OVI is the AI-native ATS where you chat to hire. Two AI agents — Sora for sourcing and Milo for screening — find candidates, score every CV, and run AI interviews, all controlled from a single chat.

What does "chat to hire" mean?

Chat to hire is OVI's AI-native hiring workflow: instead of clicking through a traditional ATS, you describe what you need in chat and OVI's AI agents source candidates, screen applicants, run AI interviews, and send outreach for you.

What is an AI-native ATS?

An AI-native ATS is an applicant tracking system built around AI agents rather than forms and pipelines. OVI's AI chat ATS lets recruiters source, screen, interview, and follow up through conversation — the agents do the work and surface only the candidates worth meeting.

Who are Sora and Milo?

Sora is OVI's AI sourcing agent — she scans LinkedIn, the open web, and your ATS history to find best-fit candidates and reach out in your name. Milo is OVI's AI screening agent — he scores every applicant against your rubric and surfaces a ranked shortlist.

How do OVI's AI interviews work?

OVI runs async AI interviews for every shortlisted candidate and returns scores, transcripts, and recordings — so your team only meets the people worth meeting.

EU AI Act Delay Is Not a Holiday: What HR Teams Must Do Before August 2, 2026

2026-06-19

On May 7, 2026, EU lawmakers reached a provisional trilogue agreement to push the AI Act's high-risk employment deadline back by 16 months — from August 2, 2026 to December 2, 2027. The European Council and Parliament confirmed the deal on May 27, 2026. For HR leaders who have been scrambling to prepare, it sounds like welcome breathing room.

Here is the catch: the delay is not final.

The agreement is part of the broader Digital AI Omnibus package, first published by the European Commission on November 19, 2025. Until the Omnibus is formally adopted and published in the EU Official Journal — a process that could stretch past the original August 2, 2026 deadline — the current timeline remains legally binding. Organizations that stand down from compliance preparations are gambling on a legislative process with no guaranteed completion date.

As Fisher Phillips noted in their analysis: "December 2027 will arrive faster than you think."

What Counts as High-Risk AI in HR

The EU AI Act classifies AI systems used in employment and worker management as high-risk when they are involved in:

Hiring and candidate selection — CV screening, ranking algorithms, automated shortlisting
Performance evaluation — AI-driven performance scoring and review tools
Task allocation — Algorithmic assignment of work, shifts, or projects
Worker monitoring — Surveillance, productivity tracking, and behavioral analytics
Promotion and termination decisions — AI systems that influence career progression or dismissal

If your organization uses AI in any of these areas, the high-risk obligations apply — whether the deadline lands on August 2, 2026 or December 2, 2027.

One practical compliance note: AI tools that operate on a human-in-the-loop model — where the AI provides decision support but a human recruiter or manager makes the final call — may sit below the high-risk threshold. This architectural distinction matters for compliance planning, though organizations should still document their processes and rationale.

What Changes Under the Omnibus (If Adopted)

Beyond the timeline shift, the provisional agreement introduces several substantive changes HR teams should track:

Extended deadlines by category:

General high-risk AI obligations (including employment): moved from August 2, 2026 to December 2, 2027
AI in regulated products and safety components: moved to August 2, 2028

Bias detection permissions expanded: Organizations may now process special category data (such as race, gender, or disability status) specifically for bias testing purposes. This applies to both high-risk and non-high-risk AI systems — a meaningful change for HR teams running fairness audits on hiring tools.

SME relief broadened: Compliance relief measures previously limited to small and medium enterprises have been extended to small mid-cap companies, reducing the regulatory burden on growing organizations.

Penalties remain steep: Non-compliance with high-risk obligations can result in fines of up to EUR 15 million or 3% of global annual turnover, whichever is higher. Prohibited AI practices carry even steeper penalties — up to EUR 35 million or 7% of global turnover.

Your 5-Step Action Checklist

Regardless of whether the deadline moves, these steps protect your organization in either scenario:

1. Audit your AI systems. Inventory every AI tool used in recruitment, performance management, task allocation, and workforce monitoring. Classify each as high-risk or not under the Act's criteria.

2. Map your vendors as provider or deployer. Under the AI Act, obligations differ depending on whether your organization develops AI systems (provider) or purchases and uses them (deployer). Most HR teams are deployers — but the distinction affects your documentation and oversight requirements.

3. Review contracts with AI vendors. Ensure vendor agreements include provisions for transparency, data access, conformity assessments, and incident reporting. If your vendor cannot support these obligations, you may need to renegotiate or switch providers.

4. Build a compliance plan now. Do not wait for formal adoption. Document your risk management procedures, human oversight protocols, data governance practices, and technical documentation. These take months to implement properly.

5. Monitor formal adoption via the EU Official Journal. The Omnibus must be published in the Official Journal before the new deadlines take legal effect. Track this actively — if publication does not occur before August 2, 2026, the original deadline applies immediately.

FAQ

Is the delay final?

No. The May 7, 2026 trilogue agreement (confirmed by the Council and Parliament on May 27, 2026) is provisional. The Digital AI Omnibus must be formally adopted and published in the EU Official Journal before the new December 2, 2027 deadline takes legal effect. If formal adoption does not occur before August 2, 2026, the original deadline applies. Organizations that pause compliance work are taking a significant risk.

What counts as high-risk AI in HR?

The EU AI Act classifies AI systems as high-risk when used for hiring and candidate selection, performance evaluation, task allocation, worker monitoring, or promotion and termination decisions. If your AI tool influences any of these employment decisions, it falls under the high-risk category and must meet the Act's requirements for transparency, human oversight, risk management, and documentation.

What should HR teams do right now?

Start (or continue) preparing as if the August 2, 2026 deadline is real — because it still might be. Audit your AI systems, map vendor relationships, review contracts, and build compliance documentation. The provisional delay, even if adopted, only pushes the deadline to December 2, 2027 — not far enough to justify starting from scratch later.

Sources: DLA Piper, "The Digital/AI Omnibus — Proposed Deferral of High-Risk AI Obligations Under the AI Act" (2026); Fisher Phillips, "EU Overhauls AI Act Just Before Key Deadline" (2026); EU AI Act Information Hub, "What the Act Means for Staffing Businesses" (artificialintelligenceact.eu).