# What is post-market monitoring under the EU AI Act?

> Post-market monitoring is the EU AI Act duty to keep collecting real-world data on a high-risk system after it ships, not just before.

Source: https://meshin.co/glossary/post-market-monitoring
Updated: 2026-10-02

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## Why it comes up

Does anyone keep watching this system, or was it tested once and left alone? That is the specific question a customer's security team or a regulator asks after any AI failure story in the press. A board hears it as reassurance that a problem would surface through a defined process rather than a customer complaint reaching the news first. Providers who can only describe pre-launch testing, and nothing after, usually have no answer.

## What to do about it

Write the monitoring plan before launch, since a plan invented after a problem appears is not the same thing. In the plan, say what you measure, who reviews it and how often. Build a route for deployer-reported issues to reach the provider.

A monitoring system that never hears from the people using it day to day is monitoring very little. The [Fractional CAIO Retainer](/services/fractional-caio-retainer) I run keeps this review on a fixed schedule, not only when a customer complains.