Question 1

What is the EU AI Act and how does it affect SMEs?

Accepted Answer

The EU AI Act is the world's first comprehensive regulation on artificial intelligence, effective from August 2024. It classifies AI systems by risk level (prohibited, high-risk, limited-risk, minimal-risk) and imposes compliance requirements accordingly. Most SME AI tools fall under 'limited-risk' (transparency obligations) or 'minimal-risk' (no special requirements). We help you navigate classification and prepare for compliance audits.

Question 2

How much can I save by switching from GPT-5 to Small Language Models?

Accepted Answer

It depends on volume. For most teams the real win is structural: self-hosted models run on fixed infrastructure (from ~€7/mo) instead of €22-25/user/month per-seat cloud subscriptions, so cost stops scaling with headcount. On raw inference, self-hosted Small Language Models cut cost by up to ~70% only at very high sustained volume (100M+ tokens/day); below that the infrastructure cost is what matters.

Question 3

How do self-hosted AI solutions protect data privacy?

Accepted Answer

Self-hosted AI keeps your data on European servers under your control—no third-party APIs, no data leaving the EU, full GDPR compliance by design. Unlike cloud AI services (OpenAI, Anthropic), you own the infrastructure, audit trails, and access controls.

Question 4

What are Small Language Models (SLMs)?

Accepted Answer

Small Language Models are AI models with fewer parameters (7B-70B) than large models like GPT-5. Examples include Mistral 7B, Llama 3 70B, and Phi-3. They offer 80-95% of large model capabilities at 10-20x lower cost and can run on consumer hardware or affordable cloud instances.

Question 5

Can I use ChatGPT/Claude and still be GDPR compliant?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but with limitations. Both OpenAI and Anthropic offer GDPR-compliant Business/Enterprise plans with Data Processing Agreements (DPAs), EU data residency options, and no training on your data. However, free/personal tiers do NOT guarantee GDPR compliance.

Question 6

How long does it take to build and deploy an AI agent?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the tier you start with. An AI Readiness Sprint (from €1,500) takes 1–2 weeks and delivers a prioritised build plan. A Starter Agent (from €3,500 + €150–300/month) automates one workflow end-to-end in 2–4 weeks. A Foundation build (€9,000–15,000) delivers a production multi-agent system with EU AI Act documentation in 4–8 weeks. Managed AI Operations (€1,500–5,000/month) then runs and improves it after launch. Everything is deployed on infrastructure you own, with production-ready code from day one.

Question 7

Do you work with clients outside Portugal?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely! While we're based in Portugal, we serve clients across the European Union and beyond. Our bilingual team (English/Portuguese) works remotely with companies in Spain, France, Germany, and other EU countries.

Question 8

What's the difference between Mistral AI and OpenAI?

Accepted Answer

Mistral AI is a European company building open-source and commercial AI models, while OpenAI (GPT-5, ChatGPT) is a US company with closed-source models. Key differences: Mistral models can be self-hosted (full control, no API costs at scale), Mistral has EU data centers (better GDPR compliance), Mistral is cheaper to run self-hosted (up to ~70% lower inference cost vs. GPT-5 at very high volume, and fixed infra instead of per-seat fees).

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