Overview

Artificial Intelligence is becoming an increasingly important part of modern business software. From drafting content and summarizing information to assisting users with everyday tasks, AI has the potential to improve productivity and simplify business processes.

At Odoo, we believe AI should assist people, not replace their judgment.

Our AI-assisted features are designed to support users while preserving transparency, human oversight, privacy, and security. As the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) is progressively implemented, Odoo continues to review its products, documentation, and internal processes to ensure they remain aligned with applicable legal requirements.

This page explains the EU AI act and how Odoo uses AI, the principles that guide our AI-assisted features, and how we support customers in the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence.

What you need to know about the AI Act 

The EU AI Act is the European Union's first comprehensive legal framework for artificial intelligence. It establishes a common set of rules to ensure AI systems are safe, transparent, trustworthy, and respectful of fundamental rights, while supporting responsible innovation across the EU.

AI Risk Classification Under the EU AI Act

The regulation adopts a risk-based approach, meaning that the obligations applicable to an AI system depend on its intended purpose and the level of risk it presents.

AI systems are grouped into four categories:

• Unacceptable Risk → Prohibited

  AI systems that pose a clear threat to people's safety or fundamental rights are banned. Examples include certain manipulative AI practices, social scoring, and specific biometric applications.

  Learn more: Unacceptable Risk

• High Risk → Strict Compliance Requirements

  High-risk AI systems must comply with comprehensive requirements, including risk management, data governance, technical documentation, human oversight, transparency, accuracy, robustness, and cybersecurity before they can be placed on the market or used.

  Learn more: High-Risk AI Systems

• Limited Risk → Transparency Obligations

  AI systems that present limited risk are primarily subject to transparency requirements, such as informing users when they are interacting with AI or when content has been AI-generated.

  Learn more: Limited Risk and Transparency Requirements

• Minimal Risk → Few or No Additional Obligations

  Most AI applications fall into this category and can generally be developed and used without additional AI Act requirements beyond existing applicable laws.

  Learn more: Minimal Risk

Most AI-assisted productivity features commonly found in business software and therefore in Odoo, such as drafting text or website pages, summarizing documents, translating content, or assisting customer support are generally intended for use cases that are not classified as high-risk.

However, the classification ultimately depends on the specific purpose for which AI is used, which is determined by the AI deployer. 

Indeed, the AI Act distinguishes several actors, in particular:

• AI Provider: The organization that develops, trains, or places an AI system on the market or puts it into service under its own name or trademark.

• AI Deployer: The organization or individual that uses or operates an AI system in the course of its activities, including within real-world business or operational environments.

The role you hold depends on how you interact with the AI system. In some cases, you may act solely as a deployer or solely as a provider. In other situations, you may assume both roles, with each role carrying its own set of legal obligations under the AI Act.

Why the AI Act?

Whether you are a customer, business user, or partner using AI, the AI Act is designed to increase trust, transparency, and accountability. It brings:

• Greater protection for your data, safety, and fundamental rights.

• More transparency about when and how AI is used, including clearer information about an AI system's capabilities and limitations.

• Stronger safeguards for high-risk AI systems, including requirements for risk management, human oversight, documentation, and ongoing monitoring.

• Greater accountability for organizations that develop or deploy AI systems, helping ensure AI is used responsibly and in compliance with EU regulations.

Odoo's Role

Odoo develops software products that include AI-assisted functionality, which makes those Odoo products AI Systems, and makes them available to Odoo customers.

In this capacity, Odoo is acting as an AI System Provider for customers. Odoo customers who use these AI-assisted features in turn become Deployers of an AI System.

When Odoo uses AI internally, for example to assist Odoo staff when drafting text, researching online topics, or programming, Odoo may take different roles:

• Odoo is a deployer of third-party AI systems, for example when Odoo staff uses the Gemini-powered AI-assisted feature in Odoo's Google Workspace environment

• Odoo is both an AI provider and an AI deployer when Odoo's staff uses the AI features implemented in Odoo's own products and services
  
  

Our Principles

Our AI features are designed around the following principles.

Human remains in control

AI features are designed to assist users, not to replace their judgment. 

Unless explicitly documented otherwise, or when configured differently by customers, AI-generated content is always intended to be reviewed before being relied upon or shared. Users remain in charge of verifying factual accuracy, ensuring compliance with their own internal policies, and making the final business decisions.

Odoo's AI-assisted features are designed so that users remain able to:

• review and modify generated content;

• regenerate responses;

• validate any proposed changes or actions before they take place;

• or reject AI suggestions entirely.

Transparency

Where appropriate, Odoo identifies AI-assisted functionality and AI-generated content, allowing users to distinguish between information created by a person and information generated with AI assistance.

Where applicable, Odoo provides transparency in accordance with Article 50 of the EU AI Act.

Customer Choice

AI functionality is always optional. 

Even where these features are exposed or enabled by default, Odoo provides customers with the option to disable all AI-assisted features. Users remain free to decide whether to keep the AI enabled or disabled it based on their own operational, contractual, or regulatory requirements.

Privacy and confidentiality

Protecting customer data remains one of Odoo's highest priorities.

When AI-assisted features process information provided by users, Odoo continues to apply the same privacy protections that govern the rest of its services. Personal data is processed with the safeguards described in Odoo's  Privacy Policy and Data Processing Agreement.

Of course, customers remain responsible for ensuring that the information submitted to AI-assisted features complies with their own legal, contractual, and regulatory obligations.

Security

AI-assisted functionality follows the same security principles applied across the Odoo platform.

This includes secure software development practices, access controls, encryption, infrastructure security, customer data isolation, security monitoring, and security assessments of third-party AI providers before integration into Odoo services.

Responsible Innovation

Artificial Intelligence evolves rapidly, as does its regulatory landscape.

Odoo continuously evaluates its AI-assisted features throughout their lifecycle, taking into account security, privacy, transparency, customer expectations, and applicable legal requirements.

How AI is used

AI features may assist users with tasks such as:

• drafting emails;

• generating product descriptions;

• summarizing documents;

• translating text;

• answering questions;

• suggesting knowledge base articles;

• Third-party assisting software development in Odoo Sh;

• Creating automated work flows; 

• assisting customer support.

These features are intended to improve productivity and should not be considered authoritative sources of information.

Accuracy and Limitations

Like all generative AI systems, AI-assisted features may produce inaccurate, incomplete, outdated, or unexpected results.

Users should always review AI-generated content before relying on it for business, legal, financial, or operational decisions.

Unless explicitly documented otherwise, Odoo's AI-assisted features:

• do not replace human judgment;

• do not make autonomous business decisions;

• do not replace professional legal, financial, medical, or other specialist advice.

AI providers

Most AI functionality relies on third-party AI service providers, as Odoo does not develop general purpose AI models.

Odoo may change the underlying models or providers used for AI features over time in order to improve quality, performance, security or availability. 

The exact models or providers used for a feature may therefore evolve without changing the intended functionality of the feature. The list of AI providers is available in the Odoo IAP Privacy Policy.

Customers should rely on the documented functionality of the feature rather than the identity of the underlying AI model.

AI Governance

Responsible AI requires more than technical safeguards.

Odoo continuously reviews AI-assisted functionality throughout the product lifecycle, considering security, privacy, transparency, and applicable legal requirements.

As the implementation of the EU AI Act progresses, Odoo will continue updating its products, documentation, and internal processes to support responsible AI.

AI Literacy

Article 4 of the EU AI Act requires providers and deployers of AI systems to ensure an appropriate level of AI literacy.

Odoo supports this objective by providing guidance and awareness to employees who use AI as part of their professional activities, including training on:

• the capabilities and limitations of AI;

• verification of AI-generated content;

• protection of confidential and customer information;

• responsible use of AI-assisted tools.

Customer responsibilities

Compliance with the EU AI Act is a shared responsibility.

While Odoo is responsible for the AI functionality it provides, customers remain responsible for how AI is configured and used within their own organizations.

Depending on how AI features are used, customers may need to:

• establish internal AI governance policies;

• provide appropriate AI literacy training;

• comply with applicable transparency obligations;

• comply with GDPR and other applicable privacy laws;

• determine whether their own use cases are subject to additional obligations under the EU AI Act.

Organizations using AI for regulated activities such as certain employment, education, healthcare, law enforcement, or credit-related decisions should independently assess their obligations under the AI Act.

Looking ahead to continued AI Act compliance

Artificial Intelligence will continue to transform business software.

Odoo's objective is not only to comply with evolving regulations, but also to develop AI-assisted features that customers can trust.

By combining transparency, human oversight, customer choice, privacy, and security, Odoo aims to help organizations benefit from Artificial Intelligence while maintaining confidence in how their data and business processes are handled.

As technology and regulation evolve, Odoo will continue improving its products, documentation, and governance practices to support the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence.

Note: This page is provided for general informational purposes only. It describes Odoo's approach to Artificial Intelligence and the EU AI Act but does not constitute legal advice. Customers remain responsible for assessing their own legal and regulatory obligations.