As State Secretary for the Digital Economy and Sovereignty, Willemijn Aerdts is responsible for AI policy in the Netherlands. She will outline her vision on this topic during the Dutch AI Congress at DeFabrique in Utrecht.
This year’s conference theme is: Impact with AI, The Fair Tech Way. More than a thousand AI pioneers, entrepreneurs, policymakers, tech experts, and startups will come together to work on the responsible and autonomous development and application of AI in the Netherlands.
“Sovereign AI infrastructure and AI technology are essential to the further development of AI in the Netherlands. For AIC4NL, this is one of our key priorities, and we are honored that the State Secretary will share her vision on this topic during our annual conference,”said Willem Jonker, Chairman of the Board of AIC4NL.
Speakers
In addition to the State Secretary, other prominent speakers will take the stage, including: Daniel Gebler (CTO of Picnic), Mietta Groeneveld (Director of the NATO Command & Control Centre of Excellence), Alexander Zwart (Chief Innovation and Technology Officer at Rabobank), and Saskia Lensink (Product Manager at GPT-NL).
Program
The program consists of keynote speeches and two rounds of breakout sessions, including the final of the AI Cup, the largest national AI competition ever held. 300 students are competing for the grand prize: who can develop the best AI solution to keep birds safe in wind farms? The winner will be announced on the main stage.
In the breakout sessions, experts from AIC4NL will demonstrate how AI creates value in sectors such as healthcare, defense, and agriculture, and what this means for topics like talent, knowledge, skills, and regulation. Topics covered will include the latest developments regarding the Dutch AI Factory, scaling up AI startups, and European collaboration in the field of AI innovation. The sessions will focus on practical examples and concrete tools.
The full program can be found at:https://aic4nl.nl/het-nederlandse-ai-congres-2026/
