Europe Hits Snooze on AI Rules as IBM Shows Off 5-Minute Agents

Good morning, Movers! ☕️ Today’s feed is a study in contrasts: Brussels stalls on new guardrails just as IBM hands enterprises a “build-your-own agent” kit, and Lowe’s equips 300,000 staff with an AI sidekick. Buckle up for a quick lap around the future.

TOP NEWS & DEVELOPMENTS

1. EU Blows Past AI Code-of-Practice Deadline
Brussels missed its 2 May target for a voluntary “code of practice” on high-risk AI models, mired in U.S. lobbying and Big Tech push-back. The slip raises doubts about the bloc’s ability to enforce its own AI Act timetable and leaves developers flying on visual flight rules for now. Why it matters: compliance teams must still prep for the August 2025 hard deadline—and the delay hints the final code may soften. Politico

2. IBM Debuts “Five-Minute Agent Builder” at Think 2025
Ahead of its annual Think conference, IBM unveiled tooling that lets customers craft domain-specific AI agents in under five minutes using Granite models plus third-party LLMs (Meta, Mistral). The goal: make multi-agent networks turnkey and drive demand for IBM’s hybrid-cloud stack. IBM also pledged a $150 billion U.S. investment over five years. Reuters

3. Lowe’s Rolls Out “Mylow Companion” to 1,700 Stores
Home-improvement giant Lowe’s launched an associate-facing AI app that serves up product advice, inventory data, and project tips direct to handhelds, promising faster onboarding and better floor support. Built with OpenAI, it’s one of the largest real-world gen-AI deployments in retail. Aha Innovation Moment: Turning every staff member into a domain expert, Lowe’s bets that behaviour-driven training beats classroom manuals. RTIH retailtechinnovationhub.com

AI TOOLS & TIPS

✨ Tool Spotlight — Ayfie’s EU-Ready AI Workspace

Norway’s Ayfie just opened free 14-day trials for its GDPR-compliant, no-code AI platform. In minutes, you can brand the workspace, roll it out company-wide, and keep all data inside the EEA—a handy sandbox while the EU dithers on formal rules. Details

Quick use-case: spin up a private Q&A bot for policy docs, plug in Slack, and watch onboarding time drop.

Extra Picks (rapid fire)

• Onebeat raises $15 m to bring AI-driven inventory tuning to U.S. retailers.

• UVA Health-AI cuts drug-discovery timelines by surfacing compounds that prevent heart failure.

• IBM-Oracle tie-up extends watsonx agents to Oracle Cloud—multi-cloud is officially in vogue.

FUTURE OF WORK & INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

With Europe’s code delay, compliance pros should treat 2025 as a two-lane road:

1. Soft lane – voluntary codes (now TBD).

2. Hard lane – AI Act obligations kicking in August 2025.

Smart move: pilot trusted internal agents (like Ayfie) so documentation and risk logs are iron-clad long before regulators check your papers.

Your turn: Would an internal AI agent save you at least one hour daily?

That’s all for now—stay curious, stay human.
– First AI Movers