabricks Certified Machine Learning Associate
The Databricks Certified Machine Learning Associate certification validates your ability to use Databricks to perform basic machine learning tasks, from data exploration and feature engineering to model training, tuning, evaluation, and deployment. It is designed for machine learning engineers and data scientists who work with Databricks Machine Learning, AutoML, Unity Catalog, and MLflow. Earning this credential demonstrates that you can build and deploy ML models on the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform.
Exam formatMultiple choice
Duration90 minutes
DeliveryDatabricks
Free questions411
Content last reviewed 30 July 2026 · Up to date
The certification
What Databricks Certified Machine Learning Associate proves, and what it asks of you
What this certification covers, who it is written for, and what the exam itself looks like on the day.
4domains
23objectives
124concepts
$200exam fee
What it is
What this certification is
What it validates, who it is written for, and the experience it assumes.
About this certification
The Databricks Certified Machine Learning Associate certification exam assesses an individual's ability to use Databricks to perform basic machine learning tasks. This includes understanding and using Databricks and its machine learning capabilities like AutoML, Unity Catalog, and select features of MLflow. The exam also assesses the ability to explore data and perform feature engineering, build models through training, tuning, evaluation, and selection, and deploy machine learning models.
Individuals who pass this certification exam can be expected to complete basic machine learning tasks using Databricks and its associated tools. The certification is valid for two years and requires recertification by retaking the current version of the exam.
Who it’s for
This certification is for machine learning engineers, data scientists, and data professionals who use Databricks to perform basic machine learning tasks. It is ideal for individuals who want to validate their skills in using Databricks Machine Learning, AutoML, Unity Catalog, and MLflow for model development and deployment. Candidates should have a foundational understanding of machine learning concepts and hands-on experience with the Databricks platform.
Recommended experience
6+ months of hands-on experience performing the machine learning tasks outlined in the exam guide. Experience with Databricks Machine Learning, AutoML, Unity Catalog, and MLflow; Ability to explore data and perform feature engineering; Experience training, tuning, evaluating, and selecting machine learning models; Ability to deploy machine learning models
The syllabus
What you’ll learn
Every domain and objective Databricks measures, with the weight they carry on the exam.
The official Databricks exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
Section 1: Databricks Machine Learning
- MLflow and Model Lifecycle Management
- Feature Store Management
- AutoML and ML Runtime
- MLOps Best Practices
Section 2: Data Processing
- Compute summary statistics on a Spark DataFrame using .summary() or dbutils data summaries
- Remove outliers from a Spark DataFrame based on standard deviation or IQR
- Create visualizations for categorical or continuous features
- Compare two categorical or two continuous features using the appropriate method
- Compare and contrast imputing missing values with the mean or median or mode value
- Impute missing values with the mode, mean, or median value
- Use one-hot encoding for categorical features
- Identify and explain the model types or data sets for which one-hot encoding is or is not appropriate.
- Identify scenarios where log scale transformation is appropriate
Section 3: Model Development
- Model Selection and Evaluation
- Data Preparation and Imbalance
- Training Pipelines and Cross-Validation
- Hyperparameter Tuning
Section 4: Model Deployment
- Identify the differences and advantages of model serving approaches: batch, realtime, and streaming
- Deploy a custom model to a model endpoint
- Use pandas to perform batch inference
- Identify how streaming inference is performed with Delta Live Tables
- Deploy and query a model for realtime inference
- Split data between endpoints for realtime interference
On the day
The exam itself
Everything Databricks publishes about sitting it, and nothing we inferred.
Prerequisites
No mandatory prerequisites — this certification has no required predecessor exam or credential.
CertificationDatabricks Certified Machine Learning Associate
Exam formatMultiple choice
Duration90 minutes
Questions48 questions
DeliveryDatabricks
LanguagesEnglish, 日本語, Português BR, 한국어
Pricing$200
Certification levelAssociate
After you pass
Where this credential goes next
The path Databricks lays out, how the credential is kept, and where to book.
Step-by-step path to Databricks Certified Machine Learning Associate
Credential earnedDatabricks Certified Machine Learning Associate Associate level certification Renewal and maintenance
The Databricks Certified Machine Learning Associate certification is valid for two years. To recertify, you must take the current version of the exam. Stay current with the latest technologies and maintain your certification.
Learn more about renewal requirements Lifecycle status
This certification is currently active and available. Databricks maintains this certification to validate current skills and industry relevance.
Exam status: ActiveMaintained by Databricks
Exam registration
Register for the exam through Databricks, Databricks’s authorized testing partner.
Schedule your examVisit the official Databricks certification page for exam policies and requirements.
View the official pageYour coach
And when you are serious, your coach Pip takes over
Your coach in the app reads what you have answered with the book closed and tells you one thing to do tonight. It will not count an answer you gave with the page open, and it will tell you when you are not ready.
See how the coach worksBefore you book
Questions people ask
How does the Databricks Certified Machine Learning Associate exam relate to the Professional-level ML Engineer certification?
The Associate-level exam validates basic machine learning tasks, while the Professional-level exam assesses advanced machine learning in production. There is no prerequisite to take the Associate exam before the Professional exam, but the Associate certification is a recommended foundation.
Is there a hands-on or lab component in the exam?
No, the exam consists of multiple-choice questions only. There is no hands-on lab component.
What is the retake policy if I fail the exam?
Databricks does not publish a specific retake policy for this exam. Please refer to the exam terms and conditions or contact Databricks support for details.
Can I recertify by passing a different Databricks exam?
No, recertification requires retaking the current version of the Databricks Certified Machine Learning Associate exam.
What job roles does this certification map to?
This certification is designed for machine learning engineers and data scientists who perform basic machine learning tasks on the Databricks platform.
Are there any regional restrictions for taking the exam?
The exam is available online and at test centers in multiple regions. Check the Databricks exam delivery platform for availability in your area.
Information freshness · Content last reviewed on 2026-07-30 Up to date
Practice free questions 411 questions, free, no account needed.
The curriculum
The whole exam, mapped and written
Every domain, every objective, and every concept Databricks measures — each one written out.
4domains
23objectives
124concepts
91free pages
The domains, and what sits inside them
Every objective below is a page you can open and practise now, without an account.
The official Databricks exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
1Section 1: Databricks Machine Learning80 questions
2Section 2: Data Processing112 questions
Compute summary statistics on a Spark DataFrame using .summary() or dbutils data summaries3 concepts · 3 pagesOpen →Remove outliers from a Spark DataFrame based on standard deviation or IQR4 concepts · 1 pagesOpen →Create visualizations for categorical or continuous features2 concepts · 3 pagesOpen →Compare two categorical or two continuous features using the appropriate method4 concepts · 3 pagesOpen →Compare and contrast imputing missing values with the mean or median or mode value5 concepts · 3 pagesOpen →Impute missing values with the mode, mean, or median value6 concepts · 3 pagesOpen →Use one-hot encoding for categorical features5 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →Identify and explain the model types or data sets for which one-hot encoding is or is not appropriate.5 concepts · 3 pagesOpen →Identify scenarios where log scale transformation is appropriate6 concepts · 2 pagesOpen →
3Section 3: Model Development96 questions
4Section 4: Model Deployment123 questions
Identify the differences and advantages of model serving approaches: batch, realtime, and streaming8 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →Deploy a custom model to a model endpoint7 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →Use pandas to perform batch inference5 concepts · 3 pagesOpen →Identify how streaming inference is performed with Delta Live Tables5 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →Deploy and query a model for realtime inference4 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →Split data between endpoints for realtime interference4 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →
Not a table of contents
Every line on this map already opens
In front of every objective the practice pages are already there, free and without an account. This is one objective, opened.
MLflow and Model Lifecycle Management4 pagesOpen →
Free in front of it
19 questions on this objective, five to a page. Every range above is a real page, open now, with no account.
Reading the map is not the same as knowing the ground
The curriculum tells you what is on the exam. Proving you know it is a different job — and it is the one the closed-book run does.
Free questions
411 questions. No account, no card.
The whole bank is open. 5 questions to a page, every answer explained, and a discussion thread on each one.
411questions
91pages
23objectives
Freealways
Browse by domain
Every objective, and every page range, is a link — so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
1Section 1: Databricks Machine Learning80 questions
2Section 2: Data Processing112 questions
Remove outliers from a Spark DataFrame based on standard deviation or IQR4 questions · 1 pagesOpen →
3Section 3: Model Development96 questions
4Section 4: Model Deployment123 questions
What a practice page gives you
1Five to a page
Short enough to finish, long enough to matter.
2Every answer explained
Not only which one is right — why the others are wrong.
3A discussion on each
Ask, answer, and vote. Every question has its own thread.
A question, and the idea behind it
Every question comes from a concept
These are not trivia. Each one is written against a concept in the book, so when you get one wrong there is somewhere to go and find out why.
The visual book
See it once. Carry it into the exam.
The pages shown here come from our AI-900 book — an example of how each concept is written in plain language and, where the idea needs one, drawn as a full page you can take in at a glance.
124concepts
411free questions
Why a picture, and not another paragraph
Three reasons, and each one is a real finding rather than a slogan.
You can see it againThe whole idea at onceWhere it starts, what happens in the middle, what comes out, and the mistake to avoid.
Multimedia principle · MayerThe look-alikes sit togetherThe pairs the exam tests are drawn side by side, so the difference is seen, not told.
Dual coding · PaivioWhat one page is made of
You are never asked to read a poster here — only to see how one is built. After that, every other page is legible at a glance.
1A numbered strip on top
The idea as a sequence, followed with a finger before a word is read.
2Panels for the parts
What it is, how the machine learns it, when it is the right tool.
3The trap, framed
The distinction the exam tests, given its own box instead of buried in prose.
4One line at the bottom
The sentence to carry into the exam room.
Open book, on purpose
Answer it with the picture beside you
This is the part that teaches. The illustration and the written explanation stay where they are while you work, so a scenario stops being a memory test and becomes something you can simply look at.
It teaches · it does not count
A smartphone uses AI to unlock when the owner looks at the camera. Which AI capability is being used?
AImage classification
BFacial recognition
COptical character recognition
DObject detection
Look at the five steps. Detect finds a face, align straightens it, encode turns it into numbers, search compares it with a stored face, and decide answers one question: is this the same person? Classification would only say “a face”. Detection would only draw a box. Neither decides whose.
Then the page shuts, and it starts counting
The same questions come back with the book closed — that run is the one that counts. After it, your coach picks one thing for tonight, sized to the time you have, and brings pages back before you lose them.
Testing effect · Roediger & Karpicke 2006 · spacing effect · Cepeda et al. 2006
Official resources
Straight from Databricks
Where the exam is defined, scheduled and scored.
2official links
124concepts mapped
The source
Databricks’s own pages
We link to them rather than repeat them, so nothing here goes stale behind them.
Checked against the source
Every objective on the official Databricks outline already has questions here
We build from the official skills outline, not from a summary of it — 23 objectives, 124 concepts written under them, and free questions against every one. When Databricks changes the outline, this page changes with it.
23objectives on the outline→124concepts written→411free questions
An official page tells you what will be asked. It cannot tell you what you will get right.
That is the only question worth answering the night before, and no link answers it. You answer it by taking the questions with the book closed, and seeing what comes back.