Third prize for CivAI in the Responsible AI Start-up Contest in Rotterdam

On Thursday 1 October 2026, CivAI won third prize in the Responsible AI Start-up Contest. The final was part of the AI Hype, Hope and Humanity Festival of Erasmus University Rotterdam, held at concert hall De Doelen. From a large number of entries, the organisation selected six finalists. Pascal Mariany pitched on behalf of CivAI, as the fifth of six, before a jury of investors and experts in ethical, legal, and social fields.

What the jury appreciated

The jury mentioned three things that stood out to them in CivAI’s pitch. The sovereign approach, with production on European infrastructure, data under the control of the school, municipality, company, or care organisation itself, and genuine model choice for each organisation. The way EduGPT, GovGPT, OrgGPT, and CareGPT support critical thinking, with companions that ask questions rather than providing answers. And AI literacy as a standard part of every licence, so teams first learn to work with AI before they start using it.

The jury also gave a clear piece of advice: stay focused. "We take that advice to heart," says Pascal Mariany. "We are building one platform for public and private sectors, and that requires sharp choices. Third place is a great result, and above all a confirmation that we are doing the right thing and making an impact. Out of the many start-ups that entered, we made it to this stage."

The pitch in brief

The pitch started with the problem. Four out of five Dutch pupils from the age of nine already use AI, while only five percent of teachers say their school has guidelines. Meanwhile, large tech companies are enabling generative AI by default in their school packages. An entire generation is taking part in an experiment without a control group and without the say of professionals.

CivAI’s answer consists of three steps. Design, because a teacher, civil servant, or care professional can build their own AI Companion with the Prompt Companion in just a few minutes, Socratic in design. Choose, because each organisation decides for itself which model runs, from European open models in Paris to fully local. Learn, because AI literacy training is included in every licence.

As a definition of responsible AI, Pascal used the HEAR model from his book. The institution retains control, the human remains in charge, and people continue to think for themselves. The pitch concluded with the open questions CivAI is still grappling with, such as the boundary between care and supervision when identifying pupils who need extra attention. Better to ask these questions openly on stage than to hide them.

Winners and finalists

The first prize of €5,000 went to UCANACT from Utrecht, which is working on communication via brain-computer interfaces for people with severe motor disabilities. The second prize of €2,500 went to ELVA. CivAI received the third prize of €1,000. The other finalists were CAT-Brain, Recognify, and Rechtfabriek. Congratulations to all, it was a strong field.

Thanks to the organisers and the jury

A final like this exists only thanks to the people behind it. Thanks to Kanan Dhru from the Multi Level Regulation research group at The Hague University of Applied Sciences and Evert Stamhuis from Erasmus University Rotterdam, who organised the contest, to the festival team of AI Hype, Hope and Humanity, and to De Doelen.

Thanks also to the jury for the sharp questions and honest judgement. Natasha Govender-Ropert (jury chair, Head of AI Financial Economic Crime at Rabobank), David Kraushaar (General Partner at Quatromine), Bart Scheerder (Lead AI Strategy and Partnerships at UMCG and University of Groningen), Evert Jan Stamhuis (Chief Technology Officer at heta), and Rob Schrouff (Programme Director at The Hague Security Delta).

And thanks to the schools, municipalities, care organisations, and colleagues who help write this story every day. Without the teachers designing their own companions and the civil servants who allow GovGPT into their work, there would have been nothing to pitch.

What’s next

In the coming weeks, we will continue where we left off. Tomorrow the certification audit for ISO 27001 starts, in November the teachers from the participating schools will return for a second hackathon, and in the meantime we are preparing the rollout to new clients. With the jury’s feedback in hand. Focus.

You can read more about the festival on the Erasmus University Rotterdam website. More about EduGPT, GovGPT, OrgGPT, and CareGPT can be found at civai.eu.

Photos, final Responsible AI Start-up Contest, AI Hype, Hope and Humanity Festival, De Doelen Rotterdam, 1 October 2026