[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

Cardania 2.0 Your AI Guide to Governance

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

300000

[Proposal Summary] Time

Please specify how many months you expect your project to last

12

[Proposal Summary] Translation Information

Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated

No

Original Language

en

[Proposal Summary] Problem Statement

What is the problem you want to solve?

Cardano governance is complex; onboarding is confusing, participants are overloaded, and no AI solution fully addresses the knowledge gap to make participation more inclusive and engaging.

[Proposal Summary] Supporting Documentation

Supporting links

• https://www.photrek.io/ai-agent-for-cardano
,
• https://github.com/Photrek
,
• https://github.com/Photrek/ai_assistant_for_governance
,
• https://www.masumi.network/

[Proposal Summary] Project Dependencies

Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'

No dependencies

[Proposal Summary] Project Open Source

Will your project's outputs be fully open source?

Yes

License and Additional Information

Photrek utilizes a GNU GPL 3.0 license for software development projects, which requires users of the software to maintain their code as open source.

[Theme Selection] Theme

Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal

Governance

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

Describe your established collaborations.

Cardania is more than a concept, it is a live, working MVP connected to a Cardano node and delivering value. Photrek has a proven track record of collaboration within the Cardano ecosystem, with past and ongoing partnerships/collaborations with IOG, Catalyst and many others. For this project, we plan to collaborate with the Masumi Network to host Cardania among other AI Agents in a trusted and transparent way. While drafting this proposal, our team is working with Masumi to list Cardania, opening the path for the next iteration on Sokosumi (the Masumi AI agent marketplace).

Describe funding commitments.

At this stage, no external collaborator funding commitments have been secured. Photrek will lead the delivery and implementation of Cardania, while actively exploring potential partnerships during project execution. Several partners are noted above, and we will engage with them as relevant once funding is awarded.

Describe your key performance metrics.

Here are some target KPIs for Cardania:

• 200+ unique users/month, 50% returning
• 10,000+ queries processed
• ≥80% user satisfaction
• 70% of community suggestions addressed
• ≥85% response accuracy
• Full coverage of historical governance & sentiment data
• ≥60% active users engage with key features
• 30% reduction in repetitive DRep queries

These metrics will be tracked via analytics, surveys, Q&A review, and logs

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

Cardano governance is powerful but complex. Some processes can be difficult for newcomers to understand; builders and community members often face overwhelming volumes of information and responsibilities. This perpetuates a knowledge gap that limits inclusivity, slows onboarding, and reduces the potential for broader participation.

In Fund 12, Photrek took the first step toward solving this challenge by developing Cardania, an AI guide to Cardano governance. Cardania can already access up-to-date on-chain proposal information, Intersect’s knowledge base, and other trusted sources to provide timely, relevant guidance. She can explain governance processes, help users understand current proposals, and ultimately serve as a bridge between Cardano’s technical governance frameworks and more informed community participation.

Cardania’s Current Capabilities

• Governance Q&A: Answers user questions with timely, relevant guidance on Cardano governance.
• Onboarding Support: Guides users through registering as a DRep, understanding voting timelines, and learning governance roles.
• Live On-Chain Data Access: Retrieves real-time proposal details, vote results, and governance actions.
• Proposal Summarization: Condenses proposals into easy-to-understand summaries.
• Multilingual Support: Communicates in multiple languages to engage a global community.
• DRep Support: Helps DReps manage information and stay oriented in the governance process.
• Adaptability for All Users: While built for DReps, Cardania supports any community member in becoming an informed governance participant.

Next Steps

In this phase, Photrek will take Cardania from a functional MVP to a production-grade AI assistant that not only simplifies and personalizes Cardano governance, but also makes the experience engaging, enjoyable, and tailored to each user.

Planned Enhancements:

1.** Transform the User Experience**

• Enhanced UI/UX: Move beyond a simple Q&A tool to create a dynamic, welcoming environment.
• Cardania’s Persona: Introduce a visually appealing interface featuring Cardania’s face to build recognition and personality.
• Personalized Login Sessions: Enable user accounts that remember conversations, track progress, and adapt to different user types—DReps, SPOs, community members, or newcomers.
• Mobile-First Design: Ensure the platform is fully optimized for mobile devices, meeting the needs of the majority of users.

1. Adaptive Personalities & Perspectives: Offer pre-developed personality modes so users can interact with Cardania in a way that matches their preferences. Examples include:

• Epistemic stance: skeptical ↔ credulous
• Optimism: cautious ↔ optimistic
• Critique style: adversarial ↔ constructive
• Risk appetite: conservative ↔ bold
• Time horizon: short-term ↔ long-term
• Communication style: terse ↔ explanatory
• Creativity: convergent ↔ divergent
• Evidence threshold: heuristic ↔ high-evidence
• Social tone: blunt ↔ diplomatic

1. **Timely Alerts & Notifications: **Personalized push notifications for governance events, proposal updates, or key milestones, with user-controlled settings to avoid overload.

2. Expanded Knowledge & Context

• Governance History: Track and contextualize past governance decisions.
• Continuous Updates: Leverage Blockfrost to keep knowledge current.
• Social Media Integration: Pull in and summarize community sentiment from sources like X, Discord (Intersect committees), Reddit, and newsletters.
• GovTools Integration: Provide direct, cited answers from trusted governance tools.

5.** Fact vs. Opinion Clarity: **Clearly distinguish between verifiable, fact-based information (on-chain data, Intersect KB) and opinion-based sentiment from the community— always with source citations.

1. **Insights/ analytics dashboard **

• Cardania displays an analytics dashboard containing statistics comparing on-chain proposals over several metrics (e.g. Constitution alignment, Community sentiment, ADA Request) to facilitate DReps decision-making.
• DReps and users can talk with Cardania about the statistics and discuss them further.

DRep Outreach, Communication, and Marketing

In this iteration, Photrek will place a strong emphasis on outreach and marketing to ensure Cardania reaches the community members who will benefit from and actively use the service. Our strategy will focus on gathering real-world user insights from DReps and other governance participants to refine Cardania’s features and use cases.

We will engage through multiple channels, including:

• Hosting and participating in X Spaces
• Presenting at Cardano Town Halls and After Town Halls
• Attending governance workshops and related community events

This direct engagement will maximize the diversity of feedback, strengthen Cardania’s alignment with governance needs, and foster stronger connections within the Cardano ecosystem.

To make a more scalable next phase, we will deploy on Masumi – an established platform that allows Cardano users to easily discover and interact with AI Agents. This will ensure accessibility, discoverability, and ongoing visibility for Cardania. This strategic deployment also leverages Masumi’s infrastructure for authentication, security, and performance, reducing technical risks.

Long-Term Vision

Cardania is just the beginning. She is the first in a planned series of Cardano Support Agents – AI-powered assistants designed to lower barriers, improve transparency, and strengthen participation across the entire Cardano ecosystem. By creating tools that are as approachable as they are powerful, we aim to make Cardano accessible for everyone.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

Cardania will lower the barriers to participating in Cardano governance, empowering more community members to engage meaningfully. On the one hand enabling DReps to focus on informed decision-making but also giving everyone a better chance of understanding the decisions being made, reducing the gap between delegators and their DReps. By making governance processes accessible, transparent, and even enjoyable, Cardania will help grow a more inclusive and representative ecosystem.

Over time, this will lead to a broader base of active participants, more informed governance decisions, and a healthier balance of responsibility among stakeholders.

Throughout the project development, Photrek will prioritize integrating community feedback and consulting throughout the process to ensure Cardania serves the community’s needs.

[Your Project and Solution] Capabilities & Feasibility

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

Photrek has a proven track record of delivering high-quality governance tools within the Cardano ecosystem, including the initial Cardania AI Agent, which received positive community feedback for its relevance in this phase of Cardano governance. Our team combines domain expertise in Cardano governance, AI integration, and risk analysis algorithms to support this more robust version of Cardania.

We will validate feasibility by:

• User Testing & Feedback Loops: Running structured beta tests with Cardano community members and new users on Masumi.
• Performance Benchmarks: Measuring AI Agent responsiveness, accuracy, and integration stability in real-world conditions.
• Usage Metrics: Tracking user engagement, retention, and repeat usage to confirm that the solution is valuable and intuitive.

While drafting this proposal, our team is actively working with Masumi to list Cardania on their platform. This step will give more visibility to Cardania allowing more Cardano users to easily discover and interact with her. This strategic deployment also leverages Musumi’s infrastructure for authentication, security, and performance, reducing technical risks. This ultimately opens the door to put the next iteration on Sokosumi. From their site, “the premier marketplace for AI agents on the Masumi Network, Sokosumi connects your agents with users who need their services, creating a sustainable revenue stream.”

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Project Onboarding & Community Feedback

Milestone Outputs

• Milestones updated and approved on the Milestone Module
• Team contracts set up and internal project management framework.
• Detailed feature backlog with initial technical specifications.
• User feedback report with prioritized enhancements.

Acceptance Criteria

• Milestones approved by milestone reviewers.
• Feature backlog reflects both community feedback and technical feasibility.
• Feedback sources include Town Hall sessions, X Spaces, Discord, feedback forms, and internal assessments.

Evidence of Completion

• Signed contract and onboarding documents (internal).
• Published feature backlog document (public).
• Published user feedback synthesis report (public).

Delivery Month

1

Cost

20000

Progress

10 %

Milestone Title

Expand Knowledge Base & Historical Context

Milestone Outputs

• Data pipelines and models for historical governance data from archival sources (e.g., Blockfrost).
• Modules enabling Cardania to track, contextualize, and summarize past governance decisions and their impacts.
• Foundational social media sentiment aggregation for key governance topics.
• Initial integration with at least one external governance tool for direct, cited data retrieval

Acceptance Criteria

• Historical governance data is structured, retrievable, and contextualized within Cardania responses.
• Demonstrated capability to summarize past decisions with accurate outcomes and timelines.
• Social media sentiment summaries available for selected governance topics.
• At least one functional integration with an external GovTool via API or data parsing.

Evidence of Completion

• Demo video showing Cardania answering questions about historical Cardano governance events and decisions with correct context.
• Prototype sentiment aggregation module in a test environment.
• Documentation of external tool integration, including API endpoints or parsing logic.

Delivery Month

3

Cost

50000

Progress

30 %

Milestone Title

Enhance UI/UX

Milestone Outputs

• Comprehensive interactive UI/UX prototypes incorporating feedback from Milestone 1.
• Mobile-first responsive web interface with optimized navigation and interaction flow.
• Integrated static visual persona of Cardania with personality moods.
• Functional user account and profile system with secure authentication.
• Personalized user journeys (e.g., resuming previous conversations, role-relevant content).

Acceptance Criteria

• UI/UX designs documented and validated against community feedback.
• Web interface fully functional on mobile and desktop devices.
• Cardania persona visuals embedded and displaying distinct moods.
• Secure user registration, login, and profile management implemented.
• Personalized content displayed based on user data.

Evidence of Completion

• Published UI/UX design documentation.
• Publicly accessible test version of the application.
• Screenshots/video walkthrough demonstrating UI/UX features and persona integration.
• Functional demonstration of secure login and personalized user flows.

Delivery Month

6

Cost

60000

Progress

60 %

Milestone Title

Community Sentiment Integration

Milestone Outputs

• Integration of summarized, cited opinion-based content from X, Discord, Reddit, and newsletters.
• System to clearly distinguish between fact-based data (e.g., on-chain records, Intersect Knowledge Base) and opinion-based sentiment.

Acceptance Criteria

• Cardania displays aggregated sentiment summaries with clear source citations.
• Sentiment content is visually and functionally separated from fact-based information in the UI.
• Data sources include at least 2 of: X, GovTools, Telegram, Discord, Reddit, and governance-related newsletters.

Evidence of Completion

• Demo video or live instance showing sentiment summaries integrated alongside fact-based responses.
• Documentation detailing sentiment aggregation process, source list, and citation formatting.
• Screenshots illustrating clear distinction between fact and opinion in the interface.

Delivery Month

7

Cost

60000

Progress

70 %

Milestone Title

Analytics Dashboard & Final Testing

Milestone Outputs

• Production-ready Cardania AI Agent with full feature set deployed.
• Analytics dashboard tracking user interactions, feature usage, and engagement trends.
• Final testing and quality assurance for stability, accuracy, and performance.

Acceptance Criteria

• All planned features from the proposal implemented and functional in production.
• Analytics dashboard accessible to the team with real-time or near real-time metrics.
• No critical bugs in production after QA testing.

Evidence of Completion

• Live production deployment accessible via Musumi platform.
• Screenshots or live demo of analytics dashboard with sample data.
• QA report documenting tests performed, issues found, and resolutions.

Delivery Month

10

Cost

70000

Progress

90 %

Milestone Title

Final Launch & Project Close-Out

Milestone Outputs

• Project close-out report completed, summarizing outcomes, lessons learned, and next steps for Cardania.
• Close-out video highlighting key features, community impact, and acknowledgments.
• Demo video included in the Close-out or as a stand alone video.

Acceptance Criteria

• Final report submitted to Catalyst Milestone Module following the Catalyst close-out template.
• Close-out video published and accessible to the community.
• Demo video published and accessible to the community.

Evidence of Completion

• Full Document and supporting links for final project report publicly viewable.
• Public link to close-out video.

Delivery Month

12

Cost

40000

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

General Budget Breakdown (300,000 ADA / 12 months)

• Personnel & Project Management (40%) – 120,000 ADA
  • Project manager, developers
  • Administrative and coordination tasks
• Development & Technical Infrastructure (35%) – 105,000 ADA
  • UI/UX design and mobile-first development
  • AI model integration, knowledge base expansion, historical governance data pipelines
  • Musumi deployment, hosting, APIs, and integrations
• Community Engagement & Feedback (10%) – 30,000 ADA
  • Town Halls, surveys, Social Media engagement
  • Community testing sessions and incentives
• Analytics & Monitoring (5%) – 15,000 ADA
  • Analytics dashboard development and monitoring tools
  • Tracking KPIs and user behavior
• Contingency / Miscellaneous (10%) – 30,000 ADA
  • Unexpected technical or operational costs

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

How does the cost of the project represent value for the Cardano ecosystem?

The cost of this project represents exceptional value for the Cardano ecosystem by delivering a powerful AI Assistant that streamlines governance processes, empowers dReps, and fosters informed decision-making. Here's a breakdown of the cost-benefit relationship:

• Reduced Decision-Making Costs: The AI Assistant minimizes the time dReps spend analyzing proposals, leading to faster and potentially more cost-effective decision-making within the governance system.
• Improved Proposal Quality: By providing comprehensive analysis and highlighting potential issues, the AI Assistant can contribute to higher-quality proposals being implemented, leading to long-term cost savings for the Cardano ecosystem.
• Enhanced Voter Confidence: Transparent and data-driven governance processes supported by the AI Assistant bolster voter confidence, potentially increasing voter participation, a crucial aspect of a healthy decentralized system**.**
• Reduced Risk of Errors: The AI Assistant's ability to identify potential problems and ensure proposals align with the Cardano constitution minimizes the risk of costly governance mistakes.
• Scalability and Future Benefits: The knowledge and expertise gained through this project lay the foundation for future iterations of the AI Assistant, potentially extending its functionalities and value proposition within the Cardano ecosystem.
• **Cost-Effectiveness: **Our focus on leveraging a pre-existing LLM significantly reduces development costs compared to building one from scratch. Furthermore, by utilizing resources like NERC's high-powered computing infrastructure, we optimize resource allocation.
• Long-Term Investment: Funding this project represents an investment in Cardano's future. The developed AI Assistant will empower dReps, strengthen governance, and position Cardano as a leader in responsible AI integration within decentralized systems. The knowledge gained can benefit not only Cardano but also contribute to the broader development of AI for positive impact within other decentralized communities.

By considering the cost savings, improved decision-making, and long-term benefits for the Cardano ecosystem, the proposed project provides exceptional value for the requested budget.

Towards that end, Photrek utilizes competitive pricing methods that provide the highest value to our customers and support our team members with fulfilling lives. Our rates are based on self-employment in the US & Canada. The rates take into account the employment overheads of the resources contracted. The amounts are calculated for each milestone based on the hours to complete. For example the chart for engineering and scientific salaries in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is provided here: https://www.mass.gov/guides/salary-and-compensation.

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

Terms and Conditions:

Yes