Leadership
CompTIA Appoints Casey Welch Chief Product Officer to Lead AI-Era Certification Strategy
By News Desk ·
Key takeaways
- CompTIA appointed Casey Welch chief product officer to lead its AI-era learning and certification strategy.
- Welch joined CompTIA from Pearson, where he led the career team within Virtual Schools.
- Before Pearson, Welch co-founded Tallo and scaled it to nearly two million members before its acquisition by Stride.
- CompTIA CEO Sean Ryan said the challenge is training the people who use AI technology, not the tools themselves.
CompTIA has named Casey Welch chief product officer to lead its AI-era learning and certification strategy, the organization said in a PR Newswire announcement on October 28, 2026. Welch will oversee strategy and development across CompTIA's certifications, learning products and workforce solutions.
Welch's Role Across CompTIA Products
Welch's focus includes expanding skills development pathways, advancing performance-based credentialing and creating products that help learners and employers translate knowledge into measurable outcomes, according to the announcement. He joined CompTIA from Pearson, where he led the career team within Virtual Schools. That division became one of Pearson's largest and fastest-growing divisions in three years while delivering a career readiness program, the company said.
Before Pearson, Welch co-founded Tallo and scaled it into one of the largest early-talent networks, connecting nearly two million members with employers, educators and workforce agencies before its acquisition by Stride. CompTIA CEO Sean Ryan said the appointment addresses a training gap. "Organizations are investing heavily in AI technology, but the real challenge isn't the tools, it's training the people who use them," Ryan said. "Technology doesn't drive outcomes; the people using it do."
Welch said the workforce of the future will come down to skills. "The winners won't be machines or people alone, but people who keep learning how to work alongside AI to unlock new levels of productivity," he said.
CompTIA's Certification Rollout
CompTIA's recent product activity includes the launch of AutoOps+, a vendor-neutral certification covering coding, scripting, infrastructure management and automation workflows for operations and DevOps professionals, according to akta.pro company records. The records also list SecAI+, a professional certification focused on securing AI systems and using AI in cybersecurity work, developed with more than 400 subject matter experts. CompTIA's State of the Tech Workforce 2026 report forecast 1.9% net tech employment growth, adding 185,499 new positions in 2026.
CompTIA's October Product and Research Push
On October 22, 2026, CompTIA announced plans to develop AgentOps+, a vendor-neutral certification to validate skills for deploying, securing and governing AI agents, PR Newswire reported. On October 20, 2026, CompTIA's 2026 IT Career Insights study found that 76% of IT professionals are job-satisfied but only 47% are satisfied with advancement, while 87% report career concerns, PR Newswire reported. On October 13, 2026, CompTIA launched DataSys+ V2, an updated credential for database professionals covering cloud, hybrid and AI-enabled environments, PR Newswire reported.