Building in the AI era: How to Web Conference 2026 gathers the CEE startup & technology ecosystem for industry-shaping discussions in Bucharest
From October 6–8, tech professionals, executives, founders and investors are getting together in Bucharest for regional discussions on technology, business and investment. Across three action-packed days, more than 3,000 tech leaders, founders, investors and executives from Central and Eastern Europe and beyond will meet in Bucharest for How to Web Conference 2026. The event unites… Read more »
Build something real: Former product lead at Meta AI on why physical AI is valuable but demands unglamorous repetition
AI made everyone an idea person – it didn’t make anyone a builder. Here, Avinav Pashine breaks down why the gap between a flashy demo and a resilient product is widening, how agents earn human trust and why physical AI refuses to behave like a benchmark. AI has simplified the initial prototyping quest. It hasn’t… Read more »
De-risking your next equity round with Orbit Capital
When we sat down with Radovan Nesrsta last year, we unpacked the mechanics of venture debt. We placed under the microscope how non-dilutive capital gives Central & Eastern Europe scaleups an alternative when traditional bank loans or equity rounds aren’t the right fit. Fast forward twelve months, and the conversation around growth financing has evolved…. Read more »
Building an investor-ready US entity from CEE: Tukel Accounting’s breakdown
Setting up a US presence is one of the highest-leverage moves a European scale-up can make, and one of the fastest ways to trip over unexpected tax, legal and operational wiretraps. Between Delaware flips, state-by-state payroll nexus and intercompany transfer pricing, expanding across the Atlantic demands much more than just a US bank account and… Read more »
The 20 early-stage startups stepping into the Spotlight 2026
Filtering hundreds of early-stage applications down to a tight group of 20 for Spotlight 2026 is equal parts privilege and reality check. It gives us a front-row seat to what Eastern Europe’s sharpest builders are actually getting their hands dirty with behind closed doors. And if last year’s Spotlight cohort was defined by the first… Read more »
Stop prototyping, start solving: OpenAI’s Teodora Musatoiu on taking AI features into production
Building with AI has never been easier. Building something that works reliably at scale? That’s where the actual conversation starts. Here, OpenAI’s Teodora Mușatoiu breaks down why slow models are usually an architectural flaw, how to build meaningful evals and what it takes to ship software that actually holds up in production. As AI tools… Read more »
Unlocking product delight: what does it really take to build something that people love?
As AI tools make software creation easier than ever, Dr. Nesrine Changuel shares why emotional delight remains the hardest, and most rewarding, part of building tech right. The clock is ticking ahead of this year’s edition of How to Web Conference, and in anticipation, we’ve put forward a challenge aimed directly at the builders operating… Read more »
Building for ROI: stop measuring time saved and start tracking the real AI impact
As generative tools lower the technical barrier to building, measuring true AI ROI has become the ultimate differentiator between products worth creating and those that are simply easy to generate. Sara Maldon (Make, Inflect) breaks down the trap of internal duplication, why “hours saved” is a phantom metric and how builders can measure the true… Read more »
Build what sticks: the fine line between a quick draft and a forgotten brand
Building the product is only half the battle, getting someone to actually give a damn is where most launches stall out. Here, Dave Harland shares his three-step framework for trading corporate slop and algorithmic “breadrollery” for messaging that builds trust. Imagine this: you’ve built it, polished it and hit launch. AI helps you ship at… Read more »
The fast-track to global capital – what Spotlight 2026 means for CEE startups
Finding yourself in the right room for seed or pre-seed funding, securing face time with operators who have scaled global tech, and expanding beyond your home market usually means months of flights, cold emails and fragmented coffee meetings across Western tech hubs. Eastern Europe has by all means the capability, potential and drive to stand… Read more »
The six meta themes building How to Web Conference’s 2026 agenda
Speed alone no longer guarantees a win in modern tech. From navigating AI-driven “product slop” to building high-leverage micro-teams, these six core pillars define the real-world dilemmas driving the How to Web Conference 2026 agenda. The initial dust has settled around the AI gold rush, leaving the tech industry at a fascinating crossroads. We are… Read more »
Powering the AI Era: How PPC Is Engineering the Grid of Tomorrow
Far from a passing trend, artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly proved itself as a load-bearing pylon in power engineering. Like the rest of the continent, Southeastern Europe is currently racing toward clean energy targets and massive digital transformation. At the center of this transformation is the grid itself, where managing operations now requires processing vast… Read more »