Glenn Johnson wins $20,000 prize to help develop and move AI Hall Pass to the marketplace

Gary technology leader and public education advocate Glenn Johnson recently earned third place in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) AI Business Pitch Competition with AI Hall Pass, a technology platform being developed to help K–12 school districts responsibly govern their use of artificial intelligence.

The idea behind the name is the traditional hall pass that gives students permission to enter a space for an approved purpose and within certain boundaries.

“AI Hall Pass applies that same idea to artificial intelligence in a school district,” Johnson explained. “AI Hall Pass asks: Does this AI have permission to be here, what is it allowed to do, and who is accountable for it?”

“Whether it’s an AI tool being used in the classroom, HR, athletics, administration, or by a vendor, the district should know what it does, what data it touches, whether it has been approved, and who is accountable for it,” Johnson said.

AI Hall Pass is being developed to help school districts determine who has district-wide accountability for the AI systems touching students, employees, data, and decisions. With Hall Pass, an AI tool may be approved for one purpose, restricted for another, or not approved at all.

“The goal is not to prevent schools from using AI,” Johnson said. “It is to help districts use AI responsibly while maintaining human oversight and accountability.”

The competition was organized and hosted by the Northwest Indiana Small Business Development Center and provided Northwest Indiana entrepreneurs an opportunity to develop and pitch AI- and cloud-based business ideas.

The Northwest Indiana SBDC also worked directly with Johnson to help refine the AI Hall Pass business plan and strengthen the competition pitch. Futran Solutions and AWS provided additional technology expertise and resources supporting the initiative.

Johnson’s third-place finish resulted in approximately $20,000 in AWS resources to help advance AI Hall Pass toward development.

The competition provided an opportunity to test the AI Hall Pass concept in front of technology and business professionals, receive feedback and further refine both the product and business model.

AWS resources will help support the next phase – moving AI Hall Pass from planning and design toward a working product and future school district pilots.

AI Hall Pass is being developed through Civentra, Johnson’s technology venture, with Futran Solutions involved in technical development and AWS resources supporting the next stage of the project.

For Johnson, AI Hall Pass brings together two areas that have defined much of his career – enterprise technology and public education governance.

It also demonstrates the role that Northwest Indiana’s entrepreneurial ecosystem can play in helping local ideas develop into viable businesses. Johnson credits the Northwest Indiana SBDC’s guidance with helping him sharpen the business case for AI Hall Pass and prepare for the AWS competition.

The next objective is to turn that concept into a working platform and begin putting it in front of school districts.

Johnson has also spent more than a decade in public education governance. He currently serves as Vice President of the Gary Community School Corporation Board of Trustees, Region 1 Director for the Indiana School Boards Association, representing Lake, Porter, and LaPorte counties.

Previously, Johnson served terms on the Lake Ridge New Tech Schools Board.

Johnson is founder of Civentra, the technology company developing AI Hall Pass.