my-desk.ai comes from DebaterHub—founded by competitive debaters and educators who got tired of AI tools that didn't understand argumentation.
To make authentic assessment possible at scale. When students can use AI to generate essays that ace traditional rubrics, the validity of those assessments collapses. We're building AI that measures what actually matters: the ability to engage in structured, reasoned discourse across difference.
Most AI tools help students cheat. We help teachers grade what matters.
Member-owned infrastructure. You have a seat at the table.
NSF-funded R&D. Validated results. Not another ChatGPT wrapper.
Real conversation, real thinking. Not polished, AI-assisted text.
Three entities, one mission.
The research foundation. NSF SBIR/STTR grant recipient. Focused on advancing the science of AI debate systems and dialogical assessment.
The commercial entity that brings research to market. B2B enterprise sales, institutional partnerships, and investment relations.
The product you use. Voice-to-voice AI debate practice with automated scoring, integrated into Canvas. The teacher-facing application.
Built by people who understand both debate and AI.
John graduated from UNT in rhetoric and brings 25+ years as an elite educator and national champion debate coach. He's the NSF SBIR Principal Investigator and author of "AI Pluralism" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025), which provides the theoretical foundation for pluralistic AI systems.
Devin is a Columbia MS graduate and multi-patent AI systems architect. Previously Principal AI Researcher at Arka Group, he has built NSF, AWS, and OpenAI–backed systems. He leads technical architecture and product development.
Research Advisor
University of Mary Washington
Communication studies, assessment methodology
Academic Partner
University of North Texas
First Year Writing curriculum
SBIR Phase I (Phase II under review)
Non-dilutive federal funding for R&D
DebaterHub incorporated. NSF SBIR Phase I application submitted.
AI system outperforms human experts in blind tournament. AAAI-24 presentation.
100+ customer discovery interviews. Pivoted to teacher-first approach.
NSF STTR Phase II application under review for randomized control trials and university pilots.
my-desk.ai launches with Canvas integration.
We saw Chegg, 2U, and BYJU's collapse because users had no structural power. We're building something different.
Early adopters don't just get a discount—they get governance rights. Charter and Founding Members help decide what we build, how data is used, and where this platform goes. Universities already know how to collectively own infrastructure (see: Internet2). We're applying that model to AI.
10 institutions
Open through 2026