EU AI Act Article 4: AI literacy training is mandatory. What companies must do

Article 4 of the EU AI Act is the broadest and least known obligation of the regulation. It requires organisations that use AI systems to ensure a sufficient level of AI literacy among their staff and the people using AI on their behalf.

Who is concerned?

Almost every company. The obligation applies to providers of AI systems and to deployers, meaning organisations that use them in their business. A writing assistant, an analytics tool or a chatbot is enough. There is no size threshold: a small business is concerned just like a large group.

Since when?

The obligation has applied since 2 February 2025. According to the published timeline, supervision by national authorities starts in August 2026, and the 2026 postponement of some high-risk obligations does not affect Article 4. Dates and enforcement details may change: check official sources.

What to do in practice

1. Map AI use across the company, including tools used individually.
2. Assess needs by role: leaders, sales and HR do not need the same training.
3. Train: shared awareness first, then role-based training on real use cases.
4. Set a framework: an AI use charter, human-review rules, data guidelines.
5. Document: training plan, participants, content, regular updates.

A constraint or an opportunity?

Treated as a box to tick, it costs time. Treated as a company project, it delivers what most AI rollouts lack: teams who know how to use AI, a clear framework and use cases that pay off. I learned this training the sales and marketing teams of Mondadori France through their move to digital.

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