In my previous blog , you learned what AI literacy is, why it is important, and how you can work on it. But at the organizational level, the impact is even greater. After all, as an organization, you have a much greater responsibility towards your employees, customers, and society. The EU AI Act distinguishes between different levels of AI applications. And these different levels come with different requirements that you as an organization must meet. Let’s take a closer look at that.

AI Regulation applies to everyone

The first question you may have is: Does this apply to my organization? The short answer is YES! The long answer is that the AI ​​Regulation is aimed at both organizations that offer AI and organizations that use AI. From government and healthcare institutions to SMEs. The EU AI Act, or AI Regulation, categorizes AI systems based on potential risks. The higher the risk for citizens and society as a whole, the stricter the rules. Important points that this law regulates are:

• Unacceptable risks are prohibited;
• High-risk applications are subject to stricter rules. For example, systems intended for recruitment and selection or for law enforcement. Organizations must be able to demonstrate that they meet the obligations. You and your organization are therefore responsible yourself. For lower-risk applications, a certain degree of transparency is expected. For example, a system that generates artificial content (such as the images in this blog) must clearly mark this.
• Supervisors are appointed per Member State to enforce compliance with the regulation. It is not yet known who the supervisor will be in the Netherlands, although the Dutch Data Protection Authority currently seems to be the most involved party.

If your organization develops or uses an AI system, it is your (your) own responsibility to determine which risk category that system falls into. Of course, that can be difficult. That is why it all starts with AI literacy . For you as an individual (also read my previous blog) but also for your organization. I would like to explain to you why it is also important for your organization to focus on AI literacy. Make sure that part of this blog is also read by your manager (or read it again if you are one). After that, I will also give practical tips to make the entire organization AI-literate. Let’s go!

Why AI literacy is essential for your organization

AI literacy means, according to the law, that people who use AI systems within or on behalf of an organization must have sufficient knowledge, skills and understanding to use AI responsibly. Both technically and practically, socially and ethically. That may still be a bit vague. But that is because the knowledge and skills you, and other employees, need differ per situation. It depends, among other things, on the context in which the system is used and what the potential risks are.

Okay, so you now understand what AI literacy is and that there is even legislation for it. But why should you as an organization get started with it? Isn’t it just a trendy term that will be forgotten in a year? Well, not really. AI literacy is crucial for the modern professional (you!), your organization and society.

1. Stay competitive (or become so)

Let’s face it: AI is here to stay in society and business. Whether you’re in marketing, finance, HR or manufacturing, AI can make your work more efficient and effective. But only if your team knows how to use it. AI-literate employees can:

• Make smarter decisions with AI-powered data analysis
• Innovate faster by using AI tools effectively
• Recognizing and avoiding potential risks and pitfalls of AI implementation

2. Improve your customer service (and your employee satisfaction)

AI can be great for customer service, but it can also be a real pain in the ass if used incorrectly. An AI-literate team can:

• Using chatbots and AI assistants the right way
• Knowing when human contact is needed
• Using AI to personalize customer experiences without being creepy
• Coaching and improving yourself with the help of AI

And don’t forget your employees: when they understand how AI supports their work (rather than threatens it), they are often a lot more satisfied!

3. Stay ethical (and out of trouble)

AI brings ethical challenges. Think of privacy, bias in algorithms, or the impact on employment. An AI-literate organization:

• Recognizes potential ethical issues before they escalate
• Communicates transparently about AI use to customers and stakeholders
• Implements AI in a manner that aligns with the organization’s core values

4. Boost your innovation power 🚀

When your team understands what AI can (and can’t) do, surprising ideas often emerge. You might even see opportunities that your competitors are missing. AI literacy encourages:

• Thinking outside the box about processes in your organization
• Recognizing new market opportunities
• Creative solutions to old problems
• Accelerates the process from idea to solution

5. Social Responsibility (yes, really!)

AI has a huge impact on society. By stimulating AI literacy in your organization, you contribute to:

• A better informed society
• Responsible development and deployment of AI technologies
• Reducing the ‘digital divide’ between AI haves and have-nots

In short, AI literacy is not just a nice-to-have. It is an essential skill for modern organizations that want to thrive in the AI ​​era. And the best part is: you don’t have to be an expert right away. Every step towards greater AI literacy is one.

Getting Started with AI Literacy

But how do you actually start improving AI literacy in your organization? I thought you would never ask!

1. Create an AI inventory

Sounds boring, but it isn’t. Because you’d be surprised how much AI is already circulating in your organization without you even realizing it.

• Make a list of all the tools and systems you use
• Check which of these contain AI components (note: there are probably more than you think!)
• Determine who uses these tools and how

EXAMPLE
A client of ours discovered that the various employees were using more than 15 different AI tools for content creation, to help with minutes and to elaborate documents. But nobody knew exactly how they worked and nobody knew which other tools were being used. Eye-opener!

2. Assemble an AI task force

No, of course you don’t use these ‘AI commandos’ to keep the robots out, but to stimulate AI literacy. And yes, a task force sounds very corporate. You can of course also call it a group of pioneers, a team or driving forces. Do your thing. What matters is that you make people responsible for getting started with AI literacy so that it comes to life in your organization. When putting together such a group, take the following points into account:

• Select representatives from different departments
• Give them time and resources to delve into AI
• Let them act as AI ambassadors within their teams

EXAMPLE
We started 2 years ago with 3 enthusiasts and a small experimentation budget. Now our AI core team has doubled, AI is a spearhead in every discipline and more than 2/3 of the organization uses at least 1 million tokens every 4 months. And the heavy users use up to 30 million tokens per month.

3. Integrate AI into existing processes

Start small, think big.

• Identify a process that can benefit from AI
• Just start with a pilot. Do, do, do is the message!
• Evaluate, learn, and scale

EXAMPLE
Within Traffic Builders we now have more than 40 specialized AI characters (mini-agents) that take over certain tasks from us. And increasingly they are used in combination or successively. And all that in our own AI chat environment .

4. Create an AI-friendly culture

AI literacy flourishes in the right environment.

• Encourage experimentation (and accept that not everything will be perfect right away)
• Celebrate successes, but also learn from failures
• Make AI a topic of conversation in team meetings

PRO TIP
Start a monthly “AI Show & Tell” where teams share their experiences with AI tools.

5. Develop an AI ethics guideline

Because with great power comes great responsibility (thanks, Spider-Man).

• Set clear rules for the use of AI
• Make sure everyone knows how to handle data and privacy
• Regular check-ins to see if the guidelines are still up to date

6. Make AI part of your hiring and onboarding

Prepare your organization for the future.

• Include AI literacy in your job profiles
• Integrate basic AI training into your onboarding process
• Offer ongoing AI education as part of professional development

EXAMPLE
More and more of our onboarding videos are being replaced by AI-generated videos (based on AI alter egos of existing colleagues). This makes it easier for us to keep the onboarding up to date and streamline it better. Learning to work with AI is part of the onboarding. And: someone who does not want or try anything with AI will no longer be allowed in with us, sorry.

7. Measure and improve

Because you can’t improve what you don’t measure.

• Set KPIs for AI literacy (e.g. number of employees who have received AI training)
• Track how AI projects perform
• Regularly ask your team for feedback on their AI experiences

RESULT
Our AI usage, measured in tokens, increased to over a hundred million tokens per month last year. These tokens are distributed on average over 10 different (versions of) LLMs. To continue boosting internal knowledge, we organize internal trainings and highlight the latest news and our best use of AI in every monthly update.

Your organization in 2025

The EU AI Act ensures that we can’t all change overnight in this area. So there is a lead-in period that gives everyone time to meet the requirements and become AI literate. Take that time, but please don’t sit back and say “my time will come”.

Remember: Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will your AI-literate organization. It’s about taking consistent, small steps. Keep learning, keep experimenting, and before you know it, you’ll be the AI ​​ninja you’ve always dreamed of being!

But start now! What will be the state of AI in your organization by the end of 2025? Dare to set yourself an ambitious goal. For example, that your organization has AI literacy in order by Q4 of this year. We are happy to help you with that!

And if you missed it in the previous blog about AI literacy, be sure to take the quiz below to quickly see where your organization stands now.