Written by Who else has done this – used a magnet to display a hard-earned certificate or badge on the refrigerator? I remember doing this for the very first time.
I was so proud. I earned my first Simborgarmärket before I started compulsory education. The badge said I had achieved something. The achievement itself might seem small to me now, but the sense of achievement I had then was enormous. And that feeling has stayed with me. It wasn’t just about swimming; it was about being recognised and validated.
These badges are used to measure progress in school-mandated swimming education and to encourage water safety, a crucial skill in Sweden with its many lakes and coastline. Swimming clubs in Sweden use these tests to reward children as they master new skills.
Whether for swimming or for a job, that test and validation is as important today as it was all those years ago.
As our BIM Realities report revealed, the real challenge is no longer access to tools or even awareness of digital processes – it is about people. It is whether the people delivering projects have the capability to use those tools effectively, consistently, and under pressure.
We know from talking to Autodesk Learning Partners that skills gaps are not abstract – they reveal themselves in project outcomes. Delays, rework, coordination issues, increased costs. Sometimes described as process failures, but in many cases they’re due to capability gaps.
This phenomenon is not unique to BIM. Pearson’s 2026 Value of IT Certification Employer Report found that 60% of organisations experienced significant business impact from skills gaps in the past year. This reflects how capability can become a direct constraint on performance.
In BIM environments, where multiple disciplines must coordinate in real time, even small gaps in knowledge can escalate. A modelling inconsistency or a misinterpretation of standards doesn’t stay contained – it ripples across the entire project.
Connecting Training to Certification
Certification plays an important role because it introduces independent validation. It helps answer a practical question: can someone apply what they know in a way that meets a defined standard?
One of the more practical insights emerging from BIM Realities is the value of connecting certification directly to training.
If training is designed with certification in mind, learners and teams can be prepared to demonstrate competence under assessment. It moves learning beyond theory and task familiarity, towards validation of practical skills used in real-world environments.
Designing training and certification as a single, connected journey means:
- Structuring learning around real tasks that reflect certification requirements
- Building in opportunities to practise under assessment-like conditions
- Using mock tests and applied projects to reinforce confidence
- Helping teams demonstrate measurable competence
My early swimming journey had a clear goal in mind. For me it was about achieving my first badge. For my family, it was about ensuring I was safe in and around water.
My grandmother was the one who championed the training and preparation for those swimming tests. She took me to those early swimming sessions and encouraged me when I complained about how difficult it felt.
In the world of BIM, that role is often played by training providers such as those in the Autodesk Learning Partner network. They are skilled at building training pathways with certification in mind.
With their preparation courses, they’re not simply delivering standalone learning. They are building capability pathways and guiding individuals and teams from foundational knowledge through to validated competence in key workflows.
For BIM, this is particularly important because competence is rarely about understanding a single tool or feature.
It is about applying knowledge in context. About coordinating with others, interpreting standards correctly, and making decisions that affect downstream project outcomes.
Certification-aligned training helps make that transition clearer. It gives learners a destination and gives organisations confidence that the learning journey is leading somewhere tangible.
One of the things I like about certification is that it recognises personal achievement. Displaying a Credly badge, in the case of Autodesk certification, is a very visible way of demonstrating competence. On platforms such as LinkedIn, that can be a powerful way to signal expertise to employers and peers.
But certification is about more than individual achievement.
At an organisational level, certification can become an indicator of how a company operates.
Pearson’s research suggests that companies embedding certification into workforce strategies are more competitive and more effective at closing skills gaps. According to the report, 93% of employers report positive ROI from certified staff, while certified employees generate approximately $18,000 in additional annual value each. Certifications are also playing a major role in workforce upskilling, with 78% of organisations using them to close skills gaps.
In practice, that shows up as fewer errors, quicker problem-solving, and greater confidence in delivery.
In the AECO sector, where organisations are competing for increasingly complex projects, validated skills are becoming more important than ever. This is especially true in regions where BIM mandates and national standards are emerging.
Take Ethiopia as an example. Its first national BIM standard was published in 2023. Since then, demand for BIM training has grown significantly across the sector. Government bodies have begun mandating BIM use on public projects, while private firms increasingly recognise the competitive advantage it offers.
“BIM awareness is no longer an issue. Today, organisations are focused on building BIM teams and seeking certification for their professionals,” says Feleke Assefa from CMI-BIM Training Center in Addis Ababa, an Authorized Learning Partner.
In Greece, the National BIM Strategy includes dedicated actions to train engineers in BIM, introduce certification schemes, and embed BIM education in university curricula. FACEtoFACE’s General Manager and Autodesk Certified Instructor Platinum, Exarchopoulos P. George, explains the wider organisational impact:
“It shows that a company is investing in its people and future. That’s highly attractive to young professionals.”
If capability directly influences project outcomes and organisational performance, then validating that capability should not be left to chance. It needs to be built into how teams are structured, how suppliers are selected, and how project delivery is assured.
Don’t Leave Skills to Chance
That first certificate I received as a child was my first step in a much longer journey. It encouraged me to keep learning, improving, and building confidence over time.
Training and certification in the AECO sector should work the same way.
I was recently exploring the study guide for the newly released Autodesk Certified Professional in BIM Management for Building Design certification. One thing stood out to me immediately.
When you complete the certification, you do not simply receive a badge. You also receive detailed feedback showing where you performed strongly and where additional learning may still be beneficial.
What does that say to me?
Skilling and certification should not be viewed as one-time achievements. They should form part of an ongoing process — a continuous investment in improving capability and demonstrating competence.
My parents and grandmother never left my safety and confidence around water to chance. And organisations should not leave workforce capability to chance either.
In a sector being rapidly transformed by technology, training and certification provide a practical framework for reducing skills gaps, strengthening confidence in delivery, and building more capable BIM teams.
Tomas Karlsson is Head of Global Services at KnowledgePoint, where he oversees the management, growth, and delivery of learning and partner networks for organisations including Autodesk. He and his team provide operational support, recruit and enable global networks of training providers, and help ensure high-quality learning delivery and learner experiences.
If you’d like to explore how your organisation can develop and validate BIM skills, the team at KnowledgePoint can connect you with an Autodesk Learning Partner in your market. With learning delivery and content aligned to certification pathways, Autodesk Learning Partners provide resources and tools designed to help businesses develop and verify BIM capability.
Tomas Karlsson is Head of Global Services at KnowledgePoint, where he oversees the management, growth, and delivery of learning and partner networks for organisations including Autodesk. He and his team provide operational support, recruit and enable global networks of training providers, and help ensure high-quality learning delivery and learner experiences.