✦ Your instructor

Mike Wheeler, founder of Velza Training and Consulting

Learn from Mike Wheeler

Mike Wheeler is an AI and Salesforce trainer and O’Reilly author. He has taught well over 500,000 global learners on major platforms such as edX, LinkedIn Learning, Pearson, and Udemy, and he built the first generative AI course on edX. He teaches for non-coders, working backward from your career goals.

500,000+ global learners taught O’Reilly author

Non-coders and technical professionals targeting the NVIDIA NCA-GENL credential who want the essentials, fast, without wading through everything alone.

The NCA-GENL is one of the first vendor credentials built specifically around generative AI and large language models. It rewards breadth and clear understanding rather than deep coding. We cover the whole blueprint and spend your hours where the exam does.

✦ The curriculum & schedule

Your 6 live sessions

Six live sessions over three weeks: three teaching sessions plus three optional office hours. All times Central. Can’t make one live? Every session is recorded.

Session1

Monday, August 3
2-3 PM Central

Core ML & AI Knowledge Foundations

RAG, embeddings, prompt engineering, and the machine-learning fundamentals that anchor the largest slice of the exam.

How retrieval-augmented generation actually works, from source to answer
Embeddings, and why retrieval fails silently when they do not match
Prompt engineering as structured practice, not trial and error
The machine-learning fundamentals the exam assumes you already know

Core Machine Learning & AI Knowledge · 30%~30% of the exam

Session2

Friday, August 7
2-3 PM Central

Office Hours Optional

Job-market intel and open Q&A, shared across the August Velza Academy cohorts.

Session3

Monday, August 10
2-3 PM Central

Data Analysis + Experimentation

Metrics, visualization, confounders, A/B testing, and interpreting results. The exam’s analytical core.

Reading what metrics and visualizations actually say
Confounders, and why a relationship is not a cause
A/B testing and sound experiment design
Turning results into a defensible finding, not just a chart

Experimentation · 22%Data Analysis & Visualization · 14%~36% of the exam

Session4

Friday, August 14
2-3 PM Central

Office Hours Optional

Job-market intel and open Q&A, shared across the August Velza Academy cohorts.

Session5

Monday, August 17
2-3 PM Central

Software Development, Trustworthy AI & Exam Readiness

Building RAG, chatbot, and summarizer patterns plus monitoring, then ethics, privacy, and bias, closing with a practice clinic.

Building the three core patterns: RAG, chatbot, and summarizer
Monitoring a generative-AI system once it is running
Trustworthy AI: ethics, privacy, and where bias comes from
A diagnostic practice walkthrough and a domain-by-domain exam plan

Software Development · 24%Trustworthy AI · 10%~34% of the exam

Session6

Friday, August 21
2-3 PM Central

Office Hours Optional

Job-market intel and open Q&A, shared across the August Velza Academy cohorts.

Session1

Monday, September 7
2-3 PM Central

Core ML & AI Knowledge Foundations

RAG, embeddings, prompt engineering, and the machine-learning fundamentals that anchor the largest slice of the exam.

How retrieval-augmented generation actually works, from source to answer
Embeddings, and why retrieval fails silently when they do not match
Prompt engineering as structured practice, not trial and error
The machine-learning fundamentals the exam assumes you already know

Core Machine Learning & AI Knowledge · 30%~30% of the exam

Session2

Friday, September 11
2-3 PM Central

Office Hours Optional

Job-market intel and open Q&A, shared across the September Velza Academy cohorts.

Session3

Monday, September 14
2-3 PM Central

Data Analysis + Experimentation

Metrics, visualization, confounders, A/B testing, and interpreting results. The exam’s analytical core.

Reading what metrics and visualizations actually say
Confounders, and why a relationship is not a cause
A/B testing and sound experiment design
Turning results into a defensible finding, not just a chart

Experimentation · 22%Data Analysis & Visualization · 14%~36% of the exam

Session4

Friday, September 18
2-3 PM Central

Office Hours Optional

Job-market intel and open Q&A, shared across the September Velza Academy cohorts.

Session5

Monday, September 21
2-3 PM Central

Software Development, Trustworthy AI & Exam Readiness

Building RAG, chatbot, and summarizer patterns plus monitoring, then ethics, privacy, and bias, closing with a practice clinic.

Building the three core patterns: RAG, chatbot, and summarizer
Monitoring a generative-AI system once it is running
Trustworthy AI: ethics, privacy, and where bias comes from
A diagnostic practice walkthrough and a domain-by-domain exam plan

Software Development · 24%Trustworthy AI · 10%~34% of the exam

Session6

Friday, September 25
2-3 PM Central

Office Hours Optional

Job-market intel and open Q&A, shared across the September Velza Academy cohorts.

Session1

Monday, October 5
2-3 PM Central

Core ML & AI Knowledge Foundations

RAG, embeddings, prompt engineering, and the machine-learning fundamentals that anchor the largest slice of the exam.

How retrieval-augmented generation actually works, from source to answer
Embeddings, and why retrieval fails silently when they do not match
Prompt engineering as structured practice, not trial and error
The machine-learning fundamentals the exam assumes you already know

Core Machine Learning & AI Knowledge · 30%~30% of the exam

Session2

Friday, October 9
2-3 PM Central

Office Hours Optional

Job-market intel and open Q&A, shared across the October Velza Academy cohorts.

Session3

Monday, October 12
2-3 PM Central

Data Analysis + Experimentation

Metrics, visualization, confounders, A/B testing, and interpreting results. The exam’s analytical core.

Reading what metrics and visualizations actually say
Confounders, and why a relationship is not a cause
A/B testing and sound experiment design
Turning results into a defensible finding, not just a chart

Experimentation · 22%Data Analysis & Visualization · 14%~36% of the exam

Session4

Friday, October 16
2-3 PM Central

Office Hours Optional

Job-market intel and open Q&A, shared across the October Velza Academy cohorts.

Session5

Monday, October 19
2-3 PM Central

Software Development, Trustworthy AI & Exam Readiness

Building RAG, chatbot, and summarizer patterns plus monitoring, then ethics, privacy, and bias, closing with a practice clinic.

Building the three core patterns: RAG, chatbot, and summarizer
Monitoring a generative-AI system once it is running
Trustworthy AI: ethics, privacy, and where bias comes from
A diagnostic practice walkthrough and a domain-by-domain exam plan

Software Development · 24%Trustworthy AI · 10%~34% of the exam

Session6

Friday, October 23
2-3 PM Central

Office Hours Optional

Job-market intel and open Q&A, shared across the October Velza Academy cohorts.

✦ What you’ll walk away with

By the end, you’ll be able to

✦Explain core ML, RAG, and embeddings in plain language
✦Read and interpret model metrics and experiments
✦Build RAG, chatbot, and summarizer patterns
✦Reason about ethics, privacy, and bias in AI systems
✦Use AI to turn dense research papers and technical docs into plain-language notes, study assets, and ideas you can build on
✦Own a personal AI knowledge base, built from NVIDIA’s own recommended readings, that keeps working for you after the exam
✦Walk into the NCA-GENL exam knowing the whole blueprint

Generative-AI skills are showing up in more job postings every month, and this is one of the first credentials that proves them.

There is a well-documented shortage of AI talent. A new generation of AI certifications is emerging to prove those skills, and the NVIDIA NCA-GENL is one leading the pack.

✦ Exam coverage

What the NCA-GENL exam covers

Every domain in the official blueprint, weighted so you spend time where the exam does.

Core Machine Learning & AI Knowledge	30%
Software Development	24%
Experimentation	22%
Data Analysis & Visualization	14%
Trustworthy AI	10%

Not sure where you stand? Grade yourself domain by domain with the free readiness scorecard. It opens in a new tab, and you can re-score as you study.

✦ What’s included

Everything that’s included

6 live sessions

Three teaching sessions plus three optional office hours, live over three weeks. Mondays at 2-3 PM Central.

1-year replay access

Every session is recorded, and you keep access to the replays for a full year, so you can rewatch any time before your exam.

Weekly hands-on projects

LABS stands for Let’s Actually Build Something, and you get one every week. Week one, you start your own exam knowledge base and make the first real entry in it. Week two, you build a chart from a real public dataset and judge it yourself, because creating visualizations is on the exam and reading about it does not count. Week three, you grade a cited answer against your own notes, write a one-page trust sheet on an AI system you already use, and build a miss log that turns every practice question you get wrong into a written reason and the source that settles it.

Your personal AI knowledge base

Nobody wants to read research papers. You will not have to. Each week we feed NVIDIA’s own recommended readings into AI with the NVIDIA Knowledge Base Starter Tool, a browser tool included with the class, and turn them into plain-language notes mapped to the exam objectives they answer. The knowledge base is yours to keep, and the technique works on any dense material your job throws at you.

The NVIDIA Knowledge Base Starter Tool turns each reading into an entry mapped to the exam objective it answers.

Free readiness scorecard

Rate yourself on every exam domain, weighted by the official blueprint, then re-score as you study. Get yours here.

The scorecard grades you domain by domain, weighted by the official blueprint.

Certificate of completion

Finish the cohort and you get a personalized certificate showing your name, your track, the live session dates, and the hours of live instruction, with a public verification link your employer can check for reimbursement. Print it, save it as a PDF, or share it on LinkedIn.

Your certificate is personalized with your name and track, and carries a public verification link.

✦ Questions, answered

Frequently asked

I’m not a developer. Can I do this?

Yes. The NCA-GENL rewards clear understanding of concepts more than coding ability. We explain the machine-learning foundations in plain language and build up from there.

What is this exam?

The NVIDIA-Certified Associate: Generative AI and LLMs (NCA-GENL) is an entry-level credential covering core machine learning and AI knowledge, software development patterns, experimentation, data analysis and visualization, and trustworthy AI.

Do I need an NVIDIA GPU or any special hardware?

No. Nothing in this cohort requires GPU access. The exam tests understanding of concepts and patterns, not hands-on cluster work.

Is the exam fee included?

No. This cohort is exam prep. You register and pay for the exam separately through NVIDIA.

What is the NVIDIA Knowledge Base Starter Tool?

It is a browser tool included with the class. It turns each assigned NVIDIA reading into a note file mapped to the exam objective it answers, and the knowledge base you build is yours to keep. The knowledge base keeps working with Claude or any AI assistant after the exam.

What is the readiness scorecard and how do I get it?

The readiness scorecard is a free self-assessment against the official exam domains, weighted the way the exam weights them. You rate yourself on each domain, then re-score as you study. It is free whether or not you enroll, and you can get yours at the scorecard signup page.

What if I can’t make a session live?

Every session is recorded and shared, and you keep access to the replays for a full year, so you can watch or rewatch any of them on your own schedule. The optional Friday office hours are recorded too.

Why a live cohort instead of studying on my own?

Self-study stalls. A live cohort gives you a fixed three-week pace, the chance to ask questions in real time, weekly hands-on work, and optional office hours. You actually finish.

Do I get a certificate of completion?

Yes. When your cohort ends, you receive a personalized certificate of completion by email. It shows your name, the track, the live session dates, and the hours of live instruction, and it carries a certificate number with a public verification address your employer can confirm it against, which is what most reimbursement forms need. It is a certificate of completion for the live course, not the certification itself. That one comes from the certifying body when you pass their exam.

What is your refund policy?

You can request a full refund within 24 hours of the start of the first live session.