Two certifications.
One discipline
Content Engineering combines creativity, taste, and systems design to build visibility across AI and traditional share. It takes two core skills: Reading the field and building on it. These certifications prove you can do both.
Systems Builder
Reading the field is one half of Content Engineering. Building on it is the other. This certification proves you can find the right problem, design a system that solves it, and explain why it matters to the business.
What makes a great Systems Builder
Great systems builders see a manual process and immediately think about what it looks like when it runs on its own. They choose the right problem, design the right system, and make the case for why the build earns its place in the team's operations. These are the execution skills every Content Engineer needs.
Use case selection
You can look at your team's content operations and identify the specific work worth automating. You know which problems earn the build and why one use case matters more than another.
Scout & action playbook design
You build scout playbooks that surface the right signals and action playbooks that execute on the findings. The two work together as a couple, and their value compounds over time.
Systems thinking
You think about how pieces connect. You consider timing, edge cases, and what happens when the input changes. Your builds reflect thought about what could break and how the design accounts for it.
Build rationale
You can explain the choices behind your build. Why this frequency? Why this input? Why this output format? Intentional builders can answer these on the spot because they made those decisions deliberately.
Outcome communication
You connect the build to a concrete change in how the team operates. What specifically becomes possible that wasn't before? You can answer that clearly for someone outside your immediate team.
Problem-first storytelling
You explain the problem in a way that justifies the build. You give it the right altitude and the right weight to generate buy-in, so by the time someone sees the solution, they already understand why it needs to exist.
What you must demonstrate
Two deliverables: a working scout and action playbook pair in AirOps, and a short video that tells the story of why the problem was worth solving.
- The problem
Start before the build
Tell us what you were looking at and why this use case earned your attention. Cover a few key beats:
- Who was doing this work before?
- How often did it need to happen?
- What broke when it didn't?
We want to understand the problem the way you understood it before you opened AirOps.
Use case selectionProblem framing - The build
Walk us through your scout and action playbooks
Show us what the scout monitors and why. Show us what the action does with the findings. Run it, or walk through it in enough detail that we can see the logic. Tell us about the choices you made and the reasoning behind them. If you hit a wall and changed something mid-build, tell us that too.
Scout & action designBuild rationaleSystems thinking - The outcome
Connect it to the business
What specifically changes? What becomes possible that wasn't before? How would you explain the value to a CMO, a cross-functional partner, or someone who will never execute on a playbook themselves? Tell us what you'd measure and why.
Bonus: if you've already run the system and have results, we want to hear about them. How quickly did you see impact? What happened because the scout and action pair was running? If you have a case worth studying, show us.
Outcome communicationBusiness connection
Grading criteria
Reviewers evaluate your submission across each criterion. Each carries a weighted score, and your final grade is the weighted total. Here's exactly what they look for.
Problem clarity
20%Did you identify a real, specific use case and explain why it was worth solving? We want to understand the problem before we see the solution.
Build quality
30%Is the scout and action playbook pair well-constructed? Do the two work together with clear purpose, or are they just sequentially connected?
Design rationale
30%Can you explain the choices behind the build? Decisions that required real thought should sound like real thought when you walk us through them.
Business connection
20%Can you connect the build to a concrete change in how the team operates? Someone unfamiliar with your team should walk away understanding why this was worth building.
Ready to submit?
Make sure you have everything below before you start the submission form. We won't review incomplete submissions.
- Your Video8 to 12 minutes. Screen share required. Face cam optional. A brief context frame at the start helps orient us before you get into the build.
- A live link to your playbook pairDirect link to your scout and action playbooks in AirOps. We review the build alongside your video.