Red Hat Certifications 2026 Roadmap: Planning for the future of your career
Red Hat Certification is undergoing its most significant transformation in decades, with changes to help reduce the cognitive load on IT professionals and developers who implement, administer, and use Red Hat products, while validating specialized skills required for modern hybrid cloud environments. In this roadmap session, leaders from the Red Hat Certification team detail the new framework, including: - The debut of the “Technologist” tier—a streamlined credentialing level that accelerates onboarding for new talent. - Updates to the Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) and Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA) programs. - New recertification policies that prioritize continuous learning over high-stakes testing. Discover how Red Hat Certification can help your teams align their expertise to shifting virtualization, automation, and sovereign cloud technologies and approaches. Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of: - How the new framework impacts their existing credentials. - How they can build a high-velocity path to certification that best addresses IT's continuing evolution. - How to provide direct feedback to influence the program’s ongoing development.
Speakers
Kpayah S.P. Tamba | Director, Global Certification, Red Hat
Kpayah S.P. Tamba leads the Global Certification Team at Red Hat, responsible for skills validation to ensure the Red Hat Certified credential remains the highest standard for enterprise technical proficiency.
Henry Maine | Manager, Platform and Cloud Exam Development, Red Hat
Henry Maine leads the team responsible for developing the majority of Red Hat’s global certification exams. A Red Hat veteran of nearly 25 years, he has been a cornerstone of the certification program since its earliest days. His career trajectory—from systems administrator and consultant to technical trainer and exam developer—provides a comprehensive understanding of the skills required to succeed in the field. Today, this deep expertise helps Red Hat’s hands-on exams remain the industry standard for validating technical proficiency in an evolving open source landscape.