IIIT Hyderabad has started applications for Cohort 3 of its Agentic AI Certificate Course, a 12-week course that teaches students and working professionals how to build real-world AI agents. The last date to apply is October 15, 2026, and classes will begin in late October with a campus immersion at the Hyderabad campus. The programme is designed for engineering, computer science, and data professionals who want to go beyond using AI tools and learn how to build production-ready AI agents from scratch.
Key Facts: IIIT Hyderabad Agentic AI Cohort 3
- Course name: “Agentic AI: From Concepts to Practice,” run by IIIT Hyderabad’s Division of Flexible Learning (DFL).
- Applications for Cohort 3 opened August 18, 2026, and close October 15, 2026.
- Orientation is scheduled for October 20–22, 2026, with the cohort starting in late October.
- Duration: 12 weeks, roughly 12 hours of study per week, delivered live online.
- Fee: ₹90,000 plus GST, with a 10% early-bird discount and a 5% special-category discount available.
- Eligibility: basic coding knowledge, preferably Python; one or more years of professional experience preferred.
- Programme director: Prof. Karthik Vaidhyanathan, Software Engineering Research Centre (SERC), IIIT Hyderabad.
- Ends with a 2–3 day campus immersion at IIIT Hyderabad.
What Is the Agentic AI Course?
Agentic AI systems are AI tools that don’t just answer a prompt but can plan, take actions, and complete multi-step tasks on their own — booking things, running code, querying databases, or coordinating with other software. IIIT Hyderabad’s course teaches participants how to design, build, deploy and operate these systems from scratch, rather than just use existing AI products.
The curriculum runs across four modules covering the foundations of agentic AI, system design, implementation, and evaluation, deployment and operations. Teaching combines live interactive online classes, recorded lectures, hands-on labs and project work, with a campus immersion at the end where participants work face-to-face with faculty and peers.
Why This Course Matters Right Now
Most AI courses available to Indian students and professionals today teach prompt engineering or how to use existing generative AI tools. This one is different: it’s aimed at people who want to build the underlying systems — the kind of skill companies are actively hiring for as they move from experimenting with AI chatbots to deploying autonomous AI agents in production. Prof. Vaidhyanathan has framed the programme’s goal as turning “AI users” into “AI engineers,” a distinction that is becoming a real dividing line in tech hiring.
That shift is visible in job postings across Indian tech companies and global firms with India offices, where “agentic AI,” “AI agents” and “LLM orchestration” are showing up as required skills in roles that didn’t exist two years ago. A structured, IIIT-backed certificate gives candidates a credible way to signal this skill on a resume, rather than relying on scattered online tutorials.
Who Should Apply
The programme is built for early-career professionals and experienced ones alike, not fresh undergraduates with zero work experience. It suits:
- Software engineers and computer science graduates who already write code and want to specialise in AI systems.
- Data science and machine learning professionals looking to move into agentic AI and LLM-based system design.
- MBA and postgraduate technology-management students who want technical depth alongside their degree.
- Working professionals with a year or more of experience who have basic Python skills and want a credential from a recognised institute rather than an unstructured online course.
Students still in the middle of an undergraduate degree, with no coding background, are not the primary audience here — the course assumes working familiarity with programming and expects a real time commitment of about 12 hours a week for three months.
Fee, Discounts and How to Apply
The course costs ₹90,000 plus GST. IIIT Hyderabad offers a 10% early-bird discount for early applicants and an additional 5% discount for candidates in specified special categories, both applied automatically at checkout. Scholarship and discount eligibility is calculated during the application process, so applicants don’t need to apply separately for financial assistance.
Applications are submitted through the Division of Flexible Learning’s official programme page. Given the October 15 deadline and the early-bird discount window, students and professionals interested in this cohort should apply well before the closing date rather than waiting until the last week.
What Happens After You Enrol
Once selected, participants go through 12 weeks of live online sessions covering the four core modules, interspersed with hands-on labs and doubt-clearing sessions. The course culminates in a 2–3 day campus immersion at IIIT Hyderabad, giving participants direct access to faculty and a chance to work on projects on campus before the programme wraps up. This blended structure — mostly remote with a short in-person capstone — is becoming a common model for Indian institutes running executive-style AI programmes, since it keeps the course accessible to working professionals across the country while still offering some in-person mentorship.
Agentic AI vs Other AI Courses: What’s Different
India already has plenty of generative AI and prompt engineering courses that teach people how to use tools like ChatGPT or Gemini more effectively. IIIT Hyderabad’s Agentic AI Certificate Programme goes a step further. Instead of focusing only on writing better prompts, it teaches how to build AI agents that can think through tasks, connect with external tools and APIs, make reliable decisions, and work safely in real-world applications.
This makes a difference when it comes to careers. A prompt engineering certificate shows that you can use AI tools well, while an Agentic AI certificate shows that you can build and deploy AI systems. It’s a more technical skill that is becoming increasingly valuable for companies developing AI products.
The Bigger Picture: Agentic AI Hiring in India
Global technology firms with large India engineering centres — along with a growing number of Indian AI-first startups — have been expanding teams focused specifically on AI agents and autonomous systems through 2025 and 2026. Job listings increasingly separate “AI/ML engineer” roles from newer “agentic AI engineer” or “AI systems engineer” postings that expect candidates to understand orchestration frameworks, tool-calling, memory systems and agent evaluation, not just model training.
For engineering graduates and working software professionals, this creates a narrow but real window: demand for agentic AI skills is currently outpacing the supply of people who can credibly demonstrate them. A structured, faculty-led certificate from a research institute like IIIT Hyderabad — as opposed to a self-paced video course — gives candidates a way to close that gap with a credential recruiters can verify.
It’s worth being realistic about the cost, though. At ₹90,000 plus GST, this is priced closer to an executive education programme than a typical student certificate course, which is consistent with its target audience of working professionals with at least a year of experience rather than students straight out of college. Anyone considering it should weigh the fee against their current salary trajectory and how directly agentic AI skills apply to their target roles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What is IIIT Hyderabad’s Agentic AI course?
Ans. It’s a 12-week certificate programme called “Agentic AI: From Concepts to Practice,” run by IIIT Hyderabad’s Division of Flexible Learning, that teaches participants to design, build and deploy AI agent systems.
Q. When does Cohort 3 start and when is the application deadline?
Ans. Applications close October 15, 2026. Orientation runs October 20–22, 2026, with the cohort starting in late October 2026.
Q. How much does the course cost?
Ans. The fee is ₹90,000 plus GST, with a 10% early-bird discount and an additional 5% special-category discount available and applied automatically during checkout.
Q. Who is eligible to apply?
Ans. Applicants need basic coding knowledge, preferably in Python, and one or more years of professional experience is preferred. It’s designed for early-career and experienced working professionals rather than students with no programming background.
Q. Is this course useful for a career in AI in India?
Ans. Yes — agentic AI and LLM-based system design are increasingly listed as required skills in Indian tech hiring, and a certificate from a recognised institute like IIIT Hyderabad gives candidates a credible way to demonstrate this specific, in-demand skill set.
Next Steps
If you have basic Python skills and at least a year of work experience, check the official IIIT Hyderabad Division of Flexible Learning page for the full syllabus and application form before the October 15 deadline. Applying early secures the discount and more time to plan around the 12-hours-a-week commitment. Check back for updates on future cohorts and similar AI-focused certificate programmes from other Indian institutes.