Cognicert Says AI Is Creating a New Professional Trust Problem: Who Can Prove They Are Competent?

Artificial intelligence is transforming how professionals learn, work and demonstrate expertise. Specialist knowledge that once required hours of research can now be accessed in seconds. Professionals can use AI to understand complex standards, prepare presentations, improve CVs, practise interviews and accelerate their professional development.

Cognicert believes this democratisation of knowledge represents an enormous opportunity. But it also raises an uncomfortable question:

Who can actually prove they are competent?

Someone can watch several videos, use ChatGPT or another AI assistant to learn about a specialist subject, complete an online course and describe themselves as an “AI Expert”, “Cybersecurity Specialist”, “Lead Auditor” or another type of professional.

Who assessed them? What can they actually do? What did they have to demonstrate? Was their competence evaluated against defined requirements? Can an employer independently verify the credential they present?

And perhaps most importantly: would you trust that person to audit your AI management system, manage cybersecurity risks, assess critical business risks or implement an ISO management system?

Cognicert believes the distinction between access to knowledge and demonstrated competence is becoming increasingly important.

“AI has made it easier to sound like an expert”

“AI has democratised access to knowledge, and that is an enormously positive development,” said John Aderibigbe, Marketing Director, Cognicert Limited.

“But it has also made it easier than ever to sound knowledgeable without necessarily being able to demonstrate professional competence.”

According to Aderibigbe, employers increasingly need to look beyond the presentation of expertise. “The question of the AI era may no longer be simply, ‘What do you know?’ It may increasingly become, ‘What can you demonstrate, who assessed you, and can your credential be verified?’”

Why ISO/IEC 17024:2026 makes this conversation timely

ISO/IEC 17024:2026—Conformity assessment — General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons—was published in March 2026. The revised international standard addresses the changing technological environment surrounding certification of persons, including the use of artificial intelligence within certification processes.

AI is therefore changing more than what professionals need to know. It is influencing how people learn, how expertise is demonstrated, how assessments may be conducted and how professional credentials establish trust.

What does it mean to be professionally competent in the age of AI?

Cognicert believes the answer requires a clearer distinction between four things: learning, assessment, certification and verification.

• Learning develops knowledge and capability.
• Assessment provides an opportunity to demonstrate specified knowledge, skills or competence.
• Certification provides formal recognition when applicable certification requirements have been satisfied.
• Verification enables employers, clients and other interested parties to establish that the credential being presented is authentic.

Introducing the Cognicert Verified Competence Initiative

Cognicert has launched the Verified Competence Initiative to encourage professionals and employers to look beyond the appearance of credentials and examine the evidence behind them.

Learn it. Demonstrate it. Certify it. Verify it.

• Learn it—Acquire relevant knowledge and skills through structured professional development.
• Demonstrate it—Show through meaningful assessment that you understand and can apply what you have learned.
• Certify it—Obtain a credential based on defined certification requirements.
• Verify it—Enable employers, clients and other interested parties to confirm the authenticity of the credential.

The initiative encourages professionals to stop asking only, “Will I receive a certificate?” and start asking: “What does this certificate actually prove?”

Free 10-question Professional Competence Checklist

As part of the initiative, Cognicert has developed a free 10-question Professional Competence Checklist. It is designed to help employers, professionals and organisations examine the evidence behind a professional credential.

Among the issues it encourages users to consider are whether an assessment took place, what was assessed, whether defined criteria were used, whether the individual was required to achieve a passing result and whether the credential can be independently verified.

An interactive version provides an indicative evidence result, while a printable checklist is also available. The checklist is guidance and does not constitute a Cognicert assessment, certification decision or endorsement of a third-party credential.

Explore the Cognicert Verified Competence Initiative and use the free checklist →

From “What qualifications do you have?” to “Can I verify it?”

AI can now help candidates produce sophisticated CVs, professional profiles, applications, presentations and responses to technical questions. Cognicert does not regard that as inherently negative. AI can accelerate learning, increase productivity and make professional knowledge accessible to more people.

But as presenting expertise becomes easier, evidence supporting that expertise may become more important.

“Professional trust has always depended on evidence,” Aderibigbe said. “AI doesn’t remove that requirement. If anything, it makes evidence more important.”

The traditional employer question, “What qualifications do you have?”, may increasingly need to be followed by, “What did you have to demonstrate to obtain them?” And ultimately: “Can I verify it?”

This is bigger than AI

Although artificial intelligence has accelerated the debate, Cognicert believes verified competence matters across professional disciplines. That includes quality management, information security, AI governance, risk, compliance, auditing, management systems, sustainability and business continuity.

Where professional decisions affect organisations, customers, information, compliance or business performance, evidence of competence matters.

Technology can help someone learn, research and communicate. But employers may still need an answer to one fundamentally human question: Can this person actually do what they claim they can do?

Cognicert believes professional credentials should help answer that question with credible evidence.

About Cognicert Limited

Cognicert Limited is a UK-based professional training, certification and assurance organisation supporting professionals and organisations internationally.

Cognicert provides standards-based professional learning, assessment and certification pathways across quality management, continuity and resilience, governance, risk and compliance, information security and data privacy, sustainability and related management-system disciplines.

Cognicert’s purpose is to help people and organisations: Demonstrate conformity. Build confidence. Compete with credibility.

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