Making an AI product fully compliant with the EU AI Act is a long, expensive project for any team that takes it on. It is brutal, but the lessons are invaluable. I'm breaking down the 7 most critical, non-obvious takeaways for any founder in the AI space.
The Counterintuitive Truth
In EU AI Act compliance, the best practitioners often do less, not more.
The lesson: customer feedback is the only metric that matters. It sounds simple. It's incredibly hard to execute.
The Reality Nobody Talks About
A lot of the advice on EU AI Act compliance rests on assumptions that made sense five years ago. The world has moved on.
The first thing to understand is that simplicity beats complexity every time. I've seen this play out across dozens of companies. The pattern is unmistakable.
Many teams spend months on the wrong path before realizing that timing is everything in this game. Once they make the switch, everything changes.
What I've Learned From 131 Companies
Across 234 angel investments, including Anthropic, a few patterns in EU AI Act compliance come up again and again.
The founders who handle EU AI Act compliance well understand that you should focus on one thing and do it exceptionally well.
What I Tell Founders
Before deciding anything about EU AI Act compliance, start with three questions:
What's your timeline? Because the right approach for a company with 6 months of runway is very different from one with 3 years.
What have you already tried? Most founders have tried something. Understanding what didn't work is often more valuable than knowing what might.
Who on your team owns this? If the answer is "everyone" or "no one," that's your first problem to solve.
These questions seem simple but they reveal a lot about where a company actually stands.
This connects to broader themes around ai-ethics|AI bias, AI safety, responsible AI that I've been thinking about a lot lately.
What's Next
Best practice in EU AI Act compliance is changing fast. What worked last year might not work next year. That's both the challenge and the opportunity.
My advice: stay curious, stay humble, and stay close to the people who are actually doing the work. Read less thought leadership and do more experiments. Talk to fewer consultants and more practitioners.
If you're building in this space, the best time to get EU AI Act compliance right is before you need to. Don't wait for a crisis to force your hand.
I'll keep sharing what I learn. This stuff matters too much to keep to myself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q:How were these items selected?
Each item on this list comes from direct experience, either from building my own companies or from patterns I've observed across the 234 startups I've invested in. I prioritize practical, actionable items over theoretical concepts.
Q:Can I implement all of these at once?
I'd strongly recommend against it. Pick the 2-3 items that resonate most with your current situation and focus there. Trying to do everything simultaneously is a recipe for doing nothing well.
Q:Are these recommendations still relevant in 2026?
Absolutely. While specific tools and tactics change, the underlying principles remain consistent. I update my thinking regularly based on what I'm seeing in the market and across my portfolio companies.