Make the case for cloud
Explain the benefits, drivers and trade-offs of cloud, including hybrid and multicloud setups.
Partners and press
Overview
You do not need to build on the cloud to be fluent in what it can do.
Cloud Digital Leader is a Foundational exam for anyone who needs cloud basics and how Google Cloud serves an organization’s goals. Five areas carry 18% each and operations 10%: transformation, data, AI, infrastructure modernization, and trust and security. Google recommends working with technical colleagues, and the guide updated on 12 August 2026 adds agentic AI and AI Hypercomputer.
9Modules
50–60Questions
90Minutes
8Roles
What it tests
Learn all the way down.
Learn all the way down.
Perform when it matters.
Match products to problems
Pick the right Google Cloud data, AI and compute products for a stated business need.
Speak about AI and data
Describe ML, gen AI and agentic AI, and why data quality decides what a model can do.
Cover trust and cost
Describe how Google secures the platform, and how organizations control spend and run reliably.
Course outline
Make the case for cloud,
Make the case for cloud,
then match Google Cloud to the need.
We design this course ourselves. Google Cloud runs the exam and issues the credential, and LUNARTECH is independent of Google Cloud.
Start with the reasons, not the products. You learn what drives organizations to the cloud, the hurdles that slow them, and the core ideas of cloud computing that every later topic depends on.
- Drivers of digital transformation
- Cloud benefits: speed, scale and cost shape
- Common hurdles: skills, culture and legacy
- Core cloud concepts: elasticity and pay for use
- Capital versus operating expense
- Talking to technical teams about cloud
You build A short brief that states why one organization should move a workload to the cloud and what could block it.
Service models decide who runs what. You compare infrastructure, platform and software services, hybrid and multicloud setups, and learn how Google Cloud’s global network supports reach and reliability.
- Infrastructure, platform and software as a service
- Public, private, hybrid and multicloud
- Regions, zones and edge locations
- How Google’s global network helps customers
- Shared responsibility at a high level
- Choosing a model for a stated need
You build A comparison of service models for one application, with who runs what at each level.
Data creates value only when it is collected, stored and used well. You follow the data supply chain and match Google Cloud data products, such as BigQuery and Spanner, to the business need each one serves.
- The data supply chain from source to decision
- Structured and unstructured data
- Databases and when to use each kind
- BigQuery for analytics at scale
- Spanner for globally consistent data
- Data governance and ownership
You build A data map for one business showing sources, stores and the Google product for each need.
Reports are most useful when they are current. You see how streaming data and business intelligence turn into decisions, and where Pub/Sub, Dataflow and Looker fit.
- Batch and real-time data
- Streaming with Pub/Sub and Dataflow
- Business intelligence with Looker
- Self-service analytics
- From dashboard to decision
- Choosing between reports and real-time alerts
You build A proposal for turning one report into a near-real-time dashboard, with the services involved.
AI creates value when data and goals line up. You learn what AI, machine learning, generative AI and agentic AI mean, why data quality limits results, and how Gemini, AI Hypercomputer and BigQuery ML fit.
- AI, ML and generative AI explained
- Agentic AI and how it changes work
- Why data quality decides results
- Gemini and Google Cloud’s AI offerings
- AI Hypercomputer in plain terms
- Machine learning with BigQuery ML for analysts
You build An AI opportunity sheet that lists three use cases with the data each one needs.
Moving workloads is not one decision. You compare lift-and-shift with changing the application, understand virtual machines, containers and serverless, and see the business value of APIs and managed platforms.
- Rehost, replatform and refactor
- Virtual machines and Compute Engine
- Containers and GKE
- Serverless options and when they fit
- API management with Apigee
- Matching a modernization path to a business goal
You build A modernization recommendation for three applications with the reasons for each path.
Customers and regulators ask where data is safe. You learn core security concepts, how Google secures its platform and what remains the customer’s duty, and the value of its security tools and threat intelligence.
- Core security ideas: identity, encryption and least privilege
- Shared responsibility
- Security Command Center
- Threat intelligence and its value
- Secure-by-design practices
- Compliance and trust questions to ask a provider
You build A trust briefing that answers a board member’s five questions about cloud security.
A good move is one you can run and afford. You learn how to govern cloud spending, monitor systems, design for resilience, and see how DevOps and site reliability engineering change operations.
- Cost governance and budgets
- Observability and monitoring
- Reliability and resilience
- DevOps principles
- Site reliability engineering at a high level
- Shared accountability for cost across teams
You build A cost and operations plan for one cloud workload, with budgets, ownership and a monitoring approach.
Pull every area together for one organization. You state why it should move, which data, AI and application changes to make, how to keep it secure and affordable, and how to explain it to leadership.
- Understanding the organization and its goals
- Choosing cloud, data and AI moves
- Covering security, cost and operations
- Anticipating objections
- Presenting the case
You build A cloud adoption case for one organization covering value, data, AI, modernization, security and cost.
Issued by
Certifying body · Independent of LUNARTECH
Google Cloud
Google Cloud runs this program itself. Exams are taken online with a proctor or at a test center, and list prices rise with the level, from Foundational to Professional. Credentials last two or three years and can be renewed. LUNARTECH is independent of Google Cloud.
How you get there
Top-tier roles go to people who can do the work.
Top-tier roles go to people who can do the work.
Here’s how you get there.
Know where you start.
Google recommends experience collaborating with technical professionals. No prerequisites.
Work through the course.
Nine modules, designed by LUNARTECH, at your own pace.
Sit it with Google Cloud.
Google Cloud runs the exam and issues the credential, so you register and book directly with them.
Support
Support at every stage.
Support at every stage.
You won’t be working through this alone.
Before you start
Try it first.
A 3-day free trial opens a selection of the content. Your card is only charged once it ends.
While you learn
Mentors within reach.
Stuck on a concept? Reach out to a mentor whenever you need help.
While you learn
One-on-one sessions.
On the yearly plan, one-on-one sessions give you dedicated support.
Any time
A team behind you.
Write to info@lunartech.ai at any point, from your trial onwards. If your employer is funding you, we’ll set it up with them directly.
All the way through
A schedule that fits around your life.
Your own paceFrom anywhereAt any hour
After the last lesson
Stay in the network.
Your alumni network stays with you: ongoing support, opportunities and industry insight.
Career support
Career support, past the last lesson. Coaching, a sharper resume, real interview preparation and the people to know.
Career direction
Tailored coaching helps you decide where to aim and how to get there.
Strong portfolio
Hands-on projects become work you can show, not just claim.
Resume and profile
Personalized refinement, so what you send says what you can actually do.
Interview preparation
Preparation for the questions that decide it, so you walk in ready.
Network and search
Connections with industry leaders, and an alumni network that stays with you.
Reviews
Real stories from the community.
LUNARTECH Academy has been the most empowering learning experience of my life, giving me a clear, structured path from the absolute basics to building real-world AI systems with confidence.
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The programme’s clear, bite-sized content and practical projects dramatically improved my speed from fuzzy idea to MVP and my ability to communicate AI value. I followed the system, and it works.
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As a Data Science graduate, I want to thank you for the effort you put into making videos to support growing data scientists.
I’ve been following your work since taking your machine learning course, and I’m impressed by your practical approach to applying AI.
Why choose us
Built around how you actually learn.
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Hands-on practice
Apply every idea to real problems, so it becomes something you have used, not only seen.
Industry-aligned curriculum
We keep courses current with the tools, techniques and skills the field asks for.
Flexible learning
Study at your own pace, from anywhere, at any hour.
Certificate of completion
Finish the course and earn a certificate that shows what you have learned.
Focus on your success
Personalized learning plans and support structures carry you through the hard parts.
Lifetime alumni network
Stay connected after you finish, with ongoing support, opportunities and industry insight.
Your certificate
It doesn’t raise its voice. Neither will you.
Finish a LUNARTECH course and its certificate is issued in your name, under our signature. Google Cloud’s credential comes from Google Cloud, when you pass its exam.
Certificate of completion
Your Name
Cloud Digital Leader course
LUNARTECH RISE Academy
Pricing
This course comes with the membership.
This course comes with the membership.
So does everything else.
One membership opens every course, certification, workshop and masterclass in the Academy. Every plan starts with a 3-day free trial. You register and book the exam directly with Google Cloud.
3 days free, then $29.97 a month. Your card is only charged once the trial ends.
Included in every plan
- Every course in the Academy
- Every certification course
- Workshops and masterclasses
- A certificate of completion
- A 3-day free trial
- Learning at your own pace
- The lifetime alumni network
- Upgrades at any time
In practice
Eight roles.
Eight roles.
One credential across them all.
No single job owns it. Here’s where each role leans hardest, and where its work ends up.
- 01Transformation
- 02Data
- 03AI
- 04Modernization
- 05Security
- 06Operations
-
Cloud projects start with a business case. You should be able to build and defend one.
Transformation, Data
Business strategy, Project delivery
-
Migration plans use words like rehost and refactor. You need to know what each costs.
Modernization, Operations
Project delivery, Public sector
-
Customers ask which product solves which problem. Matching them is the job.
Transformation, AI, Modernization
Sales and pre-sales, Business strategy
-
Security and cost questions land on your desk. This exam covers the basics of both.
Modernization, Security, Operations
Procurement, Public sector
-
Cloud contracts follow usage, support and shared responsibility. You need the vocabulary to compare offers.
Modernization, Operations
Procurement, Public sector
-
Roadmaps now include data and AI options. Knowing what is possible shapes what you promise.
Transformation, AI
Business strategy, Project delivery
-
Trust and security questions arrive from the business first. The exam covers answers non-engineers should know.
Security
Public sector, Procurement
-
Customers talk about outcomes before products. Transformation framing helps you place the right service.
Transformation, Modernization
Sales and pre-sales
- Business strategy
- Sales and pre-sales
- Project delivery
- Procurement
- Public sector
Business Analyst
Cloud projects start with a business case. You should be able to build and defend one.
Over 10,000 students trust LUNARTECH
LUNARTECH gives you the skills
to learn, build, create and lead.
Engineers
Understand systems all the way down. Build the ones others rely on.
Scientists
Understand what the data says. Build models that hold up.
Researchers
Understand the papers. Build on them, and take the work further.
The field
Anyone can use AI.
Anyone can use AI.
Few can engineer it. This is where that starts.
+340%growth in open roles requiring AI skills
Roles and pay
~35,000 open roles right now
Open roles: Built In, Greenhouse, LinkedIn.
Typical salaries: Glassdoor, Levels.fyi, Payscale, Indeed, Ravio, JobRise, U.S. BLS. Military: 2026 U.S. basic pay, drone officers with aviation incentive pay.
Updated November 2026.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
Need help? These answers cover most of what people ask before they start.
No. Google Cloud issues it. LUNARTECH is independent of Google Cloud, and its names and marks belong to it. When you finish a course of ours, you earn a LUNARTECH certificate of completion for that course.
No. We design this course ourselves, around what the exam covers. Google Cloud has no part in it, and you still register and book the exam directly with Google Cloud.
50–60 questions, 90 minutes, online or test center, in English, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, French.
Google recommends experience collaborating with technical professionals. No prerequisites.
3 years. A shorter renewal exam (45 minutes, 20 questions) opens 180 days before expiry.
Yes. Certified candidates can take a 45-minute, 20-question renewal exam on the same content, from 180 days before their certification expires.
We last reviewed it on 5 November 2026, from Google Cloud’s own pages. Details change, so check the official page before you book.
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The course
Build the skills behind Cloud Digital Leader.
Prove you can explain what Google Cloud does for a business. Start with a free trial, or enroll in a plan and work through the course at your own pace. Google Cloud runs the exam and issues the credential.
LUNARTECH is independent of the vendors and certifying bodies listed here. Their names, exam titles and marks belong to them, exams are run by them, and credentials are issued by them. Reviewed 5 November 2026. Catalogues change often, so confirm the details on the official page before you book.
