AI, Compliance & Me: why a one-time sceptic now talks about rules all day

“Compliance...”

Even the word makes most people feel they’ve wandered into a late-night debate about clauses and case law and trust me, it’s nothing like a steamy after-hours radio talk-show. Add artificial intelligence and you picture a hoodie-wearing coder brandishing flow-charts. Boring, right?

I used to think so too.

I’m Alex McKenzie, founder of NextGen Compliance-AI (with clients across the UK and EU), and full disclosure I only dived into this because friends who run cafés, print shops and GP surgeries kept asking the same nervy question:
“We’ve plugged an AI platform into our workflow… are we about to get fined?”

Remember the GDPR panic?

Back in 2018 many businesses shrugged at GDPR. Within a year nobody dared ignore it those fines were real. AI compliance is heading the same way. Ignore it now, pay later. UK privacy penalties still hit hard £14 million in fines during 2023 alone (ICO data analysed here).
These new AI duties land on 2 August 2025. That isn’t far away.

AI you already use and the risks you don’t see
The scheduling app that guesses when customers are free a chatbot that drafts your invoices the voice assistant that writes patient notes.
Each shortcut leaves a data trail regulators can follow. I’ve heard and seen the horror stories: personal data pasted into a chatbot and leaked overseas; an algorithm no-one can explain tanking a funding round. Consequences hit reputations first, bank accounts second.

Making sense without the legal migraine

My mission (and the small team who put up with me every day) is simple:

1. Translate the heavy stuff UK GDPR and the coming UK & EU AI rules into language your gran (and her ancestors!) could follow.
   

2. Show practical steps that fit real-world budgets and schedules.
   

3. Keep it human. No finger-wagging, no legalese, no 50-page PDFs.If we save even one family business from a data-breach headline, that’s a win.
   

What happens next?

Over the coming weeks I’ll share short, plain-English pieces on:

• Spotting hidden data exports inside everyday AI platforms

• Low-cost tweaks that erase 80 percent of risk in a weekend

• Stories good and bad from SMEs already navigating this new terrain
  
  

I’ve only just stepped properly onto LinkedIn and I’m honestly touched by the amount of encouragement so far. Quite a few of you have urged me to start a podcast. Apparently my dodgy humour works when I’m talking regulation (who knew?). I’m still baffled that anyone would choose to hear my voice let alone half an hour on AI compliance but I’m exploring the idea.
Deal on one condition: please for the love of God don’t listen while driving; my mono tone could lull you to sleep and I’d hate to break road-safety rules as well as data rules.

If you found this useful, our remotely amusing a quick "like" would make my day.
Questions, stories, scepticism drop me a DM here, connect with me, or email hello@nextgencompliance-ai.co.uk. Let’s turn AI into an asset and a competitive edge, without the ugly surprises.

Because AI isn’t slowing down. But neither is our ability to use it wisely.

"Belfast the wider world, one sensible AI decision at a time"
Alex McKenzie