AI phone assistants for professional firms: Italian rules

An Italian professional firm can let an AI assistant answer its phone, but it has to tell its clients. Article 13 of Law 132/2025, Italy's AI law, allows AI in the intellectual professions for support tasks and requires professionals to inform clients about the AI systems they use. The EU AI Act adds that callers must know from the first sentence that they are talking to an AI. From 23 October 2026, Legislative Decree 179/2026 completes the Italian framework with supervisory authorities and penalties.

This guide is for law firms, accountants, payroll consultants and engineering practices operating in Italy that are considering an AI phone assistant, or already use one. Here is what each rule says and what to do in practice.

The three rules at a glance

Rule	Who it applies to	What it requires	Since
Law 132/2025, Art. 13	The professional	AI only for ancillary and support tasks; inform clients about the AI systems used	10 October 2025
AI Act, Art. 50	The provider of the system	People interacting with an AI must be told, at the latest at the first interaction	2 August 2026
Legislative Decree 179/2026	Providers, users, professional bodies	Italian authorities, penalties, training for professionals	23 October 2026

Law 132/2025: AI as support, and an informed client

Article 13 has two paragraphs. The first says that in the intellectual professions AI may be used only for ancillary and support activities, with the professional's own intellectual work prevailing. The second requires the professional to give clients information about the AI systems they use "in clear, simple and complete language", to protect the relationship of trust.

For the phone, the reading is straightforward. An assistant that answers, asks why someone is calling, books an appointment or takes a message is doing organisational work, not professional work. Keep that line in the configuration: the assistant gives no legal, tax or technical advice. It answers only with texts the firm has prepared (opening hours, documents to bring, how to send files) and logs substantive questions for the professional.

Paragraph 2 is the duty firms tend to forget. Clients must be told that an AI phone assistant is in use and what it does. The simplest route is a clause in the engagement letter or an attached notice. Italy's national councils of accountants and lawyers have circulated model clauses and notice forms, as reported by IPSOA and ItaliaOggi: the model from your own professional body is the best starting point.

EU AI Act: callers must know straight away

Article 50 of the AI Act applies from 2 August 2026. Paragraph 1 requires that people be informed when they interact with an AI system, unless it is obvious. Paragraph 5 adds that the information must be given clearly and distinguishably "at the latest at the time of the first interaction". On the phone, with today's synthetic voices, it is almost never obvious, so the assistant should say it is an AI in its opening sentence.

The paragraph 1 duty sits with the provider, the company that builds the assistant. But the firm answers the phone under its own name, and its client relationships are on the line. Paragraph 6 also keeps national transparency rules in force, which is where Article 13 of Law 132 comes in. We cover opening lines and when to repeat the notice in our guide to AI phone assistants and the AI Act.

Legislative Decree 179/2026: authorities, penalties, training

Legislative Decree no. 179 of 7 October 2026, published in the Official Gazette no. 234 of 8 October, enters into force on 23 October 2026 and aligns Italian law with the AI Act. Three points matter for a firm:

• Authorities. AgID and ACN are Italy's national AI authorities (Art. 1). ACN handles market surveillance, alongside the Bank of Italy, CONSOB and IVASS for financial services (Art. 5).
• Penalties. Article 23 sets fines of up to €15 million or 3% of worldwide annual turnover, whichever is higher, for breaches of Article 50 of the AI Act. For SMEs and start-ups the lower of the two applies. For minor breaches, Article 22 provides non-monetary measures.
• Professions. Article 47 adds AI training to the courses run by professional bodies, including ethics and "the duty to inform the client". National councils have six months to update their rules.

The decree adds no specific penalty for Article 13 of Law 132/2025. Informing the client remains a legal duty, with professional-conduct and contractual consequences, so put it in writing.

Personal data: GDPR notices apply on the phone too

The AI Act does not replace the GDPR. If the assistant records or transcribes calls, or collects names, numbers and reasons for calling, the firm is the data controller. Article 13 GDPR requires the data subject to be informed "at the time when personal data are obtained". On the phone, a short notice at the start of the call plus a link to the full privacy notice on the website does the job.

Confidentiality matters more in a professional firm than almost anywhere else. The configuration should also say what the assistant must not ask on the phone, such as case details, and who can read the transcripts.

Checklist for the firm

1. Engagement letter and notice. Add a clause on the AI phone assistant, starting from your professional body's model.
2. Opening line. Check that the assistant introduces itself as an AI in the first sentence of every call, including out of hours.
3. No advice. Instruct the assistant not to answer substantive questions and to log them for the professional.
4. A human within reach. Forwarding rules for urgent matters (a deadline, a document just served) and a callback request for everything else.
5. Privacy. A recording notice at the start of the call, an updated privacy notice, and transcripts visible only to whoever handles the matter.
6. Training. Take the AI courses professional bodies must set up under Decree 179/2026.

How yourang.ai handles it

yourang.ai assistants introduce themselves as AI assistants at the start of every call and give a spoken notice about recording, with the option to object. Forwarding rules decide which calls go straight to the professional and which become a callback request. The firm chooses which data to collect and reads transcripts in its own dashboard. Our page for professional firms shows sample calls, routing between several professionals and calendar and email integrations.

Want to hear how it answers the phone for a firm like yours? Book a demo: we set it up with your appointment types and routing rules. For the technical details, see the AI phone assistant page.

This article is for information only and is not legal advice. For your specific case, check with your professional body or a lawyer.