Takeaways
- Many organizations will struggle with the tight timeline for compliance with the EU AI Act, especially smaller ones.
- There will likely be a grace period for enforcement, similar to the GDPR, which could provide organizations more time to comply.
- Translating the AI Act’s legal requirements into practical engineering solutions will be challenging for many organizations.
- Strong governance frameworks and AI expertise are critical to successfully navigating the act’s requirements.
- Organizations should begin preparing by building governance structures and testing capabilities now to ensure compliance.
Summary
The article brings together insights from an international panel of AI experts convened by MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group to assess the ability of organizations to meet the upcoming EU AI Act’s compliance requirements. Panelists are divided, with almost half disagreeing that organizations will be ready in time. While some organizations, especially smaller ones, will struggle to meet deadlines due to the complexity of the compliance process, others might benefit from a grace period similar to that seen with the GDPR. Larger organizations with complex AI deployments will face challenges in transparency, oversight, and risk classification, with experts agreeing that the journey toward full compliance will be complex and iterative.
The panel identifies several hurdles to compliance, including interpreting the law’s ambiguous requirements, the shortage of AI expertise, and the challenges of integrating regulatory demands into existing AI systems. The article emphasizes that organizations already equipped with strong governance, such as those in highly regulated sectors, may find it easier to adapt, while those lagging in responsible AI governance will face greater difficulty. The article concludes with recommendations for organizations, including creating a governance foundation, educating AI teams, and building testing and evaluation capabilities for AI systems.
