Dexai

What Dexai does

Dexai S.r.l. is a Rome-based, fully-remote AI ethics, governance, and compliance consultancy founded in 2021 by Federico Sartore (Head of Legal) and Piercosma Bisconti (Head of Scientific Research). It sells four bespoke professional-service lines — AI Models Evaluation (LLM benchmarking, robustness/adversarial testing, fairness/bias analysis, explainability), AI Literacy (training tied to the EU AI Act's Article 4 obligation), AI Ethics (ethics-by-design advisory, stakeholder engagement), and AI Act Compliance (risk classification, gap analysis, conformity assessment support) — typically scoped and priced per engagement via inbound contact at [email protected].

Its core technology is a set of proprietary AI evaluation methodologies aligned with ISO and CEN-CENELEC trustworthy AI standards and the EU AI Act, delivered by practitioners actively conducting frontier research. The flagship research initiative Icaro Lab, a collaboration with Sapienza University of Rome and Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, has produced high-profile safety research (poetic-jailbreak study with 62% attack success across 25 models from nine vendors including ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini). Co-founder Piercosma Bisconti also leads the CEN-CENELEC European 'AI Trustworthiness Framework' standard.

Commercially, Dexai operates a B2B, sales-led, relationship-driven GTM targeting EU enterprises, public authorities, and standardization bodies needing AI Act compliance. Revenue is generated through three streams: bespoke consulting, training/workshop delivery, and co-funding from six EU-funded Horizon Europe and LIFE projects (ENGAGE4ESG, SOLARIS, LUCIA, AI4HOPE, CERTAIN, SHIELD). Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed; the company remains privately held and bootstrapped with no external funding rounds disclosed.

Name

Dexai

Legal name

Dexai S.r.l.

Website

https://dexai.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Dexai is a Rome-based, fully-remote AI ethics consultancy founded in 2021 that helps EU enterprises, public authorities, and standardization bodies evaluate LLMs, train staff, and comply with the EU AI Act via four bespoke service lines (Model Evaluation, AI Literacy, AI Ethics, AI Act Compliance) and frontier safety research via Icaro Lab.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

AI Governance & Compliance Consulting

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700), Services-Management Services (8741)

akta.pro primary industry

Responsible AI, AI Governance & Compliance Services (BPAEAHAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Regulatory Readiness & Audit Automation (e.g., EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001) (HDAAAMAE), AI Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) Platforms (HDAAAMAA), Model Transparency, Explainability & Interpretability (XAI) (HDAAAMAB), Third-Party Model/Vendor Risk & Supply-Chain Assurance (HDAAAMAK)

Keywords

• AI ethics consulting
• AI compliance services
• LLM evaluation
• AI governance advisory
• EU AI Act compliance

Headquarters

HQ city

Rome

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Professional Consulting Services: Bespoke, tailored engagements across four service lines: AI Models Evaluation, AI Literacy training, AI Ethics advisory, and AI Act Compliance. Each engagement is scoped to the client's specific AI systems, business context, and regulatory risk level.
2. EU-Funded Research Project Participation: Participation in EU-funded Horizon Europe and LIFE programme projects (ENGAGE4ESG, SOLARIS, LUCIA, AI4HOPE, CERTAIN, SHIELD) providing co-funding and project-based revenue for ethics, governance, and compliance work-packages.
3. Training & Workshop Delivery: Delivery of AI literacy workshops, executive briefings, ethics-by-design workshops, and use-case walkthroughs as part of the AI Literacy and AI Ethics service lines.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Dexai is an AI ethics and governance consultancy that delivers bespoke advisory engagements across four service lines: AI Models Evaluation (independent LLM benchmarking, robustness, fairness, and explainability assessments), AI Literacy (training programs tied to the EU AI Act Article 4 obligation), AI Ethics (ethics-by-design frameworks and stakeholder engagement), and AI Act Compliance (risk classification, gap analysis, conformity documentation, and audit readiness). Each engagement is scoped to the client's AI systems, business context, and regulatory exposure.

Product overview

Dexai operates as a consulting and advisory firm rather than a unified software platform, offering four core services that are typically sold as standalone engagements but commonly combined across the AI lifecycle: AI Models Evaluation (technical assessment of LLMs and other AI systems), AI Literacy (training programs tied to the EU AI Act's literacy obligation), AI Ethics (ethics-by-design and governance consulting), and AI Act Compliance (risk classification, gap analysis, and conformity support under the EU AI Act). Underpinning these services is Dexai's research initiative Icaro Lab, which investigates AI safety vulnerabilities such as poetry-based jailbreaks across state-of-the-art LLMs, and Dexai's participation in EU-funded projects (e.g., ENGAGE4ESG, SOLARIS, LUCIA, AI4HOPE, CERTAIN, SHIELD) where it contributes AI ethics, governance, and regulatory expertise.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• AI Models Evaluation Independent, rigorous evaluation of AI models (especially large language models) covering performance benchmarking, robustness testing under perturbations and adversarial inputs, fairness and bias analysis, explainability/transparency checks, and qualitative and quantitative risk assessment aligned with the client's regulatory context.
• AI Literacy Tailored training and education programs that build foundational AI awareness, critical thinking, and practical understanding across executives, non-technical staff, and policy/legal teams, delivered via custom learning paths, workshops, executive briefings, use-case walkthroughs, and ongoing learning support.
• AI Ethics Consulting support for organizations to integrate ethical principles (transparency, fairness, accountability, human oversight) into the design, development, and deployment of AI systems, including ethics assessments, internal framework development, ethics-by-design workshops, stakeholder engagement guidance, and ongoing advisory support for ethics boards and review committees.
• AI Act Compliance Strategic and operational guidance to help organizations comply with the EU AI Act, including risk classification of AI systems, gap analysis against regulatory requirements, tailored compliance roadmap, technical documentation support for conformity and audit readiness, and ongoing advisory on regulatory developments.
• Icaro Lab Dexai's research initiative on AI safety and trustworthiness. Icaro Lab studies how poetic language can bypass AI safety guardrails in large language models and exposes blind spots in current AI safety testing methodologies, contributing to the development of more robust evaluation and red-teaming practices.

Quantifiable outcome

• 62% attack success rate identified using handcrafted poetic prompts across 25 AI models
• +2 more outcomes

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability7 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship / core research partnership, core research partner, core eu project, supporting partner via co-founder affiliation, minor — logo partner and supporting partner.

• Icaro Labflagship / core research partnershipStrategic or Co-development PartnerIcaro Lab is a research collaboration between Sapienza University of Rome, DexAI, and Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies. It produced the high-profile poetic jailbreak study that achieved 62% attack success rate across 25 AI models.
• Sapienza University of Romecore research partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Icaro Lab collaboration. Sapienza is also displayed on the Dexai website partner logo wall. The university co-develops research with Dexai on AI safety and ethics.
• Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studiescore research partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Icaro Lab collaboration with Sapienza University of Rome and DexAI. The collaboration produced research on bypassing AI safety guardrails via poetic language.
• ENGAGE4ESG (LIFE programme)core eu projectStrategic or Co-development PartnerLIFE programme project aligning real estate lending with EU climate goals and ESG standards. Dexai supports development of compliant, ethical frameworks for data use and sustainability reporting.
• SOLARIS (Horizon Europe)core eu projectStrategic or Co-development PartnerHorizon Europe project combatting disinformation and echo chambers using generative AI. Dexai contributes to the ethical design and stakeholder engagement strategy.
• LUCIA (Horizon Europe)core eu projectStrategic or Co-development PartnerHorizon Europe project aimed at reducing cancer inequalities across Europe by developing AI-driven solutions for early detection and prevention. Dexai focuses on AI governance, ethics, and stakeholder coordination.
• AI4HOPEcore eu projectStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject exploring AI-driven support tools for palliative care in dementia. Dexai leads activities related to legal compliance, auditing practices, and inclusive AI system design in sensitive healthcare environments.
• CERTAIN (Horizon Europe)core eu projectStrategic or Co-development PartnerHorizon Europe initiative working on transparency and certification of trustworthy AI systems. Dexai helps define ethical and regulatory requirements and supports creation of practical tools for responsible AI lifecycle management.
• SHIELD (Horizon Europe)core eu projectStrategic or Co-development PartnerInnovation Action under Horizon Europe (2025–2029), SHIELD focuses on early detection of pancreatic cancer in individuals with genetic predispositions, validating a new blood-based diagnostic test. Dexai contributes to ethical, legal, and social framework of the study and supports patient engagement and clinical translation.
• PANETTA Law Firmsupporting partner via co-founder affiliationImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCo-founder Federico Sartore is a Partner at PANETTA Law Firm, advising companies on data protection, cybersecurity, and AI governance. The firm supports Dexai's legal and ethical advisory work.
• ANSAminor — logo partnerOthersListed on Dexai's 'Our partners' logo wall on the homepage. Specific collaboration details not disclosed in source.
• Mariboruminor — logo partnerOthersListed on Dexai's 'Our partners' logo wall on the homepage. Likely the University of Maribor or related institution. Specific collaboration details not disclosed.
• Amsterdamminor — logo partnerOthersListed on Dexai's 'Our partners' logo wall on the homepage. Likely the University of Amsterdam or Amsterdam-based institution. Specific collaboration details not disclosed.
• LUMSAminor — logo partnerOthersLibera Università Maria Ss. Assunta (LUMSA) — listed on Dexai's 'Our partners' logo wall. Specific collaboration details not disclosed.
• Vicomtechsupporting partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpanish applied research center listed on Dexai's partner logo wall. Likely a research consortium partner in EU projects.
• RED (red_r)minor — logo partnerOthersListed on Dexai's 'Our partners' logo wall. Specific collaboration details not disclosed in source.
• Digital Planetminor — logo partnerOthersListed on Dexai's 'Our partners' logo wall. Specific collaboration details not disclosed in source.
• Humanitassupporting partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed on Dexai's partner logo wall — likely Humanitas Research Hospital or Humanitas University, an Italian healthcare partner for healthcare AI projects (e.g., AI4HOPE).
• CINI (Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale per l'Informatica)supporting partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerItalian national inter-university consortium for informatics listed on Dexai's partner logo wall — likely a research and standardization partner.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Trustible: Trustible is an AI governance and policy management platform that helps enterprises operationalize responsible AI programs and map to regulations including the EU AI Act. Directly comparable buyer, problem space, and EU regulatory framing as Dexai.
• Credo AI: Credo AI provides an AI governance platform covering AI risk management, regulatory mapping (including EU AI Act and NIST AI RMF), and audit-ready documentation. Targets the same enterprise governance, risk, and compliance buyer as Dexai and competes for AI Act compliance budgets; differentiates via SaaS platform vs. Dexai's bespoke services.
• Fairly AI: Fairly AI provides AI risk and compliance management software with EU AI Act assessments, model evaluation, and governance workflows. Comparable to Dexai's AI Model Evaluation and AI Act Compliance services but delivered via a SaaS platform.
• Saidot: Saidot is a Finnish AI governance SaaS focused on EU AI Act transparency, AI literacy, and stakeholder engagement tooling. Directly comparable to Dexai on AI Act compliance and AI literacy, with similar European policy-shaping positioning; differs in being more productized.
• Holistic AI: Holistic AI is an AI governance, risk, and compliance platform that explicitly helps organizations operationalize the EU AI Act — offering AI risk assessment, bias audits, and regulatory readiness tooling. Closely comparable to Dexai in serving the same enterprise buyer navigating AI Act conformity, though Holistic AI is more product-led whereas Dexai is consulting-led.
• Monitaur: Monitaur is an AI governance, risk, and compliance platform with model monitoring, bias testing, and audit-ready documentation. Overlaps with Dexai's model evaluation and governance framework services, especially for regulated US enterprises; serves a similar GRC buyer.

Emerging players

• Fiddler AI: Fiddler AI provides an AI observability and explainability platform with bias monitoring and model performance tracking. Adjacent to Dexai's model evaluation and explainability/transparency work, but more productized and focused on continuous monitoring rather than conformity assessments.
• Enzai: Enzai offers an AI governance and risk management platform focused on helping organizations comply with the EU AI Act and emerging AI regulations. Closely comparable mission and EU regulatory framing as Dexai; smaller scale and more product-focused.
• Responsible AI Institute: Responsible AI Institute is a non-profit developing AI assurance and certification frameworks, including assessment against the EU AI Act. Comparable to Dexai's standards and conformity work, with broader certification ecosystem scope rather than consulting delivery.

Broad incumbents

• Deloitte AI & Data Risk Services: Deloitte's Trustworthy AI practice offers enterprise-scale AI governance, EU AI Act readiness, model risk management, and responsible AI advisory. Represents the broad-incumbent competitor with deep enterprise relationships, large bench, and tool-enabled delivery that Dexai ultimately competes against for AI Act advisory budgets.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dexaiethics
• Xx.com/DEXAI_AIEthics
• Facebookfacebook.com/DexaiArtificialEthics

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Dexai