The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security, and Nature has made innovation a top priority. In his keynote speech at DeFabrique in Utrecht, State Secretary Erkens explains just how significant AI can be for the agri-food sector and nature, and what role entrepreneurship and the strength of the Dutch knowledge and innovation system play in this.
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 develop and implement responsible AI in the Netherlands.
Speakers
In addition to the State Secretary, other prominent speakers will take the stage, including: Willemijn Aerdts (State Secretary for the Digital Economy and Sovereignty), Daniel Gebler (CTO, 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
In addition, there will be breakout sessions highlighting the activities of the AIC4NL’s various working groups, and the finals of the AI Cup—the largest national AI student competition ever—will take place. At the Innovation Plaza, startups will present their latest AI applications, while BNR will be on-site filming for *De Grote Techshow*.
The full program can be found at:https://aic4nl.nl/het-nederlandse-ai-congres-2026/
