Learn Cognite Data Fusion
from zero to expert
Cognite Data Fusion (CDF) is the industrial data & AI platform used by energy, power, and manufacturing companies to turn scattered plant data into one connected, searchable, AI-ready Industrial Knowledge Graph. This course teaches it step by step, in plain language, with diagrams and simple analogies.
What you are about to learn — in one picture
Every industrial company has the same problem: sensor data sits in the historian, maintenance data sits in SAP, drawings sit in a document system, and 3D models sit somewhere else. Nobody can see the whole picture of one pump, one boiler, or one turbine. Cognite Data Fusion connects all of these into one graph, and then puts tools and AI agents on top of that graph.
The learning path
The course is split into three levels, all fully written — start with Level 1. Every module has diagrams, worked examples, a hands-on deliverable and links to the exact official course, doc page or video behind it.
Understand the platform
- Why Cognite exists — the industrial data problem
- What CDF is, its 8 layers, and how data flows end to end
- The Industrial Knowledge Graph & Core Data Model
- Touring the CDF UI, plus 4 free ways to practise (incl. the public sandbox)
- Benefits, ROI, and "should I invest in this skill?"
- Cloud, security & deployment architecture
- 36 curated videos, quiz + official Fundamentals certificate
Work with the platform
- Data integration: extractors, pipelines, RAW staging
- Transformations, Data Workflows & Functions
- Data modeling hands-on: spaces, containers, views, GraphQL
- Contextualization: entity matching, P&ID parsing, 3D
- Python SDK & REST API, Jupyter in CDF
- Charts, Canvas, InField, Maintain in depth
- Power BI & Grafana connectors; access management
- 11 diagrams, 25 code samples, 24 videos, quiz + capstone checklist
Design & deliver solutions
- Solution architecture & storage best practices
- Advanced data modeling, records & streams, NEAT
- Cognite Toolkit — CDF as code, CI/CD, environments
- Building custom extractors; hosted MQTT/PI extractors
- Orchestration at scale: workflows, functions, monitoring
- Atlas AI agents — build, evaluate, deploy
- Simulators, robotics, 3D pipelines; Cognite Flows apps & governance
- 10 diagrams, 11 code/config blocks, 23 videos, quiz + portfolio checklist
Why this skill is worth your time
Numbers from Forrester Consulting's Total Economic Impact studies (commissioned by Cognite; modelled for a composite organisation over three years — the 2022 study reported 400% ROI / $21.6M NPV, Cognite's current pages cite the updated figures below):
Cognite's customers are exactly the kind of asset-heavy companies HNM works with: power generation & grid (e.g. Statnett), oil & gas (Aker BP, BP, Saudi Aramco), chemicals (Celanese), manufacturing, and renewables. In June 2026 Schneider Electric agreed to acquire Cognite for $3.1B and fold CDF into the AVEVA family — Module 6 of Level 1 explains what that means for the skill and how it fits an engineer's career.
How to use this course
1. Read a module
Each module explains one idea with a diagram and an analogy. Read slowly; the vocabulary compounds.
2. Do the "Try it" box
Most modules end with a hands-on step in your CDF login or the free public sandbox (publicdata).
3. Tick the module done
Progress is saved in your browser. The sidebar shows how far you are.
4. Take the official course
Each level maps to a free Cognite Academy path with a certificate you can put on LinkedIn.
Where to start on the Cognite Academy portal
The Academy catalog (learn.cognite.com) lists 90+ items and it is easy to get lost. Use this order. In the catalog's left filter, tick Topics/Product → Cognite Data Fusion and Product Tour first; ignore everything else until Step 4.
| Step | Take this on the portal | Time | Why now | Course level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | An introduction to Cognite Data Fusion → Navigating CDF → Core Data Model Fundamentals | 25 min | Three microlearnings that orient you in the product and the vocabulary. Do them alongside Modules 1–4 here. | Level 1 |
| 2 | Cognite Data Fusion Fundamentals with Data Modeling (Learning Path: Part 1 Theoretical → Part 2 Hands-on → Assessment) | ~6 h | The official "your CDF journey starts here" path. Ends with a certificate (75% to pass). This is the single most important item on the portal. | Level 1 |
| 3 | Domain Expert Basics (7 courses + assessment) — you are already registered | ~3 h | No-code consumption: Search, Canvas, Charts, Power BI, Grafana. Makes you useful in front of a client immediately. | Level 1 → 2 |
| 4 | Microlearning bundles: Data Modeling, Data Workflows, Canvas | ~2 h | Short 3–8 min units, each bundle gives a badge. Good for daily 20-minute sessions. | Level 2 |
| 5 | Overview of Extractors → CDF Transformations → Cognite Data Modeling → Python SDK → Entity Matching | ~7 h | The hands-on core of Level 2, in data-flow order: get data in → shape it → model it → program against it → link it. | Level 2 |
| 6 | Data Modeling: Schema Design → Knowledge Graph Creation → Cognite Toolkit → Atlas AI Agent Builder → Flows Foundation | ~15 h | Advanced paths with certification exams; then the 4-day Practitioner bootcamp if you go all-in. | Level 3 |
| Park | InRobot, Simulator Integrations, Integrated Supply Chain (ISC), Maintain, InField | — | Product-specific. Take them only when a client project needs that product. | Optional |
Steps 1–2 in the first two weeks (≈30 min/day), Step 3 in week three. That gives you a certificate and a working vocabulary in under a month, with this site as the plain-language companion to the official slides.
Official learning resources this course is built on
All material was collected from Cognite's public documentation, Cognite Academy, Cognite's YouTube channel, AWS reference architectures, and published whitepapers. Nothing here requires a paid subscription. See the full list on the Resources page.