US AI firms enter the AI skills certification space
Korea's APEX tests problem definition, design and verification
Cumulative pass rate stands at 51.6%; 'Expert' level targeted for this month
As AI companies in the United States — the birthplace of generative AI — enter the AI skills certification market, a homegrown Korean exam called APEX is drawing attention.
According to industry sources Wednesday, Anthropic, the maker of Claude, released four "Claude Certified" certification exams this year targeting developers and architects. OpenAI, which operates ChatGPT, opened a free learning course in December last year with the goal of certifying the AI skills of 10 million Americans by 2030. However, both programs are conducted entirely in English, and OpenAI's proctored exam is limited to select companies, making it inaccessible to individuals.
Major US corporations are also showing demand for employee AI skills certification. Walmart, for instance, announced a $1 billion training investment plan to certify the AI capabilities of its US workforce. The trend reflects a broader push to establish standards for accurate and responsible AI use, rather than unchecked adoption.
Against this backdrop, APEX — a Korean AI skills certification exam free of language barriers and individual-access restrictions — is gaining traction. APEX is an AI job-skills certification exam co-developed by Day1 with researchers from Seoul National University, POSTECH and Korea University, built on an OpenAI technology partnership.
APEX focuses less on whether test-takers know about AI and more on whether they can complete real work tasks with it. The exam consists of 50 questions to be answered in 140 minutes, assessing competency across six areas: problem definition, accurate instruction, output refinement, integrative thinking, security and ethics, and business judgment.
In Part 3 — the job scenario section — candidates interact directly with AI to complete practical tasks. Through 14 job-specific assignments, the exam evaluates what instructions a candidate gives to AI, how they verify and improve the generated output, and the overall quality of the final result.
The grading process also draws on multiple AI models. For open-ended answers, models from OpenAI and Anthropic are called independently and their results cross-verified. The final score report includes not only the score but also the reasoning behind each evaluation criterion.
Test proctoring is likewise AI-driven. Screen activity, facial recognition, and keyboard and mouse usage are analyzed in real time throughout the exam to detect any irregularities. Each passing certificate is assigned a unique verification value recorded on a blockchain to prevent forgery or tampering.
APEX's cumulative pass rate stands at 51.6%, meaning roughly half of all test-takers have not met the passing standard. Day1 said it aims to build a certification system that genuinely distinguishes real-world AI proficiency, rather than one that is simply easy to obtain.
Certification is valid for one year. Those who pass may retake the exam within 12 months to renew their credentials. Those who do not pass receive a 50 percent discount coupon to reduce the cost of a retake. A limited-time promotion running through Dec. 31 offers unlimited retakes to anyone who sits the exam and earns certification during that period.
Day1 is also in discussions with companies about introducing APEX as a corporate AI skills assessment. The company is targeting this month for the launch of "Expert," a higher-level exam that evaluates hands-on ability to supervise and verify AI-generated output.
"AI competency is moving beyond 'knowing how to use it' to proving that you use it correctly," a Day1 APEX official said. "APEX aims to give individuals an objective way to demonstrate their skills, and to provide companies with a verified standard for AI proficiency."
The official added, "As the global AI certification trend takes shape around English-speaking markets and large enterprises, we are focused on creating a channel through which individual Korean workers can directly assess and prove their own practical capabilities."
pooh@heraldcorp.com
