Compliance

The EU AI Act and procurement: what buyers need to know

Procurato · Apr 2026 · 8 min read

The EU AI Act classifies AI systems by risk, and where a system lands determines the obligations that follow. For procurement teams using AI to assist sourcing and evaluation, the practical question is simpler than the regulation looks: how much does the AI decide, and how much does it merely inform?

Assist, don't automate the decision

A system that proposes and explains, while a named human makes the award, sits in very different territory from one that decides autonomously. Keeping a person accountable for the final call is the single most important design choice.

Three controls worth having

First, traceability: every AI output cites the evidence it used. Second, human oversight: a real reviewer can see, question and override any suggestion. Third, transparency: bidders can be told that AI assisted the evaluation and on what basis. These three controls turn a compliance worry into a documented, defensible process.