Training course – EU AI Act & AI Compliance – SMEs & Mid-Sized Businesses

EU AI Act & AI Compliance for SMEs

Putting the EU AI Act into practice: risk categories, deployer obligations, AI literacy under Art. 4, AI policy and GDPR interfaces.

Duration
6 hours, one session
Format
Online or on-site
Language
German or English
Participants
open dates or exclusive for your team
Certificate
Certificate of attendance

Overview

“EU AI Act & AI Compliance for SMEs” is a hands-on course for roles such as Owners and managing directors of SMEs, Sales, purchasing and administration staff and HR managers in small and mid-sized companies. Rather than learning EU AI Act & AI Compliance in the abstract, you work on tasks from your daily routine – with examples, exercises and templates from SMEs & Mid-Sized Businesses.

The EU AI Act is the first comprehensive legal framework for artificial intelligence, and it applies not only to providers but also to organisations that use AI systems in their daily work. In this compact course you will learn how the regulation is structured: prohibited practices, high-risk systems, transparency obligations and general-purpose AI models. You will find out which role your organisation plays as a deployer, which obligations follow and how to record and classify the AI applications you use in a structured way.

The practical part turns the requirements into manageable steps. You clarify what the AI literacy obligation under Article 4 means in concrete terms, how to organise training in a verifiable way and what an internal AI policy should cover. You also examine the interfaces with the GDPR, such as legal bases, data protection impact assessments and automated decision-making. You leave with an AI inventory template, a draft policy and a clear compliance roadmap for your area of work.

Small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of the economy – and are hit especially hard by skills shortages and growing administrative burdens. Generative AI offers mid-sized businesses big opportunities precisely because it can be used without an IT department or major investment. Owners and staff use AI assistants to write quotes and customer correspondence, review tenders and contracts, draft job adverts, capture the know-how of experienced employees and create marketing content. Simple automations and AI agents connect email, spreadsheets and industry software. The key is a pragmatic start with clear rules that delivers noticeable benefits quickly and brings the whole team along.

The course is delivered live – either online in a virtual classroom or on-site in our training rooms in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern. We can also run it exclusively for your team.

Who is this course for?

  • Owners and managing directors of SMEs
  • Sales, purchasing and administration staff
  • HR managers in small and mid-sized companies
  • Digitalisation and operations leads
  • Trades businesses and family-owned companies

Typical challenges we address

  • Skills shortages and heavy workloads in small teams
  • Growing administrative and documentation requirements
  • No dedicated IT or digital transformation department
  • Uncertainty about data protection, costs and the right way to start with AI

What you will be able to do

  • You can explain how the EU AI Act is structured and assign your organisation to the correct roles.
  • You can classify the AI applications in use by risk category and maintain an AI inventory.
  • You can name the specific obligations of deployers and derive appropriate measures.
  • You can develop an AI literacy concept under Article 4 and a draft internal AI policy.
  • Apply AI pragmatically in sales, administration, HR and marketing in your company.
  • Define clear, privacy-compliant rules for AI use in your team.
  • Identify processes that can be improved with AI and automation without an in-house IT department.

Course outline

Module 1 Structure and logic of the EU AI Act
  • Objectives, scope and phased application of the regulation
  • Roles at a glance: provider, deployer, importer and distributor
  • The risk-based approach: prohibited practices, high risk, limited risk and minimal risk
  • Specific rules for general-purpose AI models
Module 2 Classifying risk in practice
  • Prohibited practices such as social scoring or emotion recognition in the workplace
  • High-risk areas under Annex III, including recruitment, creditworthiness and education
  • Transparency obligations for chatbots, synthetic content and deepfakes
  • Recording and classifying your own AI applications in an AI inventory
Module 3 Obligations for deployers of AI systems
  • Use in line with instructions and human oversight by competent staff
  • Input data quality, monitoring of operation and retention of logs
  • Informing employees and affected persons and reporting serious incidents
  • Fundamental rights impact assessment: when it is required and how it works
Module 4 AI literacy under Art. 4 and internal AI policy
  • What sufficient AI literacy means for different roles
  • Designing training concepts and documenting measures verifiably
  • Components of an AI policy: approved tools, data classes, approvals and labelling
  • Responsibilities, AI officers and involving the works council and IT
Module 5 GDPR interfaces and governance
  • Legal bases, purpose limitation and data minimisation when using AI
  • Data protection impact assessment and its relationship to the fundamental rights assessment
  • Automated individual decisions, data subject rights and data processing agreements
  • Compliance roadmap: priorities, ownership and regular review
Module 6 Practice lab: SMEs & Mid-Sized Businesses
  • Quotes and customer correspondence
  • Reviewing tenders and contracts
  • Recruitment
  • Preserving know-how
  • Marketing without an agency
  • Automating workflows
Module 7 Data protection, quality & transfer to daily work
  • SMEs must also comply with the GDPR when using AI, for example through data processing agreements and clear rules on which customer and employee data may be entered. The EU AI Act requires businesses to ensure adequate AI literacy among staff, and trade secrets and customer data belong only in approved tools.
  • Ground rules for safe AI use in your team
  • Checking results: facts, sources, tests and the four-eyes principle
  • Personal action plan for the next 30 days
  • Open questions, outlook and resources for further learning

Practical scenarios from your field

Quotes and customer correspondence

AI drafts quote text, service descriptions, follow-up emails and replies to customer enquiries based on your templates and price lists – you review and send.

Reviewing tenders and contracts

Tender documents, suppliers' terms and framework agreements are summarised for requirements, deadlines, liability and special conditions so you can decide faster. Key exclusion criteria are highlighted clearly.

Recruitment

Job adverts, careers page copy, interview guides and onboarding plans are written for the target audience to stand out in the competition for skilled staff.

Preserving know-how

The experience of long-serving employees is captured in interviews and structured with AI into work instructions, FAQs and onboarding material before it is lost to retirement.

Marketing without an agency

Website copy, newsletters, social posts, case studies and trade fair materials are created with AI and adapted to the language of your customers. Your company gains visibility without a marketing department.

Automating workflows

Recurring processes such as sorting incoming invoices, routing enquiries or producing reports from spreadsheets are connected using no-code tools and AI agents. This noticeably relieves small teams and reduces errors.

Prerequisites

No legal background is required. A basic knowledge of the GDPR and an overview of the AI applications used or planned in your area are helpful. Working in a small or medium-sized business; no technical background required.

Technical requirements

All you need is a laptop with an up-to-date browser and an office suite for working with templates. No special AI licences are necessary.

Data protection & compliance

SMEs must also comply with the GDPR when using AI, for example through data processing agreements and clear rules on which customer and employee data may be entered. The EU AI Act requires businesses to ensure adequate AI literacy among staff, and trade secrets and customer data belong only in approved tools.

Dates & locations

For every location we suggest a date roughly four weeks ahead. Your preferred date is always possible.

  • Munich Mon, 14 December 2026 6 hrs Request
  • Salzburg Fri, 11 December 2026 6 hrs Request
  • Berlin Wed, 16 December 2026 6 hrs Request
  • Augsburg Mon, 14 December 2026 6 hrs Request
  • Hanover Tue, 15 December 2026 6 hrs Request
  • Bremen Mon, 14 December 2026 6 hrs Request
  • Stuttgart Mon, 14 December 2026 6 hrs Request
  • Kaiserslautern Wed, 16 December 2026 6 hrs Request
  • Online Thu, 10 December 2026 6 hrs Request

Frequently asked questions

Does the EU AI Act apply to companies that only use AI tools?

Yes. Anyone using AI systems under their own authority in a professional context is a deployer. All deployers must, in particular, ensure that their staff have sufficient AI literacy. Where high-risk systems are used, for example in recruitment, further obligations apply, such as human oversight, logging and informing the people affected.

Does this course satisfy the training obligation under Article 4?

The course covers core AI literacy content and you receive a certificate of attendance that you can add to your documentation. However, Article 4 requires measures tailored to role, prior knowledge and context of use. That is why you also learn how to set up and maintain your own AI literacy concept for your organisation.

Does the course replace legal advice?

No. The training provides practical knowledge for specialists and managers so they can interpret requirements, ask precise questions and implement first measures. For binding assessments of individual systems, especially in high-risk areas, you should involve your legal department, your data protection officer or external specialist lawyers.

How should a small business get started with AI?

Start with two or three concrete, time-consuming tasks such as quotes, correspondence or job adverts. Choose a privacy-compliant tool, set simple rules and let the team practise together. In the course you develop exactly this kind of starter plan for your company.

Do we need our own IT department?

No. Common AI assistants and no-code automations can be used without programming skills. What matters is deliberate tool selection, data processing agreements and clear responsibilities. For integrations with industry software, occasional external support may help, but getting started is something you can do yourselves.

How much does “EU AI Act & AI Compliance for SMEs” cost?

The course costs a flat €949 plus VAT per participant – whether online or on-site. This includes 6 hours of live training with a trainer, course materials, a lab environment and a certificate of attendance.

Can I suggest my own date?

Yes. For every location we suggest a date roughly four weeks ahead. In the request form you can always describe your preferred date or period in free text – we check availability and get back to you within one working day.

Is the course online or on-site?

Both are possible: live online in a virtual classroom or on-site in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern. We can also run the course exclusively for your team.

Can the course be tailored to our team?

Yes. Tailor-made courses cost approx. €4,500 more, depending on the topic and by arrangement. We agree content, examples and exercises with you in advance.

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