The register of notified bodies for AI Act conformity assessment is still filling out through NANDO, and capacity is a known constraint. The parallel most often drawn is medical devices, where a shortage of designated bodies became a lasting bottleneck.
The exposure is narrower than it first appears. Most high-risk systems use internal self-assessment under Annex VI. A notified body is required mainly for remote biometric identification and for AI embedded in Annex I products that already need third-party assessment.
That still leaves a real question for the systems that do need a body: whether enough AI-designated organisations exist by the time high-risk obligations bite in December 2027 and August 2028. The deferral bought time to build the capacity — if it is used.
Analysis is original writing by the euaicompliant desk. Not legal advice — the binding text is on EUR-Lex.