What is the EU AI Act readiness checklist for 2026?

It is a set of operational steps to inventory AI systems, apply risk classification, remove prohibited AI practices, set governance ownership, implement a risk management system, strengthen data governance, prepare technical documentation, meet transparency obligations, enable human oversight, and run monitoring and incident response.

What are high risk AI systems under the AI Act?

High risk AI systems are those that fall into high-impact categories defined by the regulation, including certain uses in employment and worker management, critical infrastructure, access to essential services, education and vocational training, and AI used as safety components in regulated products such as some medical devices.

What should product teams do first?

Start with an AI inventory and risk classification. Without those, compliance work becomes scattered, and documentation will not match real deployments.

How long does EU AI Act readiness take?

Minimum viable readiness can start within 30 days, but mature governance requires continuous iteration as AI systems, data, and product use evolve.

How do we govern general purpose AI safely?

Use strict access control, allowlists for tools, strong audit logs, adversarial testing against prompt injection, continuous monitoring, and documented change control for models, prompts, and retrieval sources.