AI in business: skills, usage policies and training

Artificial intelligence is playing an ever-greater role in business processes across every sector and, when used wisely, can deliver a real competitive advantage in terms of efficiency, quality and capacity to innovate. To make the most of these opportunities, however, companies need to build the right skills and establish responsible ways of using these tools. Against this backdrop, the AI Act requires providers and deployers to take measures to foster “AI literacy” among their staff. For businesses, this essentially means organising the use of these tools in a way that is informed and proportionate to roles and to the context of use.

What the AI Act requires today

Article 4 of the AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689), as amended by the Digital Omnibus on AI (Regulation (EU) 2026/1744), requires providers and deployers to take measures to support the development of AI literacy among their staff and other persons operating AI systems on their behalf, taking into account their knowledge, experience, training and the context of use.

The approach is therefore substantive and proportionate: anyone using AI should understand its potential and limitations, the risks associated with data and outputs, and the internal rules that apply. The European Commission has made clear that there is no one-size-fits-all format and no standard mandatory training; organisations may adopt different initiatives, provided they are aligned with the people involved and the tools actually in use.

Training is part of a broader journey that does not require an elaborate framework from day one: it is enough to start from real-world use cases, setting clear rules and responsibilities and maintaining appropriate human oversight of outputs, then updating the approach as tools and processes evolve.

Four steps for a structured start

01 Map the AI tools already in use and the processes in which they are deployed.

02 Review the terms of use, data handling and security settings of each tool, giving preference to business-grade solutions suited to the information being processed.

03 Define usage policies and responsibilities: permitted activities, data that may be used, human checks and accountable persons.

04 Plan AI literacy initiatives and role-specific training, starting from real-world use cases.

Training: explore the funding opportunities

For companies that are members of one of the Interprofessional Funds (financed by the 0.30% supplementary contribution that employers pay to INPS, the Italian social security institute), AI courses fully qualify as fundable continuing training initiatives. Access arrangements, available resources and timelines vary from Fund to Fund: our firm is available to check whether your company is a member of an Interprofessional Fund and to identify the training courses that can realistically be put in place.