Google Associate Cloud Engineer (ACE) Exam Update: What’s Changed in 2025?

Quick Definition: The updated Google Associate Cloud Engineer (ACE) exam emphasizes real-world skills in security, automation, containers, and AI-adjacent services to better reflect today’s cloud landscape.

The Google Associate Cloud Engineer (ACE) exam is designed to help you become comfortable with the basics of Google Cloud, including deploying virtual machines, configuring access, and interfacing with services. One of the challenges of IT exams, as with the rest of the industry, is that so many things change so quickly. And if you’re going to develop your skills as a Google Cloud engineer, you really need to keep up. 

If you’re new to Google Cloud, you may want to check out our article How to Create and Manage Service Accounts Within Google Cloud. It’s a good way to get started. 

Why Did Google Update the ACE Exam?

The obvious answer is that the cloud landscape is changing fast. Cloud professionals are now being called upon to give more attention to automation, AI, and scalable architectures.  While the exam domain names have not changed, key concepts have been added or expanded to meet the demands of the marketplace. The new exam goes beyond foundational knowledge, ensuring that engineers possess production-ready skills.

Relevance is the driving force for these exam updates. Of course, no one wants to be bothered with outdated exam topics or left out in the cold by not dealing with the latest important issues. That’s why you will see a greater emphasis on tools like gcloud CLI, and deployment strategies with Cloud Run. Automation and scripting are a greater focus, and machine learning (ML) fundamentals are part of a push toward AI literacy. 

The new ACE exam is designed to meet the demands of the cloud as it currently exists. It’s more than just passing the test and getting a new certification to hang on your wall. To get the scoop on the exam and all the details, you may want to check in directly on the Google Cloud platform website.

Key Changes in the Google ACE Exam

So, what new topics can you expect to see on the new exam? Here's a quick look at what's been added and removed. 

Introduction of AI and Machine Learning Topics

This may seem a bit off because you won’t see the terms artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) explicitly mentioned in the new ACE exam guide. We may not have an official statement from Google that they have increased their AI/ML emphasis in this exam. But you can be assured that the subject matter is growing across Google Cloud marketing and certifications overall. These AI- and ML-adjacent topics and services are indeed found in the guide:

• BigQuery: Enables SQL-based machine learning through BigQuery ML

• Cloud Storage: Commonly used to store training data, model artifacts, and output from ML pipelines

• Pub/Sub: Supports real-time messaging, often used to stream data into ML workflows

• Dataflow: Processes streaming or batch data, frequently used in ML data preparation pipelines

• Dataproc: Runs Spark or Hadoop jobs, including distributed machine learning tasks

• Cloud Functions: Triggers automation within ML workflows, such as model inference or data ingestion

You will undoubtedly see other AI/ML services in the course of your future Google Cloud career, such as Cloud Vision API, Translation, and Vertex AI. If you’re not keeping up with these trends, you’ll likely be left behind as the technology advances.

Expanded Focus on Security and IAM

The 2025 ACE exam provides a clear view of the fundamentals of Identity and Access Management (IAM) as well as the strategies and services available for securing your cloud environment. Expect more nuanced questions that go beyond definitions, covering:

• IAM roles and the principle of least privilege

• Service accounts and permission boundaries

• Access control at the project and resource level

You might be asked about predefined roles or custom roles for fine-grained access. You may need to know more about Cloud Key Management System (KMS) and data encryption. Many of these topics will appear in scenario-based questions rather than simple recall.

More Hands-On Emphasis on Deployment and Automation

Throughout the industry, there is a continued shift away from manual configuration setups toward automated, scalable cloud deployments. Sometimes that involves moving away from user interface (UI) tools and back to the command line. Tools like gcloud CLI and Cloud Shell still require hands-on use, but they represent a step away from manual UI configuration. That’s because these are ideal platforms for developing script-driven, repeatable deployment practices. 

Full automation can take the form of startup scripts, infrastructure templates with Deployment Manager, or autoscaling. Deployment Manager is Google Cloud’s native infrastructure-as-code (IaC) tool, similar to CloudFormation in Amazon Web Services (AWS). With Deployment Manager, you can create and manage GCP resources using configuration files, typically written in YAML or JSON, with support for Python templates.

Updates to Networking and Kubernetes Topics

Cloud networking is evolving along with other aspects of modern IT infrastructure. It is no longer just a set of configuration parameters to implement; it is a comprehensive solution. A cloud network has become a scalable, multi-service architecture with robust security. The new ACE exam reflects a stronger focus on real-world networking scenarios and secure connectivity. There is greater emphasis on private access, network address translation (NAT), and traffic distribution through Cloud Load Balancing.

Familiarity with Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), Google Cloud’s managed Kubernetes service, is more important in the 2025 ACE. You’ll need to be familiar with cluster deployment, service exposure, and basic container networking concepts. Kubernetes is an open-source system for managing containers, which are lightweight units for running applications. The new emphasis on GKE highlights the importance of containers and Kubernetes for today’s cloud engineers.

Removal of Outdated Content

Out with the old and in with the new, as they say. The previous exam covered some content that is either no longer relevant or has been de-emphasized in the 2025 exam. These include:

• Legacy Stackdriver tools

• UI-driven workflows

• Obsolete default configurations

• Cloud Launcher

It’s not that Google is eliminating cloud capabilities. In fact, they are replacing the outdated components with newer, more integrated features, such as Cloud Operations suite, Deployment Manager, and Cloud Marketplace.

Here’s a good article in case you’re wondering: How Difficult is the Google Associate Cloud Engineer Exam? You’ll get a breakdown of the exam and its contents.

How These Updates Impact Your Exam Prep

Your preparation strategy needs to evolve with the changing expectations of today’s cloud market. It’s not just about learning the latest technologies or services. The move toward more scenario-based questions means that your ability to solve problems will be tested, not just your memorization skills. A greater focus on security, automation, and the latest deployment practices will put you on the path to exam success. 

Here are some tips for getting ready for the 2025 ACE exam:

• Get hands-on with the gcloud CLI and Cloud Shell

• Revisit networking fundamentals

• Use Deployment Manager or similar tools

• Practice configuring IAM roles and permissions

• Experiment with GKE 

Where to Find Updated Study Resources

You can’t go wrong if you make CBT Nuggets your first stop for study resources for Google Associate Cloud Engineer (ACE) Online Training. Our course, taught by instructor Shawn Powers, equips you with the skills to deploy, manage, and secure Google Cloud Platform (GCP) resources. Download our free Google ACE study plan to complete this course in about 30 hours. 

Final Thoughts

The updated Google Associate Cloud Engineer (ACE) exam reflects the dynamic nature of the cloud computing landscape. A new emphasis on practical, production-ready skills is evident. There’s more content related to AI- and ML-adjacent topics, enhanced security and IAM, deployment and automation, and Kubernetes. 

We at CBT Nuggets are here to help you stay current by giving you the latest information to advance your IT certification journey. No one ever said it would be easy – but that’s not why we’re in this business anyway.