At Anacom’s artificial intelligence conference, Portuguese startups highlighted how regulation, far from stifling progress, is shaping innovation strategies and business models. Daniela Seixas, CEO of Tonic Easy Medical, said regulatory pressure accelerated the company’s AI maturity: “Without it, we would have been two years behind in achieving scale.” Tonic recently launched a doctor-facing AI co-pilot active across five European healthcare markets.
Indie Campers CTO Rui Costa underlined that AI adoption must become universal. “AI won’t just be for product and tech teams. In five years, we have to be AI native,” he said, stressing that regulation can both accelerate and inhibit innovation. Costa pointed to global asymmetries, such as translation devices available in the US but blocked in Europe, where they could transform tourism.
Other companies echoed the need to anticipate the AI Act. Defined.ai’s Sebastião Villax warned of diverging European interpretations and emphasized the firm’s role in supplying ethical training data.
Alongside Sword Health, the startup turned to US venture capital to fuel expansion, while Indie Campers pursued organic growth. All four see AI becoming a cross-cutting function, reshaping how teams in marketing, operations, finance, and beyond interact with products and customers.
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