November 13, 2026
You may imagine that compliance in an enterprise AI company means checklists, audits, and a lot of saying "no." Roman Kilun sees it differently. For Roman, compliance is about confidence: giving colleagues and customers the clarity they need to make good decisions and building the guardrails that let powerful technology move forward safely.
That mindset shows up in everything from how ABBYY structures its AI governance to how Roman leads his day-to-day work. He keeps a clear view of the risks that come with a technology this capable, and an equally clear view of the people it serves.
We sat down with Roman to talk about why the EU AI Act is becoming the compliance playbook, why growth depends on compliance, and what it means to lead with respect and optimism. His perspective fits perfectly within our ongoing YouTube series, "Human Intelligence Driving ABBYY Innovation."
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Why the EU AI Act is becoming the AI compliance playbook
The least effective way to lead
ABBYY has centered its compliance framework around the EU AI Act. As Roman explains, it is the leading framework in the field, and it covers essentially all the risk bases for ensuring safe and secure AI.
But his reasoning goes deeper than the statute itself. Compliance matters so much in AI because AI is powerful. It can do a great deal, and some of what it does may be unexpected or, potentially, irreversible. That is the risk regulation exists to address.
The EU AI Act's focus on mitigating those risks maps directly to practices ABBYY builds into its work:
Each of these is a compliance area designed to reduce the risk of a powerful new technology. Taken together, they form a practical blueprint any organization can follow as it brings AI into business-critical work. It is also a core reason purpose-built AI matters in high-stakes processes, where accuracy and traceability are not optional.
Roman is clear that compliance is part of doing business at every level, starting with the basics: meeting your contractual obligations and complying with applicable laws. "I think that there would be no growth without compliance," he says.
ABBYY takes a risk-based approach. Some requirements are table stakes to win business, and they are becoming more complicated all the time. Without them, the business would shrink. Few leaders today still see compliance as a blocker.
Roman sees a bigger opportunity: compliance that actively drives business. When the team is proactive and educates both employees and customers, deals move faster. Customers are experts in their own domains, not necessarily in AI, and they do not want to make a mistake or fall out of compliance. Give them the information they need to decide with confidence, and you can cut a month or two from the deal cycle.
That responsibility reaches well beyond the teams who build the products. Marketing, compliance, legal, support, and sales all share one role: to advise the client.
Roman's leadership philosophy is refreshingly simple. "I've learned that telling people what to do or how to do it is like the least effective way to get a good result."
Instead, he models the behavior he wants to see and lets people be the experts in their own domains. He lets people teach him. An optimist by nature, he sees the best in people and uses that to motivate them. He does not micromanage. He inspires strong work through positive reinforcement and by keeping interactions warm and enjoyable.
He credits ABBYY's culture for making that approach work. "People treat each other with respect and kindness here," he says, "and that's something I appreciate a lot."
When leaders trust their teams and give them room to own their expertise, the result is stronger collaboration and better outcomes for customers. This is human intelligence in action.
For Roman, ABBYY's promise to customers is personal. "We will do the right thing by them," he says. As organizations take their first steps towards implementing AI, ABBYY is right there alongside them, and the team feels responsible for delivering excellent results, high accuracy, and the safest possible path forward, so customers can count on ABBYY.
The same care shows up in how Roman works. His day starts with Teams messages and coffee, then the two or three most pressing issues, whether that’s a contract, a KYC request, or a note from Ulf. He batches meetings onto particular days, breaks for lunch (and some time with his cat), and heads out for a bike ride in the late afternoon. Then, as a self-described night owl, he saves the quiet hours from about 10:30 p.m. until midnight or later for work that demands uninterrupted focus, such as negotiating contract terms and drafting policies.
It is a reminder that the people behind compliance are real people, and that good judgment benefits from time to think.
Every enterprise faces compliance questions that shape its long-term success. Roman's advice is a helpful reminder: build on a trusted framework, document and explain what you do, keep humans in the loop, and share what you know so customers can decide with confidence.
Explore the minds keeping our innovation at the cutting edge by watching the Human Intelligence Series on YouTube. We post new conversations with ABBYY experts each month, so stay tuned.
For a demo of our purpose-built AI solutions, contact us via the ABBYY website.
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If you're a reporter and want to interview Roman, contact us via the form on this page.
Explore more from ABBYY
The EU AI Act is the leading framework for AI governance, and it covers essentially all the risk bases for ensuring safe and secure AI. ABBYY has centered its compliance framework around it, with a focus on documentation, explainability, and human oversight.
AI is powerful. It can do many things that may be unexpected or, potentially, irreversible. Compliance practices such as documentation, explainability, and humans in the loop exist to mitigate those risks.
Not when it is done proactively. Compliance is necessary for any business, and educating employees and customers gives customers the confidence to decide faster. That can cut a month or two from the deal cycle.
It means people are positioned to identify problems quickly and step in when needed, rather than leaving high-stakes processes entirely to automation. It is one of the core risk-mitigation practices reflected in the EU AI Act.
ABBYY's customer approach relies on a foundation of trust, and a commitment to ethical AI that rests on six essential principles. These principles influence how we develop, build, and market AI solutions:
