Employers ask whether their people are AI-ready. Professionals try to show that they are. Sectors are starting to define their own expectations. Yet until recently there was no common framework explaining what AI proficiency actually means.
The CFTE AI Proficiency Framework fills that gap. Published as a public reference framework (version 1.4, April 2026), it gives organisations, professionals, educators and sector bodies a shared model for defining, assessing and developing AI proficiency across the professional workforce. This article explains how it works and how to use it.
What is the CFTE AI Proficiency Framework?
The framework is built around three public proficiency levels, ten capability domains and three assessment dimensions. It was written by CFTE co-founder Huy Nguyen Trieu, with contributors Tram Anh Nguyen and Bareera Zakir, and is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence with a permanent DOI.
It is designed to stay useful as AI tools change. Rather than certifying skill in a particular product, it describes the capabilities that last.
Four core concepts
The framework separates four ideas that are often confused:
Concept | Meaning |
Proficiency | Structured levels of capability across domains, with increasing autonomy, judgement and responsibility. This is the framework’s core focus |
Tool fluency | Current practical familiarity with specific tools or tool families, such as Copilot, ChatGPT or Claude |
Applied capability | The ability to turn proficiency and tools into meaningful outcomes in real work |
Readiness | The broader conclusion about whether an individual, team or workforce is prepared to work effectively with AI in a given context |
The distinction matters. Someone can be fluent in a tool without being proficient, and an organisation can have high tool adoption without being ready.
The three public levels
Level | Name | What it means |
1 | AI Literacy | Safe and disciplined use of AI in professional contexts |
2 | Applied AI Practitioner | Independent application, validating outputs and using AI in workflows |
3 | AI Systems and Decision Leader | Systems reasoning, judgement about orchestrating AI, and high-level implementation and governance capability |
Behind the public levels sit six internal developmental bands used for diagnostics: Band 0 (unmeasured baseline), Band 1 (Awareness), Band 2 (Basic Proficiency), Band 3 (Working Proficiency), Band 4 (Advanced Application) and Band 5 (Strategic Mastery).
The ten capability domains
- AI Foundations
- AI Applications and Use Cases
- AI Tools and Methods
- Data
- AI Risks and Limitations
- Regulation, Ethics and Accountability
- AI Implementation and Operationalisation
- AI Strategy and Business Impact
- Emerging Trends and Industry Evolution
- Technology Landscape
The spread is deliberate. AI proficiency is not only about using tools; it includes understanding risk, governance, implementation and business impact.
The three assessment dimensions
Each domain is assessed across knowledge (what someone understands), skills (what they can do) and behaviours (how they act in practice, for example whether they check AI outputs before relying on them).
The framework’s value lies in separating what is often blurred: familiarity with a tool, the ability to apply AI in work, and the institutional readiness to use it responsibly. That distinction helps organisations avoid treating high tool adoption as proof of capability.
How to use the framework
- Individuals can benchmark where they stand and plan their next step, for example with CFTE’s AIQ assessment.
- Employers can define what proficiency each role needs, measure where their people sit rather than guessing, and design role-based pathways, supported by the AI Capability Diagnostic.
- Educators can map curricula to levels and domains.
- Sector bodies and regulators can build sector profiles on a common foundation.
This matters as national programmes scale up. Initiatives such as Singapore’s IBF AI Workforce Co-Lab and the UK Financial Services Skills Compact commit to training whole workforces (see our article “How Singapore, the UK and the UAE Are Training Their Workforces for AI”). A shared proficiency model helps show whether that training builds real capability.
Using and adapting the framework
The framework is intended to be used. Anyone may cite, teach from, reuse and adapt it, including for commercial purposes, provided they credit CFTE, indicate any changes, and apply the same licence to adapted versions. Adaptations should not present themselves as official CFTE profiles unless CFTE has explicitly granted that recognition.
The framework is available via its DOI, ResearchGate and Academia.edu.
As AI training scales across sectors, a shared definition of proficiency becomes more important. The CFTE AI Proficiency Framework offers an open, adaptable reference that organisations, educators and sector bodies can use to describe and develop AI capability consistently.
Frequently asked questions
What are the levels of the CFTE AI Proficiency Framework?
Three public levels: Level 1, AI Literacy; Level 2, Applied AI Practitioner; and Level 3, AI Systems and Decision Leader.
What is the difference between AI literacy and AI proficiency?
AI literacy is the first level of proficiency: safe and disciplined use of AI at work. Proficiency covers the full range, up to systems reasoning, implementation and governance.
Can organisations use the framework for free?
Yes. It is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Users must credit CFTE, indicate changes and share adaptations under the same licence.
How should I cite the framework?
Nguyen Trieu, H. (2026). CFTE AI Proficiency Framework. Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19652972
About CFTE
The Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE) is a global platform that partners with financial institutions, regulators and governments to build future-ready workforces at scale. Founded in 2017 by Huy Nguyen Trieu and Tram Anh Nguyen, CFTE has supported more than 200,000 professionals across 130+ countries and works with 250+ leading organisations. It has offices in London, Singapore and Abu Dhabi.
CFTE’s work spans AI capability diagnostics, role-based learning pathways and executive education, built on public frameworks including the CFTE AI Proficiency Framework, the Performance Hexagon and SHIME. CFTE founded Global Women in AI to help more women lead, build and shape the future of AI. Learn more at cfte.education.
