This weekend, Sarajevo hosted the third annual Google DevFest Sarajevo 2025, a flagship event uniting developers, data scientists, academics, and AI enthusiasts under one roof. Organised by Kemal Cholovich, the festival—held on 1 November 2025 at United Investment and Trading Company—marked one of the most dynamic technology gatherings in Bosnia and Herzegovina this year.
Organised with the aim of fostering innovation and knowledge exchange, the event brought together around 300 participants, including industry experts from Google, DeepMind, ING, and academia across Europe. The agenda covered topics from generative AI and cloud architecture to data analytics and enterprise engineering, offering both practical insight and visionary discussions about the evolving relationship between humans and intelligent systems.
Inspiring Talks and Global Expertise
The morning sessions opened with Tarik Huber (Salzburg) exploring the AI-first mindset and the human–machine co-evolution, followed by Gus Martins from Google DeepMind London, who introduced the Generative AI Toolkit and discussed real-world applications bridging imagination and implementation.
Subsequent sessions by Adnan Hodzic (ING & GDE, Amsterdam) and Rustem Mehmandarov (Java Champion, Oslo) delved into scalable cloud infrastructures and optimisation of Java in enterprise and serverless contexts.
The programme also featured experts such as Jasper Duizendstra, Enes Turan, Gregory McGan, and Jasminko Sofo, each presenting cutting-edge projects ranging from AI agent design on Vertex AI to metadata-driven automation and AI-powered business forecasting.
The PhD Panel: “The Future of Learning – Can We Keep Up with AI?”
One of the intellectual highlights of the event was the PhD Panel, moderated by Kenan Sehic, which brought together academics and researchers to discuss the intersection of artificial intelligence and higher education.
The distinguished panellists included:
- Belma Ramic-Brkic, PhD
- Amila Akagic, PhD
- Jasna Pleho, PhD
- Ozge Buyukdaglı, PhD
- Mugdim Pasic, PhD
- Mirza Pasic, PhD
- Tarik Namas, PhD
- Engin Obucic, PhD (International Burch University)
The discussion addressed crucial questions:
- How can universities adapt to the accelerating pace of AI development?
- How do we ensure that AI tools enhance, rather than replace, human creativity and critical thinking?
The IBU representative emphasised the importance of integrating AI models, AI agents, and postgraduate university students and staff into collaborative teams, highlighting IBU’s interdisciplinary initiatives that unite all departments in the pursuit of innovative formulations and scientific breakthroughs. AI models are critically treated as equal team members—analysed, challenged, and refined through human–machine collaboration. The panel concluded that while AI poses undeniable pedagogical and ethical challenges to traditional education models, it also offers an unprecedented opportunity to democratise access to knowledge and research.
A Bridge Between Industry and Academia
DevFest Sarajevo stood out not only for its technical depth but also for its community spirit. The inclusion of an academic panel alongside sessions by global industry leaders created a dialogue between research and real-world implementation. This balance reflected Google’s broader mission—to connect developers, scientists, and educators in building sustainable, human-centred technology.
Looking Ahead
The 2025 edition of Google DevFest Sarajevo reaffirmed Bosnia and Herzegovina’s growing presence on the regional tech map. With its mix of international speakers, applied AI sessions, and academic engagement, it set a new benchmark for technology events in the Western Balkans.
As AI continues to redefine industries and education alike, events like DevFest will remain vital in ensuring that local talent, universities, and businesses stay connected to the global innovation ecosystem.