Interview

How Pioneers Turn Proof Into Progress

An interview with Sunhats Co-Founder & CTO Ali Kamalizade

Founder Interview Proof AI

Table of Contents

Case name

Sarah Willwohl
Expert for Sustainability Communication

Latest update on October 1, 2025

In our interview series, we discuss trends, challenges, and best practices in ESG management. This time, Ali Kamalizade, co-founder and CTO of Sunhat, provides insights into Sunhat's Collaborative Proof Platform and explains how companies can use Proof AI to create reliable, auditable proof from scattered data. He also shares how Sunhat is using its recent Series A funding of €9.2 million to further develop the platform.

Companies Lack Proof

Sarah: Many companies are doing great sustainability work, but often struggle to prove it when stakeholders request proof. How does Sunhat help?

Ali: That’s exactly the problem we solve. Often, companies don’t lack ESG efforts - they lack proof. When investors, regulators or colleagues ask for evidence, many organizations can’t provide it. With Sunhats Collaborative Proof Platform, every action, every document, every data point is linked to a source and a responsible owner. Suddenly, your work becomes verifiable and audit-ready.

Sunhat's AI Module explained (Practical Example)

Sarah: How is the AI Sunhat uses - “Proof AI” - different from others?

Ali: Other AI models, generic AI models - struggle without context. Sunhats Proof AI is context-aware. It understands the relationships between your documents, indicators and data. It doesn’t just summarize information; it gives you insights that are traceable and trustworthy. Data without context is often worthless. That’s why at Sunhat, we turn it into audit-ready proof. Proof AI discovers proof from your systems and shows exactly where it applies; it monitors the quality and alerts you to expirations
and missing data. And last but not least - it builds answers you can trust - every claim links to its source.

Sarah: Can you give an example of how this works in practice?

Ali: Sure. We often hear from customers like EnBW, Geberit or Ingredion that our AI answers questions from stakeholders or for questionnaires really well, with sources attached perfectly. The AI-generated text is ready to go.

Our upcoming AI Chat feature will make it even easier for teams to interact with data, ask questions, and generate verified outputs instantly.

With Sunhat and Proof AI, I can instantly find previous answers or create tailored ones from our reports and polices.


Katie Shrum, Sustainability Manager, Ingredion

Reliable AI to Support Sustainability Teams

Sarah: Interesting! But how do you ensure Proof AI remains reliable?

Ali: It’s about teamwork between our AI engineers and our sustainability experts. We give Proof AI a clear framework. Plus, we continuously integrate the latest models - like Google Gemini and Mistral - and actively leverage agentic AI, staying at the forefront of what’s technically possible to automate tasks in a responsible and traceable way.

Instead of manually scanning hundreds of report pages, we now let Sunhat's Proof AI bring everything together into one clear, ready-to-use answer.


Kristina Kamenjas, Head of Regulatory & Sustainability Affairs, Bruno Bock

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Sarah: Sunhat recently closed 9.2 Mio. Series A funding. How will that be used?

Ali: We’re for sure expanding our team of AI engineers, embedding domain knowledge deeper into product development. We plan to double our headcount in general in the next 12 months. Further, we will develop our platform beyond ESG data to instantly validate compliance with 100+ global standards and certifications.

Sarah: Sounds great! Bottom line: Why should a company choose a Collaborative Proof Platform?

Ali: Because proof matters. Dispersed knowledge becomes actionable, verifiable, and auditable. You’re not just collecting data - you’re making sustainability efforts tangible and trustworthy.

Stop scrambling. Start proving.

Your next customer questionnaire, assessment, or audit doesn't have to be a fire drill. Get the platform that keeps proof ready for every request.

Frequently asked questions
How does Sunhats Collaborative Proof Platform work?

The platform makes ESG measures verifiable and auditable by linking every action and data point to its source and the person responsible.

What is special about Sunhats Proof AI?

Sunhats Proof AI understands the context between documents and data, provides trustworthy proof with sources, and detects missing or expiring data.

How does Sunhats Proof AI remain reliable?

Through close collaboration between AI engineers and sustainability experts, continuous updates to AI models, and clear guidelines for reliable results.

Written by
Sarah Willwohl
Expert for Sustainability Communication
Sarah Willwohl is our expert for sustainability communication. With her experience in a sustainability team and as project manager for the annual sustainability report, she has first-hand knowledge of the challenges our clients face. She develops concepts, designs content and is responsible for events, strategic partnerships and webinars in order to communicate complex topics in an understandable and practical way.
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