“Now It Is Crucial for the State and Society to Back INSAIT”
INSAIT is the best news in decades for the Bulgarian IT world, and for the entire education sector. As if out of nowhere, a modern institute unique in the region appeared in Sofia at the start of 2022. It was born thanks to the stubborn efforts of Prof. Martin Vechev, whose idea dates back to 2003: applying for a PhD at Cambridge, he had to write on yet another form what he dreamed of achieving over the next 20 years. How did this quiet scientific revolution happen, what are its biggest risks, what will Bulgaria look like if it succeeds, and how did Prof. Vechev bring some of the world's scientists who are building tomorrow to Sofia this week?
02Dr. Raychev, the Man Who Gave Google Koprivshtitsa
Dr. Veselin Raychev is the only Bulgarian whose doctoral thesis ranked among the world's top three of the year across all of computer science, and with it he launched a field now booming: AI that writes code. A former Google engineer whose algorithms still route us through Google Maps and the founder of DeepCode, he talks about the AI hype, the decisions that matter and why he still cares so much about Bulgaria.
03“AI Is Everyone’s Big Chance to Climb Their Own Everest”
“The world stands at the Rubicon. We will live alongside smart machines, a new and different world awaits us, but are we ready for it?” That question, the very reason Digital Stories exists, is posed on the cover of her new book by today’s guest, Petya Minkova. In The Transition from the Digital Age to the Hybrid Civilization, she traces the long road from the first computers to a future of superpowerful artificial intelligence. And while the answer to whether we are ready is clear, there are so many other important questions we will discuss in the lines below! Do we have any future other than as a hybrid civilization of humans and technology? What does our survival depend on, and what will our daily lives look like once this transition hits with full force? Why is AI far more than a danger—why is it also a chance for each of us to climb our own personal Everest?
04“We Bulgarians Have the Mindset to Be Successful Entrepreneurs”
Boris Paskalev is an entrepreneur with impressive experience in the startup world. He recently became a strategic advisor to INSAIT, Sofia's Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology, one more guarantee that we can expect ever more remarkable news from there. A former youth national basketball player, he went on to study at MIT, then helped found DeepCode, a pioneering AI coding startup acquired by Snyk in 2020. We talk about his path through Silicon Valley, the AI revolution, the coming revolution in robotics, and how Bulgaria can have more successful startups.
05LatticeFlow: Making Artificial Intelligence Reliable and Safe
LatticeFlow is impressive not only because it solves fundamental problems in artificial intelligence systems, but because it makes them more secure and safe, issues that grow more urgent with every big headline on the subject. It is also the first high-tech company to position itself next to the INSAIT institute and work closely with it. Even without an official funding round, the startup raised $12 million, part of which will go toward hiring specialists in Sofia. We meet AI expert Dr. Petar Tsankov to talk about building a startup in a field that is only just taking shape, how the team's algorithms help create a new generation of reliable AI across many applications, and the vast prospects opening up for the team that is already working in Sofia.
06“Without a Little Madness, It Just Won't Work”
In this life you shouldn't, and can't, only take. If you don't give—in return or entirely for free—you have lived in vain, as the popular hit song goes. Even if we know it, it is worth reminding ourselves often. I hope this Digital Story reaches more people. I believe that if more people recognize its lessons, we are all capable of reclaiming the conversation and helping our country flourish. Of fulfilling the great dream of the protagonist and narrator here—that our children will WANT to stay in Bulgaria. Tenko Nikolov is not only one of Bulgaria's most successful tech entrepreneurs. He is a visionary who believes in the power of a close-knit team, shared values and a little “healthy” madness.
07“Money Is a Poor Master. It Has to Serve Higher Purposes”
“Happiness is a state, but not a goal. It is a conscious choice.” Atanas Simeonov is a proven entrepreneur in many unexpected directions, who has gradually added the digital world to his traditional offline ventures. Digital Stories has hosted engineers, writers, even a priest and a conductor, but this is the first time the guest is someone who has made entrepreneurship itself his calling, and, through the Endeavor platform, a means of changing the world around him. Where would he start if he were starting today? Can entrepreneurship be learned, or is it a matter of luck or talent? Is artificial intelligence a good direction for investment, and is it the field that will let Bulgaria achieve real success? Where is happiness, and why are billionaires so often missing it? When will we learn to value our health and take care of it?
08BAIT Award Goes to Digital Stories!
Digital Stories has won the journalism category of the annual awards organized by BAIT, the Bulgarian Association of Information Technologies! The prizes, presented for the 12th time under the patronage of President Rumen Radev, are a leading accolade in the IT world. For two years running, the site and its creator Georgi Karamanev won the technology prize of the Web Report awards, judged by leading journalists; now comes the prize from the association with the deepest traditions in the information technology sector. Where technology meets the humanities, the human, the emotional—where journalism meets programming—that is where Digital Stories lives, and that is why the prize means so much.
