-
Walter Billet Avocats and the strategy consulting firm Seerius MINDS combine their skills and mastery of technological subjects to help companies understand and manage the complexity of AI.
-
Their joint turnkey offer makes it possible to map and classify risks linked to the use of AI within companies.
-
The two partners combine their analyzes with recommendations, compliance actions and training of employees within the organizations.
Adopted by the Council of Europe on May 17, 2024, the European regulation on artificial intelligence (or “AI Act”) is presented as the text aimed at “guaranteeing trustworthy AI that respects fundamental rights”. Designed to regulate artificial intelligence products marketed on the European market, it has the particularity of leading to compliance obligations aimed not at the company as a whole, but at each AI system or model within it. designs or uses.
Aware of the complexity of this new regulatory framework in its concrete implementation, Walter Billet Avocats and Seerius MINDS provide a joint offer to support step by step companies wishing to assess their compliance with the AI Act, by combining their know-how. do respective:
- the expertise in innovative technology and intellectual property law from Walter Billet Avocats;
- the expertise in the use and integration of AI and generative AI in business from the consulting firm Seerius MINDS.
“In the same way that companies have had to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into force in May 2018, they must adopt a structured approach to avoid failing in the face of complex requirements. posed by the AI Act. This is why we offer technical departments and legal departments support combining our respective skills, for a 360° vision integrating the analysis of the risks incurred as well as recommendations for compliance,” comment Alan Walter, partner-cofounder of Walter Billet Avocats and head of the “Innovative Technologies” department, and Jacques-Henri Valla, cofounder of the Seerius MINDS firm.
The creation of the AI Office is already planed in 2025, with the aim of controlling, supervising and enforcing the requirements of the AI Act. However, companies must now address the subject because it requires a careful approach.
Structured around numerous directives, the first of which concerns the assessment of risks – which must be mapped according to their status considered minimal, low, high and unacceptable –, the AI Act in fact exposes companies to heavy fines in the event of non-compliance with these directives, which may amount to up to 7% of global turnover or 35 million euros.
“Companies will have to be ready very quickly to provide clear information on the functioning of their AI systems, recall Alan Walter and Jacques-Henri Valla. It is not just a question of technical compliance, for which it would be a question of claiming zero legal risk, but of being able to anticipate a dialogue to be carried out in complete transparency with the competent authorities, the time comes.“
As part of their joint offer, Walter Billet Avocats and Seerius MINDS offer support structured around four phases:
- the mapping of all systems falling under the AI Act;
- the classification of each of these systems, following the nomenclature of the AI Act;
- the definition of recommendations to reduce risk levels, weighted for business impacts;
- training teams to accelerate the implementation of recommendations and ensure future compliance with the law.
“This allows companies to benefit from a secure and reassuring framework to advance their AI projects, which are often held back by an apprehension of risks.” Jacques-Henri Valla and Alan Walter are convinced of this: “This partnership and the combination of our two expertises provide our clients with the essential reassurance to fully exploit the potential of AI, in full compliance with regulations.”