This will be my thirteenth Dreamforce. I’ve attended as both a customer and an employee, and I’m here to pass along a pro-tip that could save you up to $400. Beyond the keynotes and product launches, Dreamforce is one of the best moments of the year to level up your career. If you’re an admin, developer, or architect, here’s how to get your next Salesforce certification.
Included with every Dreamforce pass is the opportunity to take a Salesforce certification exam, on a space-available basis. When you’re building your agenda, search for “certification exam” and add the session date and time that works best for you. Think of your certification journey like an Eras Tour – every certification you earn is a new chapter, and Dreamforce is where you write the next one. Come ready to add a few new tracks to your setlist.
Why These Five Certifications?
We didn’t pick these five at random. Each one reflects where Salesforce is heading with AI-powered work, trusted data, smarter marketing, and connected teams.
Whether you’re an admin looking to broaden your stack, a developer going deep on Agentforce, or a consultant who lives in Data 360, there’s something here that’s directly relevant to the work you’re doing today. These are the certifications that signal you’re not just along for the ride – you’re helping drive it.
Here are the top five certs I’d put at the top of your Dreamforce to-do list:
1. Agentforce Specialist
If you’re only going to earn one cert this Dreamforce season, make it this one. The Agentforce Specialist exam goes deep on what building with AI actually means in practice – customizing agents, engineering prompts that work, connecting the right data sources, and managing the full agent development lifecycle from build to deployment to optimization.
It’s not enough to know Agentforce exists – candidates need to demonstrate a strong understanding of AI agent capabilities and how to implement them in ways that drive real business outcomes.
That’s exactly the kind of rigorous, applicable knowledge that separates the people who talk about AI from the people who build with it. AI is accelerating everything in business. Get ahead of it.
2. Data 360 Consultant
This one is for all the consultants out there. The Data 360 Consultant certification is built for customer-facing practitioners who are already in the weeds – designing, configuring, and implementing solutions on Data 360 and other enterprise data platforms.
What sets it apart is the long game: this exam validates your ability to translate customer business requirements into solutions that are actually maintainable and scalable, not just functional on day one. If contributing to a customer’s long-term success is how you measure your work, this cert was designed for you.
3. Slack Admin
More organizations are running on Slack as their operating system for work, and that means someone needs to own it properly.
The Slack Admin certification validates your ability to configure, manage, and govern Slack at scale: workspaces, channels, permissions, integrations, and automation. For admins who already manage Salesforce infrastructure, adding Slack Admin to your certification stack makes you genuinely more valuable. It’s a practical, high-ROI cert which is exactly why it’s worth your attention.
4. Tableau Next: New Certification
Data literacy isn’t optional anymore, and Tableau Next takes that truth seriously. This certification is designed for professionals who need to go beyond pulling reports. It validates your ability to work with Tableau’s next-generation analytics platform, build meaningful visualizations, and help your organization act on data.
Whether you’re an admin helping your team make faster decisions or an architect designing a data strategy, Tableau Next puts the certification behind the skill. Dreamforce is a great place to get hands-on time with the platform before you sit the exam.
5. Marketing Cloud Next: New Certification
Marketing and data are no longer separate conversations, and this cert reflects that. The Marketing Cloud Next Data 360 Consultant certification is built for practitioners who need to connect customer data, personalization, and campaign execution into one coherent strategy.
If you work in or alongside marketing – or you’re a consultant who touches Data 360 – this is a high-value, forward-looking certification that’s only going to grow in demand as Marketing Cloud Next matures. It’s one of the newer certs on the block, which means early movers stand out.
Learn more about Salesforce certification exams at Dreamforce 2026.
Not Ready to Take an Exam?
If you’re not quite at the “ready to test” stage yet, the best thing you can do is get into a hands-on training session led by our expert instructors.
We’re offering 25 unique topics with a real focus on what matters right now: building, governance, and operational efficiency. Computers are provided, you’ll log into a live Salesforce org, and I promise you’ll walk away with skills you can put to work the moment you get home.
Sometimes the best certification prep is hands-on training, and Dreamforce gives you the room to do exactly that.
Don’t Miss: Customer Success Keynote
Real stories, real results. It’s a celebration of our 2026 Customer Success Award winners and a deep dive into how the most innovative Salesforce customers are putting their expertise to work.
If you want real-world context to wrap around any of these certifications, this is the keynote you need to add to your agenda.
Top Sessions to Add to Your Agenda
Dreamforce sessions fill up fast, and the most relevant ones for admins, developers, DevOps pros, and architects are always oversubscribed. Here are the sessions you can’t miss.
See You at Dreamforce
The cert landscape is changing. The skills that matter are evolving. But Dreamforce is still the best moment to reset your roadmap, invest in your growth, and come back with something tangible to show for it.
With the landscape shifting and a whole new wave of AI-era certifications coming into focus, Dreamforce 2026 is the right time to stop, take stock, and chase the certs that actually matter right now.
See you there.
Want to explore the full catalog of Salesforce certifications available at Dreamforce? Start here.
