Practical guide
EU AI Act guide for SaaS and AI product teams.
Use this guide as a starting point for EU AI Act readiness. It is informational only and should be reviewed with qualified counsel before legal or regulatory decisions.
1. Confirm scope and role
The EU AI Act can apply when an AI system is placed on the EU market, used in the EU, or produces output used in the EU. Start by mapping whether you are a provider, deployer, importer, distributor, product manufacturer, or GPAI model provider.
2. Screen prohibited practices
Article 5 covers stop-use or redesign triggers such as harmful manipulation, exploitation of vulnerabilities, impermissible social scoring, and certain biometric uses. These need counsel review before launch.
3. Check high-risk triggers
Article 6, Annex I, and Annex III can make a system high-risk when it is a safety component of regulated products or used in areas such as employment, education, essential services, biometrics, law enforcement, migration, justice, or democratic processes.
4. Prepare evidence
High-risk systems need risk management, data governance, logging, technical documentation, human oversight, accuracy, robustness, cybersecurity, and post-market monitoring evidence. Lower-risk systems may still need Article 50 transparency disclosures.