You do not need a certificate. You need someone who has understood it.
Since 27 July 2026 the AI literacy obligation under the EU AI Act has been softened: companies only have to support AI literacy, they do not have to guarantee a particular level. The European Commission expressly does not require a certificate. What remains is the risk in day-to-day work — and the question of who in your organisation actually understands how these systems work.
Note: most of what is being sold to you at high prices right now is something you do not need
Since 2025 an entire market for mandatory AI training has grown up — certificate courses from €2,400 to €3,950 per person, compliance packages, AI officers. On 27 July 2026 the Digital Omnibus Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 came into force and changed the basis of these offers. We would rather tell you what you can save than sell it to you.
„There is no need for a certificate. Organisations can keep an internal record of trainings and/or other guiding initiatives."
European Commission, “AI Literacy — Questions & Answers”, as at 27 July 2026
“Without a certificate you face fines.”
The European Commission expressly does not require a certificate. Internal documentation of your measures is enough — even an Excel list is documentation.
“Missing AI training costs up to 35 million euros.”
Article 4 of the AI Act carries no fine — neither under Article 99 AI Act nor under the German KI-MIG (German AI Market Surveillance and Innovation Promotion Act). The large amounts belong to prohibited practices (Article 5) and transparency breaches (Article 50).
“From August 2026 it gets serious for everyone.”
The high-risk obligations have been postponed to December 2027 and August 2028 respectively. The transparency obligations under Article 50 have applied since 2 August 2026 — for most mid-sized companies that means labelling chatbots and AI content.
“Every single person needs the full training.”
The Commission expressly allows different depths of training for different groups. That is exactly what the multiplier model lives on.
What you need instead
The obligation has not disappeared, it has become free of form: you have to take measures and you should document them. With one trained internal multiplier and ongoing content this works out cheaper and more effective than a certificate per head. The real risk lies elsewhere anyway — in what your people paste into a chat window tomorrow morning.
What actually applies since 27 July 2026
The AI literacy obligation still exists, but since the revision it only requires “taking measures to support the development of AI literacy …”. Nobody has to guarantee a particular level of knowledge. It gets interesting where money and liability are genuinely at stake.
| Provision | What it requires | What a breach entails |
|---|---|---|
| Article 4 AI Act | Measures to promote AI literacy — free of form, no certificate, no obligation to measure. | No basis for a fine. It only becomes relevant once an incident can be traced back to missing guidance. |
| Article 5 AI Act | Prohibited practices, including emotion recognition in the workplace. | Up to €35 million or 7% of worldwide annual turnover. |
| Article 50 AI Act | Transparency: label chatbots as AI, disclose deepfakes. Applies since 2 August 2026. | Up to €15 million or 3% of worldwide annual turnover. |
| § 43 GmbHG (German Limited Liability Companies Act) | Duty of legality: management must prevent legal breaches by employees through organisational means — including guidance. | Personal liability, joint and several, five-year limitation period. |
| § 2 GeschGehG (German Trade Secrets Act) | A trade secret only exists where reasonable confidentiality measures are in place. Blanket clauses are not enough. | Without a specific, communicated rule, trade secret protection can be lost entirely. |
| § 97(2) BetrVG (German Works Constitution Act) | If AI changes the work itself, the works council has a say on qualification measures. | Enforceable through the conciliation committee — whose ruling replaces agreement. |
As at 19 August 2026, after the Digital Omnibus Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 came into force. This overview states the legal position and does not replace legal advice.
AI is already in the business. The competence is not.
The problem is not the regulation but the gap between use and ability. The figures below come from primary surveys, not from vendor marketing.
One person learns it properly. Everyone benefits.
You send us one or more multipliers. In one day we teach them how AI actually works — not just which buttons to press. After that they receive ready-made content from us every month, with which they bring their colleagues along themselves. Your staff do not have to travel anywhere for it.
Responsibility deliberately stays inside your organisation — that is the point. We supply the content, train and test the multiplier, and keep your compliance documentation up to date.
Foundation day
How it works instead of which buttons to press: tokens and context windows, why models hallucinate, what RAG can do, where your data goes, how prompt injection works. Every module ends with a rule for day-to-day work.
Included in the base priceMonthly content package
Ready-made material to pass on internally: short video, slides, one-pager, practical examples. Your multiplier trains with it directly, without having to build content.
€290 / monthSelf-check & documentation
A recurring online test for the multiplier and colleagues, including a results report, plus templates for an AI policy and training records — exactly the internal documentation the European Commission calls sufficient.
Included in the content packageLive session & office hours
A regular Q&A session for your multipliers — the most effective lever once things get concrete in daily work. It costs real time from real people and is therefore priced separately.
Optional, from €450Prices
All prices net, plus VAT. A mileage charge applies for journeys of more than 30 km.
- Foundation day incl. 2 multipliers
- €2,500
- Each additional multiplier
- + €500
- Content package, monthly
- €290 / month
- Live session / office hours
- from €450
One day, at your premises or at our training centre in Göttingen. Includes a material kit and compliance documentation.
We recommend no more than six people per day — so that it stays a working day and does not turn into a lecture.
Material to pass on internally, self-check with report, regulatory update and documentation templates. Term of 12 months.
90 minutes for your multipliers, tailored to your company. Included neither in the base price nor in the content package.
So there are no surprises: Live sessions and office hours are deliberately not priced in. They are the most effective addition — and they cost real time from real people. You book them when you need them, not as package filler.
Why one multiplier achieves more than 40 individual courses
The model is not a pricing idea, it is a learning idea. Four findings we rely on — all of them verifiable:
higher compliance with rules when internal opinion leaders convey a practice.
Cochrane review, 24 studies, more than 3,000 professionals (2019)learning effect when someone learns with the task of passing it on. Without that task the effect is not measurable.
Kobayashi, meta-analysis of 39 studies (2024)better retention through distributed repetition instead of one-off training.
Cepeda et al., meta-analysis, 14,811 participants (2006)that is how sharply the application of what was learned falls in the first year — according to statements from training managers in 150 organisations.
Saks & Belcourt, Human Resource Management (2006)Training 40 employees individually and externally
- Seminar fee, 40 × €775€31,000
- Time away from work, 40 × 8 h × €45€14,400
- Travel costs, 20 × €418€8,360
Multiplier Programme
- Foundation day incl. 2 multipliers, with their time away from work€3,220
- Internal transfer, 40 × 2 h × €45€3,600
- Content package, 12 × €290€3,480
Our own model calculation with disclosed assumptions: €775 is the median of publicly listed one-day seminars on the EU AI Act (as at August 2026), €45.00 is the average labour cost per hour worked in Germany in 2025 (Federal Statistical Office of Germany), €418 the average cost per business trip in 2025 (VDR). Your figures may differ — we recalculate them with your values in the initial call.
Request a date for your foundation day
30 minutes, no obligation: we clarify how many multipliers make sense, which topics are pressing for you and when the day can take place. If a simpler format is enough, we will say so.
No certificate selling. If 45 minutes of e-learning is enough for you, we will recommend that instead.
From analysis to result — in four steps
AI Readiness Assessment
A preliminary questionnaire and an analysis call determine your company's AI maturity. Where do you stand? Which tools are in use? Where is data already leaving the building today without anyone noticing?
Individualised training day
Tailored to your tools, your level and your industry. Not a standard seminar — the work is done on real tasks from your people's daily work.
AI Action Plan & documentation
Every day ends with a written action plan and documentation of the measure: quick wins, tool recommendations, a draft policy and a roadmap for three to six months.
Support & implementation
On request, cierra supports the implementation — from tool rollout through automation to your own AI solution. Training becomes transformation, if that is what you want.
If a multiplier is not the right fit
Sometimes a classic in-house workshop fits better — for example when the whole team should reach the same level in one day. All prices are flat rates for the group, not per head.
AI Awareness
For: managing directors & management
Half a day (4 h) · In-house
Flat rate for up to 15 participants
- ✓ Live demos: what can AI really do today — and what not?
- ✓ Tool overview: ChatGPT, Copilot and Claude compared
- ✓ The EU AI Act after the Digital Omnibus: what is left for you
- ✓ Five quick wins for tomorrow morning
- ✓ Cost & ROI: what does AI realistically cost?
AI Power User
For: all employees
Full day (7 h) · In-house
Flat rate for up to 15 participants
- ✓ Prompt engineering from the basics to advanced
- ✓ AI in the daily office routine: email, documents, data
- ✓ Industry-specific applications and exercises
- ✓ Data flows & GDPR: what may I enter, and what never?
- ✓ Building your own AI assistant (Custom GPTs)
AI Implementation
For: IT, engineering and digitalisation leads
2 days · In-house
Flat rate for up to 15 participants
- ✓ Developing an AI strategy with the canvas method
- ✓ API integrations (OpenAI, Azure, Claude)
- ✓ Automation with Zapier, Make and n8n
- ✓ Building AI agents and deploying them safely
- ✓ Prototyping your own AI solution (hands-on)
Combined offer: Level 1 and Level 2 together as a flat-rate package — awareness and practical skills in one and a half days. Price on request.
All workshops take place as in-house training — at your premises or at our training centre in Göttingen. A mileage charge applies for journeys of more than 30 km.
What comes with every format
AI Readiness Assessment
Free preliminary check: where does your company stand? A questionnaire plus a personal analysis call.
Individual AI Action Plan
A written action plan with quick wins, tool recommendations and a roadmap for the coming months.
Compliance documentation
Confirmation of attendance and a documented overview of your measures — exactly the internal record the European Commission calls sufficient. No certificate that nobody requires.
Follow-up after four weeks
Four weeks after the session we talk about progress, open questions and next steps.
Optional: coaching package
Four weekly 30-minute calls for €499 a month. Ongoing support during rollout.
Built for small teams and mid-sized companies
Our sweet spot: companies with 5 to 20 employees that want to use AI systematically — without their own IT team. The multiplier model pays off from around 20 employees and works up to classic mid-sized companies with 250 staff.
We teach what we build
We tell you what you do not need
Until July 2026 we could have sold you certificates too. Since the legal position changed we say what really counts instead — even though that costs us a convenient sales argument.
How it works, not which buttons to press
We explain tokens, context windows, the causes of hallucination, RAG and data flows. Most curricula on the market do not mention these terms — there it ends with the prompt.
The honest price comparison
AI officer (TÜV) €2,450, AI manager (IHK) €2,590, AI officer (DEKRA) €2,932 — each per person, for a certificate the European Commission does not require. Our foundation day costs €2,500 flat, including two multipliers.
From project work, not from a textbook
224+ AI projects since 2017: assistants, automations, integrations, EU servers, GDPR-native. We teach what we build ourselves every day.
Arrange a free initial consultation
In 30 minutes we look at your situation and tell you honestly which format fits — or whether you need none at all right now.
Book your initial consultation →30 minutes · no obligation · no certificate selling