On July 31, 2025, Palo Alto Networks officially retired three of its long-standing certification exams: PCNSE (Palo Alto Networks Certified Network Security Engineer), PCCSE (Prisma Certified Cloud Security Engineer), and PCSAE (Palo Alto Networks Certified Security Automation Engineer). These certifications have served as highly recognized benchmarks of expertise within the Palo Alto Networks ecosystem, but the company is now transitioning to a more role-based certification model that aligns with the evolving needs of cybersecurity professionals.

PCNSE Exam Retirement

- Retirement Date: July 31, 2025

- Certification Validity: Individuals who earned the PCNSE before the retirement date will continue to hold a valid credential for two years from the date of achievement.

- Replacement Path: While there is no direct one-to-one replacement for the PCNSE, Palo Alto Networks encourages professionals to pursue its new role-based certifications, including:

    - Network Security Generalist

    - Network Security Analyst

    - Next-Generation Firewall Engineer

These new certifications are designed to validate specialized knowledge that maps more directly to real-world job roles in network security.

PCCSE and PCSAE Exam Retirement

- Retirement Date: July 31, 2025

- Certification Validity: Credentials achieved prior to retirement will remain valid until their normal expiration dates.

- Future Direction: Palo Alto Networks has announced that new role-based certifications focused on Cortex XSOAR and Cloud Security are on the horizon. These certifications aim to provide updated validation for professionals working in automation, orchestration, and cloud-native environments.

Comparison Table: Retired vs. Future Certifications

What This Means for Professionals

The retirement of these certifications marks a shift in Palo Alto Networks’ strategy to ensure its credentials remain aligned with the latest industry trends. Candidates who already hold PCNSE, PCCSE, or PCSAE remain recognized for their expertise, but future learners are encouraged to transition toward the new framework of role-based certifications.

For those who earned these certifications before July 31, 2025, the achievements will still add value to their career portfolios, but keeping skills current through Palo Alto Networks’ upcoming programs will be essential. This transition highlights the company’s commitment to supporting cybersecurity professionals with credentials that better match today’s rapidly evolving threat landscape and job functions.

Additional Information About These Retirements

The decision to retire PCNSE, PCCSE, and PCSAE reflects how cybersecurity roles have become more specialized over the years. Where once a broad certification could cover multiple domains of network, cloud, and automation security, organizations now require professionals with deep, role-specific expertise. This shift ensures that certified individuals can immediately demonstrate the exact skills employers need, whether in firewall management, cloud security deployment, or automated incident response.

Moreover, professionals should view this retirement as an opportunity rather than a setback. By holding a legacy certification such as PCNSE, PCCSE, or PCSAE, and later complementing it with a new role-based credential, candidates can build a stronger, more comprehensive career profile. This combination of historic credibility and forward-looking specialization will likely carry significant weight in the job market, especially as companies continue to invest heavily in both cloud adoption and advanced security automation.

Conclusion

The retirement of the PCNSE, PCCSE, and PCSAE exams on July 31, 2025, closes a significant chapter in Palo Alto Networks’ certification journey. While these credentials will continue to hold value for those who earned them, the shift toward role-based certifications signals a new era—one that prioritizes practical, specialized knowledge aligned with modern security roles. For cybersecurity professionals, this is both a challenge and an opportunity: a challenge to stay updated as older certifications phase out, and an opportunity to future-proof their careers by embracing Palo Alto Networks’ evolving certification paths.