AI UpSkill-A-Thon 2025

The 2025 AI Skill-A-Thon will run from August 11, 2025 to September 30, 2025. You can access our free courses and learning pathways here. 2025 UpSkill-A-Thon winners will be notified in October 2025.

What is AI Skill-A-Thon?

A free two month-long upskilling challenge with cash prizes. Take any course or pathway available from the Community Skills Initiative and earn points with certificates of completion. The more you learn, the more points you earn! Top winners in each category earn cash prizes.

How to Participate

Register for the AI Skill-A-Thon.

Register for AI Skill-A-Thon by filling out the registration form >
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Once you submit your registration form, you will be assigned a unique participant ID through a confirmation email. Please save your participant ID number. You will need to refer to it frequently throughout the competition.

Sign up for a FREE LinkedIn Account.

All of our learning pathways and courses use the LinkedIn Learning website. You will need to sign up for a free LinkedIn account.

If you already have a LinkedIn account, you can participate in the AI Skill-A-Thon using your existing account.

Watch step-by-step video walkthrough

Start learning on LinkedIn.

Start learning by clicking on any learning pathway or course on the Community Skills Initiative website, and you will be routed to the corresponding LinkedIn page. Watch all the videos and take all the quizzes that are part of each course or learning pathway.

Once you finish your course or learning pathway, return to the Community Skills Initiative website to check out more learning opportunities.

Note that only courses and pathways available through the Community Skills Initiative website count toward the AI Skill-A-Thon competition.

Submit completion certificates.

As you complete courses and learning pathways, you will gain access to completion certificate from LinkedIn. To get points towards the challenge, submit your certificates to Community Skills Initiative using this submission form >
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Don’t wait until the last minute! Please download your certificates and submit them to your region’s CSI website as you go.

Certificates must be completed and submitted to the CSI website between 12:01 a.m. on August 11, 2025 and 11:59 p.m. on September 30, 2025.

Watch step-by-step video walkthrough

Earn points.

For each certificate you submit, you will receive a confirmation email that indicates the total number of courses and learning pathways you have submitted.

Earn 1 point for each course completed
Triple points for completing AI courses
Earn 10 bonus points for completing an entire learning pathway
Every AI or Cybersecurity pathway is another entry into the wildcard

Be sure to submit certificates of completion for courses and pathways to earn maximum points.

Win cash prizes!

Whoever has earned the most points in their category at the end of the month wins! Prize categories include:

$1,000 – Team with the most total points
$500 – Individual with the highest total points
$500 – Wildcard drawing for anyone who completes an AI pathway
$500 - Wildcard drawing for anyone who completes a Cybersecurity pathway