---
title: "How ready are European companies for the EU AI Act? (28%) | The AI at Work Fact Book"
description: "28 percent of companies say they understand the EU AI Act's requirements; 71 percent of German firms feel poorly informed. Compliance steps, the deadlines in force since July 2026, and AI training."
url: "https://evy.so/facts/eu-ai-act-readiness/"
last_updated: "2026-10-16"
---

F-38 · Europe

# How ready are European companies for the EU AI Act?

About 3 in 10 companies say they understand what the AI Act requires: 28 percent in two independent 2026 surveys, and 71 percent of German firms feel poorly informed. Engagement is rising fast, and the deadlines for high-risk AI moved in July 2026 to December 2027 and August 2028.

28% of companies say they understand what the AI Act requires (two 2026 surveys)

-   Medium confidence
-   3 primary sources
-   2026
-   Last checked October 14, 2026

## Cite this

EVY (2026). How ready are European companies for the EU AI Act? The AI at Work Fact Book, F-38. https://evy.so/facts/eu-ai-act-readiness/ (last checked October 14, 2026). CC BY 4.0.

Copy citation [Data as JSON](https://evy.so/facts/eu-ai-act-readiness.json) [Markdown](https://evy.so/facts/eu-ai-act-readiness.md)

## How to read it

Feeling informed is different from being compliant, and all of this is self-reported. The German surveys cover firms with 20 or more employees; the four-country survey asks IT professionals and includes the UK, where the Act applies only to firms selling into the EU. Most firms are users of AI, not providers (88% of German AI users), so their main duties are AI literacy, transparency and, for high-risk uses, deployer duties.

## Every study on one scale

Shaded: 28% One figure

Chart values as text

-   Scale: % saying they understand the AI Act well. Shaded range: 28%.
-   BSI and TÜV, Germany (2026): 28% well informed
-   ESSCA and Forvis Mazars (2026): 28% understand it well

**Why medium confidence:** Two independent surveys with different populations and methods land on the same 28%, and a third confirms the direction. No EU-wide official survey exists, so the evidence leans on Germany, is self-reported, and two of the creators sell compliance services.

Studies without a figure on this scale are listed in the table only.

## Sources

Sources for F-38
| Study | Creator | Year | Sample | Method | Figure | Link |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| KI-Sicherheitsstudie 2026 | Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) and TÜV-Verband, survey by forsa | 2026 | 505 companies with 20 or more employees in Germany (246 using AI), June to July 2026 | Representative survey for a federal authority and the testing association, whose members sell AI audits | 28% well informed about the Act's requirements, 71% poorly informed; of AI-using firms, 65% trained staff, 37% classified systems by risk, 23% took none of six steps “darüber fühlt sich die überwiegende Mehrheit der Befragten schlecht informiert (71 Prozent)” | [tuev-verband.de ↗](https://www.tuev-verband.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Content_local/Studien_local/2026_BSI-TUEV-KI-Sicherheitsstudie.pdf) |
| AI, Business and Sustainability Barometer 2026 | ESSCA School of Management with Forvis Mazars | 2026 | 826 IT and digital professionals in France, Germany, Spain and the UK, March 2026 | Survey by a business school and an audit firm that sells compliance advice; summary page only | 28% say their organization understands the AI Act well; 57% provide AI training for employees “believe their organisation has a good understanding of the EU AI Act” | [essca.eu ↗](https://www.essca.eu/en/news/2026-ai-barometer-businesses-accelerate-ai-adoption-governance-keep-pace/) |
| Erstmals nutzt die Mehrheit der Unternehmen KI (press release and chart deck, 14 September 2026) | Bitkom | 2026 | 603 companies with 20 or more employees in Germany, July to August 2026 | Representative telephone survey by the German digital industry association | 37% expect to be affected as AI users (23% in 2025), 34% are still checking, 8% have not looked at the Act; 89% of those affected expect high effort “8 Prozent haben sich mit dem AI Act noch nicht beschäftigt” | [bitkom.org ↗](https://www.bitkom.org/Presse/Presseinformation/Erstmals-nutzt-Mehrheit-Unternehmen-KI) |

Deadlines

## When do the EU AI Act's rules apply?

The Act entered into force on 1 August 2024. Bans on prohibited practices and the AI literacy duty apply from 2 February 2025, rules for general-purpose AI models from 2 August 2025, and the general application date, including transparency duties, is 2 August 2026. The Digital Omnibus on AI (Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, in force since 27 July 2026) moved the high-risk rules to 2 December 2027 for uses such as hiring, credit and education, and to 2 August 2028 for AI built into regulated products. It also softened the AI literacy duty to taking measures to support it, and added bans on non-consensual intimate deepfakes and child abuse material from 2 December 2026. The separate data and GDPR half of the Digital Omnibus, COM(2025) 837, is still only a proposal.

When do the EU AI Act's rules apply?
| Study | Creator | Year | Sample | Method | Figure | Link |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (Artificial Intelligence Act), Article 113 | European Parliament and Council of the European Union | 2024 | Legal text | Official text on EUR-Lex | In force 1 August 2024; bans and AI literacy from 2 February 2025; general-purpose AI rules from 2 August 2025; general application from 2 August 2026 “It shall apply from 2 August 2026.” | [eur-lex.europa.eu ↗](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32024R1689) |
| Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 (Digital Omnibus on AI) | European Parliament and Council of the European Union | 2026 | Legal text, signed 8 July 2026 | Official text on EUR-Lex; amendments in effect from 27 July 2026 | High-risk rules for Annex III uses from 2 December 2027 and for regulated products from 2 August 2028; new bans from 2 December 2026 “2 December 2027 as regards AI systems classified as high-risk pursuant to Article 6(2)” | [eur-lex.europa.eu ↗](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32026R1744) |
| Procedure file 2025/0360(COD): Digital Omnibus on data, GDPR, ePrivacy and cybersecurity | European Parliament, Legislative Observatory | 2026 | Procedure record, checked 14 October 2026 | Legislative Observatory page | Proposal COM(2025) 837, awaiting committee decision; not adopted “Awaiting committee decision” | [oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu ↗](https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/en/procedure-file?reference=2025/0360(COD)) |

AI training Low confidence

## How many European workers get AI training?

Few, though firms are catching up. In 2024, 15% of employees in 11 EU countries took part in any AI training in the previous year (Germany 14%), while 42% said they needed to build AI skills (Cedefop). In 2026, 70% of German firms with 20 or more employees train at least some staff on AI, but only 11% train all of them (Bitkom); asked whether they had already trained staff, 27% said yes (TÜV-Verband). ICT specialists, who build and run AI systems, are 5.0% of EU employment (Germany 5.5%).

How many European workers get AI training?
| Study | Creator | Year | Sample | Method | Figure | Link |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Skills empower workers in the AI revolution: first results of Cedefop's 2024 AI skills survey | Cedefop (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) | 2025 | 5,342 employees aged 16 to 64 in 11 EU countries, February to May 2024 | Probability-based online panels, weighted | 15% took part in AI training in the past 12 months (Germany 14%); 42% report an AI skill gap “a relatively small share (15%) of workers participated in education or training” | [cedefop.europa.eu ↗](https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/files/9201_en.pdf) |
| TÜV Weiterbildungsstudie 2026 | TÜV-Verband, survey by forsa | 2026 | 500 companies with 20 or more employees in Germany | Representative survey for the testing association, whose members sell training | 27% of firms have already trained staff on AI (12% in 2024); 49% of firms with 250 or more employees “27 Prozent der Unternehmen haben ihre Beschäftigten bereits im Umgang mit KI geschult” | [tuev-verband.de ↗](https://www.tuev-verband.de/pressemitteilungen/ki-schulungen-in-unternehmen-innerhalb-von-zwei-jahren-verdoppelt) |
| Employed ICT specialists (dataset isoc\_sks\_itspt) | Eurostat (EU Labour Force Survey) | 2026 | EU Labour Force Survey, 2025 | Official statistics | ICT specialists 5.0% of EU employment (10.45 million people); Germany 5.5% (2.32 million) “Employed information and communications technology (ICT) specialists” | [ec.europa.eu ↗](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/isoc_sks_itspt/default/table) |

## Numbers you may have seen

These figures circulate widely. Here is what the original source says.

-   **High-risk AI Act rules apply from 2 August 2026.** Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 moved them to 2 December 2027 (uses such as hiring) and 2 August 2028 (regulated products). 2 August 2026 remains the general date, including transparency duties.
-   **The AI Act requires every company to ensure all staff are AI literate.** Since 27 July 2026, the duty is to take measures to support AI literacy, and the text says it does not require guaranteeing any level of literacy.
-   **The Digital Omnibus has been adopted.** Only the AI part, Regulation (EU) 2026/1744. The data and GDPR part, COM(2025) 837, is still awaiting a committee decision in Parliament.
-   **56% of companies are completely unprepared for the AI Act (attributed to TÜV).** We found no primary source for it. The BSI and TÜV study says 71% of German firms feel poorly informed and 23% of AI users have taken none of six compliance steps.
-   **70% of German companies train their staff on AI (Bitkom).** It includes firms training only selected employees; 11% train everyone, and TÜV-Verband finds 27% have actually trained staff.

## More from Europe

-   [F-34**5–42%**Which EU countries' companies use AI the most and least?](https://evy.so/facts/ai-use-by-eu-country/)
-   [F-35**9–37%**What share of workers in each EU country use generative AI for work?](https://evy.so/facts/genai-use-for-work-by-eu-country/)
-   [F-36**7–17 pts**How does AI use at work in Europe compare with the US?](https://evy.so/facts/ai-at-work-europe-vs-us/)
-   [F-37**48–86%**How do European workers feel about AI at work?](https://evy.so/facts/european-attitudes-to-ai-at-work/)
-   [F-39**53–66%**How much do European firms care where their AI processes data?](https://evy.so/facts/ai-data-protection-in-europe/)
-   [F-40**12–14×**How does AI investment in Europe compare with the US?](https://evy.so/facts/ai-investment-europe-vs-us/)

[The whole chapter](https://evy.so/facts/europe/) · [Chapter poster](https://evy.so/facts/europe/sheet/) · [All of The AI at Work Fact Book](https://evy.so/facts/)