Faculty win first place at the Open Season Pitch Competition
September 21, 2026
BY Rawad nahhas
Darryl Glade, professor of practice in the Tulane Real Estate Development Program, and his co-founders, John Renne, director of Tulane’s Real Estate Development Program in the Tulane School of Architecture and Built Environment, and Kevin Truong, took first place and $3,000 at the Tulane Innovation Institute’s Open Season pitch competition Sept. 15 for OralExam.ai. The team also won the $250 People’s Choice Award.
The winning idea addresses a new challenge for professors and teachers in assessing learning in the age of artificial intelligence, when AI tools are becoming part of the writing process. If a professor wants to know whether a student understands an assignment, why not ask the student to talk about it instead of writing about it, while still using AI tools for evaluation? That is the idea behind OralExam.ai, which gives each student a brief, spoken conversation with an AI examiner about the assignment they turned in. Professors will receive two results within minutes, one on the student's understanding and one on authorship. Instructors can use these results to support their grading process; OralExam.ai does not grade the paper. The company is currently running pilots in high schools, at Tulane University and at other institutions.
The format also fits a pitch competition. Explaining your reasoning out loud is how aspiring founders test ideas and learn how to build startups.
A packed house turned out at The Josephine for Open Season Fall 2026, bringing together Tulane students, Tulane Innovation Institute program participants, entrepreneurs from the greater New Orleans community and supporters.
"Open Season is one step in a founder's journey," said Kimberly Gramm, the David and Marion Mussafer Chief Innovation & Entrepreneurship Officer of the Tulane Innovation Institute. "When you have an idea for a business or innovation, you should present it for feedback and determine if there is a market need. What makes Open Season special is that founders can do that in front of a room of people who are mentoring, investing and cheering them on. That is what Tulane Innovate is about. It is a community, and everyone has a role in helping ideas move forward to make our city, state and world a better place."
For Glade, Open Season was a valuable chance to showcase his company to people who could help improve it and support his vision.
"Winning Open Season means a great deal to our team," Glade said. "I am grateful to the Tulane Innovation Institute for creating a stage where a young company can test its ideas in front of people who push you to sharpen them."
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