This week I spent two days in different workshops on regulatory compliance. This is becoming a more and more painful issue for the software intensive systems industry, especially with the joyful tidings coming out of Brussels. For example, violation of the AI Act can lead to fines of up to 10% of global turnover which is a major, major red flag for many companies. The natural behavior is to stay far, far away from where this could become an issue and the safest is to not use any AI in our products and any internal systems. Which of course results in us not reaping the productivity benefits that AI offers and reducing our competitive position vis-a-vis the competition from other parts of the world. In the workshops, I am glad to share, there were several people who took a different approach: rather than shying away, they were looking to understand the details of the regulation, translate it to the specific situation in which they operate and figure out what extra work they need to do to remain compliant while adopting new technology. Of course, we run into the same situation in our personal lives where, for instance, a health issue makes working out more difficult and the doctor advises us to take complete rest. The better approach in that case is to figure out what you can do to keep moving and how to avoid aggravating the issue. Especially when it comes to exercise, complete rest actually reduces recovery speed, causes muscle atrophy and makes us more injury prone when we get back to training. So, as my challenge to you today: where in your life is “the system” trying to hold you back? And how can you make progress despite of the resistance?