{"id":111,"date":"2026-07-16T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/?p=111"},"modified":"2026-08-17T21:09:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T21:09:43","slug":"eu-ai-act-company-communicate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/eu-ai-act-company-communicate\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does the EU AI Act Mean for Your Company \u2013 and How Do You Communicate It to Your Team?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The EU AI Act applies in stages: bans since February 2025, rules for AI models since August 2025, most remaining obligations from August 2026.<\/li><li>Article 4 already obliges companies to ensure the AI literacy of their employees.<\/li><li>Compliance is only lived when it is understood \u2013 dry mandatory training rarely achieves that.<\/li><li>A keynote turns the compliance topic into a departure: understandable, concrete, without legalese.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hardly any topic creates as much uncertainty in briefing calls as the EU AI Act: What applies already? What are we facing? And how do we get the workforce on board? The good news: those who communicate the topic well gain more than legal certainty.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Does the EU AI Act Require of Companies?<\/h2>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Know and exclude prohibited practices (since February 2025).<\/li><li>Inventory AI usage and classify by risk \u2013 most office applications are minimal risk.<\/li><li>Build demonstrable AI literacy (Article 4) \u2013 for everyone working with AI.<\/li><li>Implement the remaining obligations by August 2026, such as transparency rules.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Do Classic Compliance Trainings Fail on This Topic?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because they create fear of mistakes instead of competence in usage. Those who only hear clauses prefer to avoid AI altogether \u2013 and that is the most expensive outcome: the productivity opportunity evaporates while shadow AI keeps running on private devices, without any control. Regulation needs translation: what does this mean for my workplace, concretely?<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Does a Keynote Convey Regulation Without Wearing People Out?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With practice instead of paragraphs: I show in real work situations what is allowed, required and prohibited \u2013 and connect the obligation with the benefit. The experience from associations and mid-sized companies: after 60 minutes, \u201cyet another regulation\u201d has turned into \u201cthen let's do it right\u201d. Compliance and enthusiasm are not mutually exclusive \u2013 they just need the same keynote.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Which Deadlines of the EU AI Act Apply When?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The regulation does not arrive all at once but in stages. Decision-makers should know these four dates:<\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>August 2024: the regulation enters into force and the clock starts for all stages.<\/li><li>February 2025: prohibited practices apply, and companies must ensure sufficient AI literacy among their staff.<\/li><li>August 2025: obligations for providers of general-purpose AI models and the governance structures take effect.<\/li><li>August 2026: the bulk of the rules becomes applicable, in particular for high-risk applications.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For most mid-sized companies the provider role is not the decisive one \u2013 the deployer role is: you use systems built by others. That makes things simpler, but not consequence-free. This article is not legal advice; it frames the topic for the leadership level.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Does a Pragmatic Implementation Path Look Like?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Six steps are enough for a solid start without turning it into a major programme:<\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Inventory: which AI tools are actually in use here \u2013 including the unofficial ones?<\/li><li>Classification: where do these applications touch staff, customers or safety-relevant decisions?<\/li><li>Rules on one page: approved tools, forbidden data, disclosure requirements.<\/li><li>Training with evidence: who was trained, when, and on what?<\/li><li>Name the people responsible \u2013 in the business, not only in IT.<\/li><li>An annual review, because tools change faster than policies.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Does AI Literacy Mean in Practice?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is not about a computer science degree but about job-related basic understanding: what can the tool do, where does it invent content, which data may go in, when must a human check, and how do we disclose AI support? A tiering by role makes sense \u2013 management needs orientation for decisions, back office needs confidence in daily work. Important for documentation: record attendance, date and content. From an auditor perspective, what is not documented did not happen.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Planning an event?<\/strong> As a keynote speaker for artificial intelligence, digitalization and Microsoft 365, I bring technology topics to the stage in a way that sticks \u2013 hands-on, entertaining and immediately actionable. <a href=\"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/ai-keynote\/\">Book an AI keynote: content, formats and fee at a glance<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)<\/h2>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Does the AI Act also apply to small companies?<\/h3>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes \u2013 the obligations scale with risk, not with company size. Even a ten-person business using AI needs literacy and an overview of its use cases.<\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is an annual online training enough for Article 4?<\/h3>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Formally perhaps, practically no: AI literacy grows through application. A kick-off impulse plus short, regular learning formats in everyday work has proven effective.<\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can the keynote be aligned with our data protection officer?<\/h3>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of course \u2013 for this topic, the preliminary call with data protection and IT is standard, so statements and company rules fit together.<\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is a keynote sufficient evidence of AI literacy?<\/h3>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A keynote is an effective building block for awareness and basic understanding, but rarely sufficient on its own. The sensible combination is impulse, role-specific deepening and documented attendance.<\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who is liable if employees use AI incorrectly?<\/h3>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Externally, the company \u2013 which is precisely why clear rules, training and records are not bureaucracy for its own sake but self-protection. The concrete assessment belongs in the hands of your legal advisors.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The EU AI Act made understandable: what has applied since 2025, what comes by August 2026 \u2013 and how a keynote turns obligation into productive momentum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":89,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kuenstliche-intelligenz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147,"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions\/147"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}