diff --git a/packages/validation/src/errors.ts b/packages/validation/src/errors.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..db41e7f7e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/validation/src/errors.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+export class SchemaValidationError extends Error {
+  public errors: unknown;
+
+  constructor(message: string, errors?: unknown) {
+    super(message);
+    this.name = 'SchemaValidationError';
+    this.errors = errors;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/validation/src/index.ts b/packages/validation/src/index.ts
index 9d87720cc5..093ce43dd5 100644
--- a/packages/validation/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/validation/src/index.ts
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
-export const foo = () => true;
+export { validate } from './validate';
+export { SchemaValidationError } from './errors.js';
diff --git a/packages/validation/src/types.ts b/packages/validation/src/types.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fd1efbaab0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/validation/src/types.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import type Ajv from 'ajv';
+export interface ValidateParams<T = unknown> {
+  payload: unknown;
+  schema: object;
+  envelope?: string;
+  formats?: Record<
+    string,
+    | string
+    | RegExp
+    | {
+        type?: 'string' | 'number';
+        validate: (data: string) => boolean;
+        async?: boolean;
+      }
+  >;
+  externalRefs?: object[];
+  ajv?: Ajv;
+}
diff --git a/packages/validation/src/validate.ts b/packages/validation/src/validate.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..75e2af96af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/validation/src/validate.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+import { search } from '@aws-lambda-powertools/jmespath';
+import Ajv, { type ValidateFunction } from 'ajv';
+import { SchemaValidationError } from './errors.js';
+import type { ValidateParams } from './types.js';
+
+export function validate<T = unknown>(params: ValidateParams<T>): T {
+  const { payload, schema, envelope, formats, externalRefs, ajv } = params;
+  const ajvInstance = ajv || new Ajv({ allErrors: true });
+
+  if (formats) {
+    for (const key of Object.keys(formats)) {
+      ajvInstance.addFormat(key, formats[key]);
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (externalRefs) {
+    for (const refSchema of externalRefs) {
+      ajvInstance.addSchema(refSchema);
+    }
+  }
+
+  let validateFn: ValidateFunction;
+  try {
+    validateFn = ajvInstance.compile(schema);
+  } catch (error) {
+    throw new SchemaValidationError('Failed to compile schema', error);
+  }
+
+  const trimmedEnvelope = envelope?.trim();
+  const dataToValidate = trimmedEnvelope
+    ? search(trimmedEnvelope, payload as Record<string, unknown>)
+    : payload;
+
+  const valid = validateFn(dataToValidate);
+  if (!valid) {
+    throw new SchemaValidationError(
+      'Schema validation failed',
+      validateFn.errors
+    );
+  }
+
+  return dataToValidate as T;
+}
diff --git a/packages/validation/tests/unit/index.test.ts b/packages/validation/tests/unit/index.test.ts
index 096d56dbb9..e2af63bd92 100644
--- a/packages/validation/tests/unit/index.test.ts
+++ b/packages/validation/tests/unit/index.test.ts
@@ -1,16 +1,18 @@
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
-import { foo } from '../../src/index.js';
+import { SchemaValidationError, validate } from '../../src/index.js';
 
-describe('Validation', () => {
+describe('Index exports', () => {
   beforeEach(() => {
     vi.clearAllMocks();
   });
 
-  it('should return true', () => {
-    // Act
-    const result = foo();
+  it('should export validate as a function', () => {
+    // Act & Assess
+    expect(typeof validate).toBe('function');
+  });
 
-    // Assess
-    expect(result).toBe(true);
+  it('should export SchemaValidationError as a function', () => {
+    // Act & Assess
+    expect(typeof SchemaValidationError).toBe('function');
   });
 });
diff --git a/packages/validation/tests/unit/validate.test.ts b/packages/validation/tests/unit/validate.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b4480f580e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/validation/tests/unit/validate.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+import Ajv from 'ajv';
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { SchemaValidationError } from '../../src/errors.js';
+import type { ValidateParams } from '../../src/types.js';
+import { validate } from '../../src/validate.js';
+
+describe('validate function', () => {
+  it('returns validated data when payload is valid', () => {
+    // Prepare
+    const payload = { name: 'John', age: 30 };
+    const schema = {
+      type: 'object',
+      properties: {
+        name: { type: 'string' },
+        age: { type: 'number' },
+      },
+      required: ['name', 'age'],
+      additionalProperties: false,
+    };
+
+    const params: ValidateParams<typeof payload> = { payload, schema };
+
+    // Act
+    const result = validate<typeof payload>(params);
+
+    // Assess
+    expect(result).toEqual(payload);
+  });
+
+  it('throws SchemaValidationError when payload is invalid', () => {
+    // Prepare
+    const payload = { name: 'John', age: '30' };
+    const schema = {
+      type: 'object',
+      properties: {
+        name: { type: 'string' },
+        age: { type: 'number' },
+      },
+      required: ['name', 'age'],
+      additionalProperties: false,
+    };
+
+    const params: ValidateParams = { payload, schema };
+
+    // Act & Assess
+    expect(() => validate(params)).toThrow(SchemaValidationError);
+  });
+
+  it('extracts data using envelope when provided', () => {
+    // Prepare
+    const payload = {
+      data: {
+        user: { name: 'Alice', age: 25 },
+      },
+    };
+    const schema = {
+      type: 'object',
+      properties: {
+        name: { type: 'string' },
+        age: { type: 'number' },
+      },
+      required: ['name', 'age'],
+      additionalProperties: false,
+    };
+
+    const envelope = 'data.user';
+    const params: ValidateParams = { payload, schema, envelope };
+
+    // Act
+    const result = validate(params);
+
+    // Assess
+    expect(result).toEqual({ name: 'Alice', age: 25 });
+  });
+
+  it('uses provided ajv instance and custom formats', () => {
+    // Prepare
+    const payload = { email: 'test@example.com' };
+    const schema = {
+      type: 'object',
+      properties: {
+        email: { type: 'string', format: 'custom-email' },
+      },
+      required: ['email'],
+      additionalProperties: false,
+    };
+
+    const ajvInstance = new Ajv({ allErrors: true });
+    const formats = {
+      'custom-email': {
+        type: 'string',
+        validate: (email: string) => email.includes('@'),
+      },
+    };
+
+    const params: ValidateParams = {
+      payload,
+      schema,
+      ajv: ajvInstance,
+      formats,
+    };
+
+    // Act
+    const result = validate(params);
+
+    // Assess
+    expect(result).toEqual(payload);
+  });
+
+  it('adds external schemas to ajv instance when provided', () => {
+    // Prepare
+    const externalSchema = {
+      $id: 'http://example.com/schemas/address.json',
+      type: 'object',
+      properties: {
+        street: { type: 'string' },
+        city: { type: 'string' },
+      },
+      required: ['street', 'city'],
+      additionalProperties: false,
+    };
+
+    const schema = {
+      type: 'object',
+      properties: {
+        address: { $ref: 'http://example.com/schemas/address.json' },
+      },
+      required: ['address'],
+      additionalProperties: false,
+    };
+
+    const payload = {
+      address: {
+        street: '123 Main St',
+        city: 'Metropolis',
+      },
+    };
+
+    const params: ValidateParams = {
+      payload,
+      schema,
+      externalRefs: [externalSchema],
+    };
+
+    // Act
+    const result = validate(params);
+
+    // Assess
+    expect(result).toEqual(payload);
+  });
+
+  it('throws SchemaValidationError when schema compilation fails', () => {
+    // Prepare
+    const payload = { name: 'John' };
+    const schema = {
+      type: 'object',
+      properties: {
+        name: { type: 'invalid-type' },
+      },
+    };
+
+    const params: ValidateParams = { payload, schema };
+
+    // Act & Assess
+    expect(() => validate(params)).toThrow(SchemaValidationError);
+  });
+});