Vanessa Cann

Vanessa Cann is one of the most prominent minds in the European AI ecosystem. She has founded several initiatives and companies, including nyonic, which develops multilingual language models for industrial applications. As the managing director of the German AI Association, she has built the association into one of the largest networks for AI companies in Europe. Today, she continues to contribute her extensive expertise as a member of the board of the association.

Vanessa was a driving force behind the Large European AI Models (LEAM) initiative, which aims to develop a dedicated AI infrastructure in Europe and increase collaboration in the field. Under her leadership, the German AI Association founded a non-profit academy for artificial intelligence to educate the general public about the opportunities and challenges of AI. She also represented European interests in AI by uniting ten international AI associations in the European AI Forum to give European founders a voice in policymaking.

Prior to joining the German AI Association, Vanessa gained extensive experience at the German Startups Association and advised Fortune 500 companies on digital policy issues. She was named one of Forbes' 30 Most Influential People Under 30 in 2022 and one of Capital Magazine's 40 Leading Personalities Under 40 in 2023.