Architecting Scalable Cloud AI Infrastructure
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Architecting Scalable Cloud AI Infrastructure
This course is part of GenAI Ops: Running Powerful Generative AI Systems Professional Certificate
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What you'll learn
Design multi-cloud AI architectures with automated scaling, failover capabilities, and comprehensive security and observability frameworks.
Build resilient microservices using dependency analysis, RED metrics optimization, and standardized templates for operational consistency.
Automate cloud cost optimization and governance enforcement through usage analytics, policy evaluation, and intelligent compliance scripts.
Create operational excellence frameworks with monitoring, incident response, and continuous improvement practices for reliable AI service delivery.
Skills you'll gain
- Governance
- AI Security
- Software Architecture
- Security Controls
- Application Performance Management
- Multi-Cloud
- Security Architecture Review
- Infrastructure Architecture
- Data Architecture
- CI/CD
- Cloud Infrastructure
- Cloud Computing Architecture
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
- Cost Management
- Scalability
- Microservices
- Enterprise Architecture
- Site Reliability Engineering
- Data Pipelines
Tools you'll learn
Details to know
February 2026
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There are 13 modules in this course
Enterprise AI systems require cloud infrastructure that scales globally while controlling cost and reliability. This course equips you with architecture skills to design multi-cloud AI platforms, build resilient microservices, automate governance, and optimize data systems for generative AI workloads.
You will learn to make infrastructure decisions across AWS, Azure, and GCP, identify failure risks in distributed systems, implement automated cost controls, and architect data pipelines that balance performance with budget constraints. Through hands-on enterprise projects, you will create production-ready blueprints with security zones, CI/CD pipelines, and observability stacks. You will also build microservice templates with standardized logging and tracing, develop compliance automation scripts, and design unified data architectures integrating Kafka and Spark. These skills prepare you for roles as cloud architects, site reliability engineers, and infrastructure leaders deploying AI systems at scale. By the end of the course, you will be able to prevent failures through proactive design, reduce cloud expenses through automation, and build systems that remain resilient under stress.
You will learn the systematic analysis of workload characteristics to make data-driven decisions about optimal service selection across AWS, Azure, and GCP platforms.
What's included
3 videos1 reading2 assignments
3 videosβ’Total 16 minutes
- The Business Impact of Multi-Cloud Workload Decisionsβ’3 minutes
- Understanding Multi-Cloud Service Categories and Workload Characteristics β’7 minutes
- Analyzing Real Workload Data for Service Selectionβ’7 minutes
1 readingβ’Total 8 minutes
- Workload Pattern Analysis Frameworkβ’8 minutes
2 assignmentsβ’Total 18 minutes
- Multi-Cloud Service Selection Analysisβ’15 minutes
- Workload Pattern Assessmentβ’3 minutes
You will develop expertise in systematic frameworks for assessing existing system architectures to identify performance bottlenecks and resilience gaps before they impact production systems.
What's included
2 videos1 reading1 assignment
2 videosβ’Total 11 minutes
- The Cost of Reactive vs. Proactive Architecture Designβ’4 minutes
- Failover and Resilience Evaluation Methodsβ’7 minutes
1 readingβ’Total 10 minutes
- Scalability Assessment Frameworksβ’10 minutes
1 assignmentβ’Total 3 minutes
- Architecture Evaluation Methods β’3 minutes
You will learn to create professional reference architecture diagrams that integrate security controls, deployment automation, and operational monitoring into cohesive, enterprise-ready designs.
What's included
1 video1 reading3 assignments
1 videoβ’Total 9 minutes
- CI/CD and Observability Framework Integration β’9 minutes
1 readingβ’Total 10 minutes
- Security Zones and Enterprise Integration Patterns β’10 minutes
3 assignmentsβ’Total 33 minutes
- Enterprise Architecture Design Validationβ’15 minutes
- Complete Reference Architecture Creation β’15 minutes
- Reference Architecture Components β’3 minutes
You will learn systematic dependency analysis techniques to identify and prevent cascade failures in AI system architectures. Through hands-on application of FMEA principles and dependency mapping tools, learners will develop the skills to evaluate service relationships, assess failure propagation risks, and implement targeted safeguards that maintain system reliability under stress.
What's included
2 videos1 reading1 assignment
2 videosβ’Total 10 minutes
- When AI Systems Fail: The Hidden Cascadeβ’4 minutes
- Mapping Service Dependencies for Failure Analysisβ’6 minutes
1 readingβ’Total 10 minutes
- Dependency Analysis Frameworks for Distributed AI Systemsβ’10 minutes
1 assignmentβ’Total 3 minutes
- Dependency Analysis Knowledge Checkβ’3 minutes
You will develop expertise in RED metrics analysis (Rate, Errors, Duration) to systematically identify performance bottlenecks and prioritize optimization strategies in AI systems. By analyzing real performance data and applying strategic decision-making frameworks, learners will transform observability metrics into actionable improvements that enhance system performance and user experience.
What's included
3 videos2 readings2 assignments
3 videosβ’Total 21 minutes
- Data-Driven Decisions That Save Systemsβ’5 minutes
- Performance Tuning Strategies for AI System Bottlenecksβ’6 minutes
- Building Performance Analysis Dashboards for RED Metricsβ’10 minutes
2 readingsβ’Total 20 minutes
- RED Metrics Framework for AI System Performance Analysisβ’10 minutes
- System Monitoring Strategies for Proactive Performance Managementβ’10 minutes
2 assignmentsβ’Total 15 minutes
- RED Metrics Analysis for System Optimizationβ’10 minutes
- Observability Metrics Evaluationβ’5 minutes
You will design and implement production-ready microservice templates that standardize logging, tracing, and security middleware across AI service ecosystems. Through practical template development exercises, learners will create reusable foundations that accelerate development velocity while ensuring operational consistency and enterprise-grade security standards.
What's included
3 videos1 reading3 assignments
3 videosβ’Total 18 minutes
- Template-Driven Development at Scaleβ’4 minutes
- Implementing Middleware Integration in Microservice Templatesβ’9 minutes
- Building Production-Ready Microservice Templates with Integrated Middlewareβ’5 minutes
1 readingβ’Total 10 minutes
- Microservice Template Architecture for Operational Consistencyβ’10 minutes
3 assignmentsβ’Total 27 minutes
- Comprehensive Microservice Resilience Architecture Assessmentβ’10 minutes
- Design a Comprehensive Microservice Template for AI Workloadsβ’12 minutes
- Template Development - Knowledge Checkβ’5 minutes
You will learn systematic cloud cost analysis techniques by examining real AWS billing data to uncover hidden inefficiencies and develop data-driven optimization strategies.
What's included
3 videos2 readings2 assignments
3 videosβ’Total 13 minutes
- The Hidden Cost Crisis: Cloud Bills Spiral Out of Controlβ’3 minutes
- Cloud Usage Analytics: Essential Concepts and Metricsβ’6 minutes
- Step-by-Step AWS Billing Analysis: From Dashboard to Insightsβ’4 minutes
2 readingsβ’Total 20 minutes
- AWS Billing Dashboard Deep Dive: Interpreting Usage Data for Optimizationβ’10 minutes
- Advanced Usage Analytics: Identifying Rightsizing and Termination Opportunitiesβ’10 minutes
2 assignmentsβ’Total 23 minutes
- AWS Billing Analysis Challenge: Uncover Hidden Cost Optimization Opportunitiesβ’15 minutes
- Cloud Usage Analysis Knowledge Checkβ’8 minutes
You will systematically assess governance frameworks by analyzing tagging compliance reports, measuring policy enforcement effectiveness, and identifying gaps that compromise cost control and security compliance.
What's included
3 videos1 reading2 assignments
3 videosβ’Total 17 minutes
- When Governance Fails: The Hidden Cost of Policy Gapsβ’5 minutes
- Governance Metrics That Matter: Measuring Policy Successβ’8 minutes
- AWS Config Rules Analysis: Systematic Compliance Evaluationβ’4 minutes
1 readingβ’Total 10 minutes
- Governance Policy Assessment Framework: Measuring What Mattersβ’10 minutes
2 assignmentsβ’Total 21 minutes
- Enterprise Governance Assessment: Policy Effectiveness Deep Diveβ’18 minutes
- Governance Policy Effectiveness Knowledge Checkβ’3 minutes
You will develop Infrastructure as Code solutions using Terraform and Sentinel to automate policy enforcement, transforming reactive governance into proactive prevention systems that maintain compliance without manual intervention.
What's included
3 videos1 reading3 assignments
3 videosβ’Total 14 minutes
- From Reactive to Proactive: The Automation Transformationβ’3 minutes
- Infrastructure as Code Governance: Terraform and Sentinel Fundamentalsβ’9 minutes
- Building Governance Automation: Terraform and Sentinel Implementationβ’2 minutes
1 readingβ’Total 10 minutes
- Policy-as-Code Implementation: Building Automated Governance Systemsβ’10 minutes
3 assignmentsβ’Total 38 minutes
- Cloud Cost & Governance Automation Mastery Assessmentβ’15 minutes
- End-to-End Governance Automation: Build Production-Ready Policy Enforcementβ’20 minutes
- Automation Script Development Knowledge Checkβ’3 minutes
You will learn systematic data quality troubleshooting by understanding lineage tracking, analyzing metadata graphs, and applying root cause analysis methodologies to diagnose issues affecting GenAI model performance in enterprise environments.
What's included
2 videos1 reading2 assignments
2 videosβ’Total 7 minutes
- Why Data Lineage Matters for GenAI Reliabilityβ’3 minutes
- Analyze lineage metadata to trace the source of data qualityβ’4 minutes
1 readingβ’Total 8 minutes
- Understanding Data Lineage Architecture and Metadata Systemsβ’8 minutes
2 assignmentsβ’Total 21 minutes
- Enterprise Data Quality Investigation Simulationβ’18 minutes
- Data Lineage Analysis - Knowledge Checkβ’3 minutes
You will develop expertise in cost-effective storage architecture design by analyzing workload access patterns, evaluating tiering strategies across different storage technologies, and creating quantified optimization recommendations that balance performance requirements with budget constraints for enterprise GenAI systems.
What's included
2 videos1 reading2 assignments
2 videosβ’Total 11 minutes
- The Hidden Cost Crisis in GenAI Storage Architectureβ’4 minutes
- Calculating Storage Costs and Performance Trade-offsβ’7 minutes
1 readingβ’Total 7 minutes
- Storage Technologies and Performance Characteristics for AI Workloadsβ’7 minutes
2 assignmentsβ’Total 23 minutes
- Enterprise Storage Tiering Strategy Developmentβ’20 minutes
- Storage Optimization Strategy - Knowledge Checkβ’3 minutes
You will apply systematic approaches to unified data processing architecture design by analyzing platform integration patterns, creating technical blueprints that specify Kafka, Spark, and Flink interoperability, and developing Architecture Decision Records with deployment guidance for enterprise GenAI environments.
What's included
2 videos2 readings3 assignments
2 videosβ’Total 11 minutes
- Breaking Down Platform Silos in Enterprise GenAI Systemsβ’4 minutes
- Kafka-Spark-Flink Integration Architecture Deep Diveβ’7 minutes
2 readingsβ’Total 15 minutes
- Unified Data Processing Architecture Patterns for GenAIβ’8 minutes
- Architecture Decision Records for Platform Integrationβ’7 minutes
3 assignmentsβ’Total 36 minutes
- Platform Integration Mastery Assessmentβ’15 minutes
- Unified Architecture Blueprint Developmentβ’18 minutes
- Platform Integration Architecture Knowledge Checkβ’3 minutes
You will design a comprehensive cloud infrastructure platform for generative AI operations, learning how fundamental cloud architecture principles, microservices patterns, and cost management practices work together to create reliable AI systems. You'll understand how cloud service selection affects system performance, how microservices design impacts reliability, and how automated governance prevents cost overruns. Through hands-on infrastructure design, you'll see how these infrastructure decisions impact both performance and budget in real AI environments.
What's included
5 readings1 assignment
5 readingsβ’Total 145 minutes
- Module Overviewβ’10 minutes
- Professional Contextβ’10 minutes
- Practical Applications: Cloud Architectureβ’10 minutes
- Assignment: GenAI Operations Platformβ’105 minutes
- Solution Keyβ’10 minutes
1 assignmentβ’Total 30 minutes
- Graded Quiz: Architecting Scalable Cloud AI Infrastructure β’30 minutes
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Frequently asked questions
This course is designed for intermediate learners with cloud computing basics and understanding of AI/ML system requirements. While you don't need advanced cloud expertise, you should be familiar with fundamental cloud concepts, distributed systems, and infrastructure patterns to successfully apply the architecture frameworks taught in this course.
You'll work across AWS, Azure, and GCP, learning to make data-driven infrastructure decisions in multi-cloud environments. The course covers cloud-agnostic architecture principles while incorporating platform-specific services for compute, storage, networking, and AI workloads. You'll gain practical experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC), containerization, Kubernetes, and data processing platforms like Kafka, Spark, and Flink.
To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
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Financial aid available,
ΒΉ Some assignments in this course are AI-graded. For these assignments, your data will be used in accordance with Coursera's Privacy Notice.
