EU AI Act: 100-day countdown to the high-risk system rules

The EU AI Act entered into force in August 2024 with a phased calendar. The most demanding block — obligations for "high-risk" systems (HR, credit, school scoring, critical infrastructure, biometrics, employment management, etc.) — kicks in in August 2026.

In April 2026, roughly 100 days from the deadline, the European Commission and the AI Office publish operational guidelines: how to run the conformity assessment, what technical documentation is required, how to register a system in the EU database, how to handle an incident report.

For AI vendors in Europe: this is the "now it gets real" moment. Companies that waited for implementation details now have the playbook to start — those who underestimated are behind.

For AI buyers (public sector, banks, healthcare, HR): deployer responsibilities are significant and require internal processes that cannot be improvised in three months.