Before you book a call.

Request one. Cloudpilar Academy runs on demand rather than publishing fixed dates months ahead: choose a preferred start date at least 10 days out using "Request a course date" on any programme. If the trainer is available, we confirm it and open that date as a public live-online cohort — other learners can then join the same date too. The earlier you ask beyond that 10-day minimum, the more time others have to join before reservations close 5 days before the course starts.

No. All teaching is live online, so it's open to learners anywhere in the world. The academy is UK-registered and based in Bristol, but current learners join from across the UK, Nigeria and beyond. Sessions run on UK time (GMT/BST), which lines up closely with West Africa Time — usually the same hour, at most one hour apart.

CPA-01 (Cloud, AI & Agentic Solution Architecture) is about designing systems — landing zones, agent orchestration, RAG and governance. CPS-02 (Cloud & AI Security Engineering) is about defending them — Zero Trust identity, Microsoft Entra ID, Defender, Sentinel and securing AI workloads in production. CPD-03 (AI Engineering & AI-Assisted Software Engineering) is about building them — LLM applications, RAG, AI agents and multi-agent systems — and building them faster with agentic coding tools. In short: CPA-01 designs it, CPS-02 defends it, CPD-03 builds it.

It's the entry point. Cloudpilar Academy has three audiences: Practical AI & Automation Skills for beginners, small-business owners and everyday office work — no coding, no assumed experience; AB-730 and AB-731 for business professionals and leaders who need Microsoft AI fluency and adoption strategy; and the three technical pillar programmes (CPA-01, CPS-02, CPD-03) for engineers, architects and security professionals building and securing the underlying systems. A learner can start in the practical track and move up as their needs grow — Introduction to AI Agents, for example, leads naturally into CPA-01.

All three sit at different altitudes. AB-730 (AI Business Professional) is a one-day course for any employee who uses Microsoft 365 day to day — using Copilot and its agents well, safely and productively, no coding involved. AB-731 (AI Transformation Leader) is a one-day course for business decision-makers — directors, VPs and senior managers who need to evaluate AI opportunities, govern them and drive adoption, also without coding. The three pillar programmes (CPA-01, CPS-02, CPD-03) are multi-week technical courses for engineers, architects and security professionals who build and secure the underlying systems. Organisations often combine all three: AB-730 for the whole team, AB-731 for the leaders funding it, and a pillar programme for the engineers building it.

Agentic AI refers to AI systems that can plan and carry out multi-step tasks with some autonomy — calling tools, retrieving data and taking actions toward a goal, rather than just answering a single prompt. It's a growing focus in Microsoft's own AI and Copilot roadmap, and it runs through both the CPA-01 architecture programme and the CPD-03 engineering programme here.

CPA-01 and CPS-02 are aimed at intermediate-and-above IT, cloud or security professionals — comfortable with core cloud concepts, though not necessarily hands-on coders. CPD-03 suits engineers who already write code and want to work faster with AI-assisted tooling. If you're unsure which level fits you, say so on a discovery call and we'll advise honestly.

It depends on your programme and starting point. CPA-01 aligns with Microsoft's Azure solutions architecture learning paths, CPS-02 with its security engineering paths, and both build on the AI-900/AI-102-style foundations Microsoft publishes for AI on Azure. We teach the underlying skills and judgement rather than exam-cramming; Microsoft exam fees are separate and paid directly to Microsoft.

Every programme price covers all live sessions, recordings, lab environments and course materials, with 3 interest-free instalments available. Microsoft exam fees are not included and are paid directly to Microsoft — currently around £130 for Fundamentals and £165 for Associate and Expert-level exams. Labs run on free cloud tiers and the free tiers of GitHub Copilot and Claude Code wherever possible.

Yes. Corporate and team training is tailored to your organisation's stack, tooling and security policies, delivered in work hours online (or on-site for corporate clients able to meet in Bristol), and quoted per cohort. Post-training support is included while changes bed in.

Every session is taught personally by Muyiwa Ogunlade, founder of Cloudpilar Academy and a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), independently verifiable on Credly. He is a hands-on practitioner who still designs and ships cloud and AI systems, not a dedicated-content presenter.

All of it. Every session is taught in real time by the instructor, in small capped groups so there's room for discussion and direct feedback. Sessions are recorded for revision afterwards, but the recordings are a backup, not the primary delivery method.