Empowering SMEs to understand, adopt and manage trustworthy AI with confidence
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) increasingly rely on artificial intelligence and digital services to improve productivity, customer experience and decision-making. However, many SMEs may lack the expertise, financial resources or organisational capacity to assess the legal, technical and ethical implications of these technologies.
Navigating the complex and evolving EU regulatory environment is a particular challenge. Requirements related to data protection, cybersecurity, transparency and responsible AI can be complex to interpret across multiple regulations and to translate into practical assessment checks.
SMEs need clear, accessible guidance and practical tools to help them more easily understand obligations, manage risks and adopt AI responsibly.
The TRUST platform helps SMEs make trustworthy AI and compliance requirements more understandable and actionable.
Through hands-on workshops, guided training and practical testing in real compliance scenarios, SMEs will be invited to pilot the TRUST platform to assess their regulatory compliance in areas such as data privacy, governance, and cybersecurity.
The pilot evaluates usability, workflow efficiency and training needs while collecting user feedback to identify barriers and improvement opportunities. The resulting materials and use case reports support SMEs in translating compliance requirements into practical, proportionate actions.
This use case enables SMEs to adopt AI and digital services with greater confidence while reducing regulatory, operational and reputational risks.
By improving internal knowledge and providing proportionate implementation tools, TRUST helps smaller organisations make better-informed technology decisions. It also reduces their dependence on fragmented guidance and costly ad hoc compliance processes.
The approach strengthens organisational resilience, facilitates communication with clients and business partners, and helps SMEs demonstrate that they are taking responsible steps towards trustworthy innovation.