AI and the AI Act
When a system starts making decisions, you have to be able to say who answers for it and why the decision was lawful.
AI Act · GDPR · Employment law · Product liabilityDr. János Kopasz · AI, Data Protection & Cyber Lawyer, Budapest
Who decides?
For leaders bringing AI into the business
Your chatbot already decides.Who answers for it?
I help ensure that every AI decision has someone accountable for it, and that it can still be defended later.
Three illusions
A talk for leaders · Én Konferenciám, 14 October 2026
Three sentences that hide AI risk:
“We know where we use AI.”“We bought an AI product.”“But we’re already done.”
Can today’s AI decision be defended tomorrow?
NIS2 audit
For group headquarters and Hungarian subsidiaries
“The Hungarian NIS2 audit is done.”What should HQ ask next?
Every in-scope Hungarian group subsidiary now sits in one of three files:
- Completed on time.
- Late.
- Never assessed.
AI, data and cyber law · Budapest, Hungary, EU AI, data and cyber lawyer · Taylor Wessing Budapest Dr. János Kopasz AIGP · CIPP/E · CIPM The Legal 500: Leading individual 2025 Counsel and Head of the IT, Data & Cyber practice at Taylor Wessing Budapest.
Here from a talk? The slides and materials are below
Here from a talk?
The slides and materials, one click away:
Rules may be delayed.
Responsibility cannot.
Deadlines move. Liability, contracts, regulators and courts do not disappear with them. Governance holds up when it follows the systems rather than the acronyms. An everyday example: four messages to a public chatbot, and the incident is complete.
The full argument: “The Accountability Gap”How a quick fix becomes an incident.
On a routine Tuesday, a colleague’s shortcut becomes an unlogged data protection and employment incident. Nobody meant harm, and nobody owns what happened.
If this sounds familiar: AI coffee, 30 minutes, free of charge →The example is fictional. On stage it also runs as a live demonstration with a developer co-speaker: a governed workspace and a public chatbot, side by side.
Incident
· unlogged ·
· unlogged ·
can you summarise this for the board? need it in 10 mins▤ Q2_salaries_all_staff.xlsx
Done! The file covers 214 employees. Average gross salary: €4,120; highest band: management (names and amounts listed below)…
❯ personal data of 214 employees just left the company
great. now draft a termination letter for T., 52, long sick leave, performance concerns
Here’s a firm but compassionate draft you can send today. I’ve referenced the health-related absences as grounds…
❯ health data · automated assessment of an employee
❯ no legal basis · no processing agreement · no log · no owner
What I advise on
Most questions touch several of them at once.
Data protection
I check that the system actually does with the data what the privacy notice promises, from the vendor to the transfer.
GDPR · ePrivacy · Data Act
Cybersecurity
The first hour of an incident shows whether the lines of responsibility work on paper or in practice.
NIS2 · DORA · CRA
Digital products and platforms
On launch day every product choice becomes a legal question, from the terms of use to accessibility.
DSA · Consumer law · Accessibility
Technology contracts and IP
A contract is good if it still works on the day you leave; I align the licence, the data and the trade mark to that.
Contracts · Licensing · Software · Trade marks
Regulatory proceedings and disputes
In an investigation or a dispute, what counts is whether the reasons and the evidence behind a decision can be produced; I prepare that, and I represent you.
NAIH · Fines · Technology disputes
Clients
Companies that build, buy or run technology, from start-ups to multinational groups.
How we start
You do not need to know in advance which piece of work you need; the first conversation will show it. No fee arises until we have agreed it in writing, in advance.
What you can check.
Fifteen years at Taylor Wessing, with the public records of The Legal 500 and the IAPP: every number can be checked in one click.
15
years with Taylor Wessing
Budapest, since 2011
50+
publications & appearances
Analysis, interviews and radio
across business, tech and legal media
across business, tech and legal media
6
individual rankings
The Legal 500 and IP STARS
2023 to 2026
2023 to 2026
3
IAPP credentials
AIGP · CIPP/E · CIPM
IAPP, international
IAPP, international
“…heralded as ‘one of the most impressive lawyers in Hungary’ for his knowledge of AI, regulatory, and privacy matters”
Where to check
Certifications and rankings
AIGP · CIPP/E · CIPMcredential.net 
KnowledgeNet co-chair · Advisory Board memberiapp.org · credential.net 
Recommended lawyer 2023 · Rising Star 2024 · Leading individual 2025 · Data privacy and data protection, Hungarytaylorwessing.com · legal500.com Practice, teaching, stage
Taylor Wessing, international law firm, Budapest. Head of the IT, Data & Cyber practice since June 2026, with the firm since 2011. Attorney-at-law, Budapest Bar Association.taylorwessing.com: profile · appointment
Visiting lecturer, Faculty of Law, Department of Digital and Technology Lawajk.kre.hu
Invited trainer, Trier, GermanyListed under Speaking
On stage every year since 2023indaplay.hu · video, 2026
Day-to-day professional notes on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)
Selected thinking
Essays and notes
Essays on the AI Act, NIS2 and data transfers, with short notes on what has changed since a decision. All of it in my own name.
Enter the Journal →
ManifestoGovernance
The Accountability Gap
Why Europe’s digital rulebook decides who answers for an AI agent’s decisions.
AI ActEnforcement
The relief is premature: what 2 August actually switches on
The high-risk deadlines moved. Transparency duties, GPAI enforcement and the Hungarian regime did not.
CyberNIS2One framework, finally: the EU’s cyber + AI action plan
Cyber and AI are one governance problem. The Commission has finally started treating them that way.
LinkedIn
From the feed
Short posts on talks, teaching and professional news. The full feed is on LinkedIn.
Follow on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)
Contributor to the official IAPP AIGP textbook, AI Governance: From Strategy to Execution (IAPP, 2026)The post on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)
Én Konferenciám: 2026 GDPR in Practice national conference, Ensana Thermal Margitsziget, 14 October 2026The post on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)
Autumn 2026/27: Introduction to the Application of Artificial Intelligence, Faculty of Law, Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in HungaryThe post on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)
AI Summit Budapest 2026: “Who made the decision?”The post on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)
AI Summit Budapest 2026: “Rules may be delayed. Responsibility cannot.”The post on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)
Autumn 2026/27: Regulation of Artificial Intelligence, LL.M. in AI and EU Digital Law, Faculty of Law, Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in HungaryThe post on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)
Workshop: Application of Technology in a Lawyer’s Daily Work, ERA Young European Lawyers Academy, Trier, June 2026The post on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)
Appointed Head of the IT, Data & Cyber practice, Taylor Wessing Hungary (June 2026)The post on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)
Let us start with a coffee.
Thirty minutes on one specific question, at the Gerbeaud House or on a Teams call. Legal work sits with Taylor Wessing’s Budapest office; writing, talks and teaching are in my own name.
Book a slot (opens in a new tab)
- Before: When booking, one sentence is enough: which organisation you represent and how I can help. No documents are needed.
- During: Thirty minutes of relaxed conversation, in person at the Gerbeaud House or on a Teams call, in English or Hungarian.
- After: I tell you which legal questions the topic raises and how I could help. If it turns into joint work, we agree its terms in writing first.