What new certifications is PMI planning to launch by 2026?

There is an interesting insight behind the discussion about future PMI certifications.

If PMI is indeed preparing something like the PPAC – Project Professional Advanced Certification, I believe there is one area where the Institute could take a decisive, global-impact step:

Introduce a formal, mandatory PMI certification in Ethics.

Why?

Because our most serious project failures are rarely methodological, they are ethical.

Schedules slip, budgets collapse, stakeholders lose trust, teams break down… not because people don’t know processes, but because judgment, conduct, and integrity were compromised somewhere along the way.

PMI already has a world-class ethical foundation:

• PMI Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct (2025)
• Ethical Decision-Making Framework (EDMF)
• Practitioner Ethics Toolkit
• Chapter Board Ethics Toolkit

But none of these have formal certification weight.

And today, ethics is more needed than ever: AI-augmented projects, governance tensions, pressure for shortcuts, global distributed teams, rising reputational risks.

My proposal

1. Create a PMI Ethics Certification, mandatory for all:
   1. PMI members
   2. Chapter leaders and volunteers
   3. Candidates preparing for PMP®, CAPM®, PMI-ACP®, PMOCP®, etc.
2. Reinforce ethics in ECOs (Exam Content Outlines)

• A significantly larger number of questions
• Mandatory passing score on the ethics section
• Real-world scenarios on integrity, conflict of interest, transparency, misuse of authority, and ethical risk management.

1. Make ethical competence a baseline, not an optional virtue.

The profession needs a minimum ethical standard as solid as our methodological one.

Projects run on people.

And people run on trust.

If PMI wants to lead the next generation of project practice, ethics must move from the margins to the centre, formally, visibly, and globally

I totally agree with Kiron. Enough certifications and courses for now. I think the focus moving forward should be on increase value proposition for all existing ones.