Tivat, Porto Montenegro, 22 April 2026 – Today, at the Naval Museum in Tivat, a panel discussion titled “More than outsourcing: Building an advanced economy” was held as part of the Adria Future Summit. The panel brought together prominent representatives from the worlds of investment and technology to discuss the transformation of the Adria region from an outsourcing hub into a globally competitive technology economy.
The discussion highlighted the need for a strategic shift in focus—from service provision to the development and ownership of products. Panellists emphasised that the region has exceptional engineers, but that it is crucial to create platforms that enable them to build and own products, rather than rely exclusively on service delivery.
Davor Sakač, Director of TS Ventures, stated: “Shifting the focus beyond outsourcing is not a talent problem, it is a problem of ownership, ambition and market access. The region already has outstanding engineers; what it needs are platforms that enable them to build and own globally scalable products, not just provide services. Through corporate venture capital, structured pilot programmes and collaboration with large systems such as Telekom Srbija, we can significantly shorten the path from idea to the first major client, and retain talent, value and growth within the region.”
Ivan Kadić, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Reputeo, added: “If we want to move beyond outsourcing, we must stop exporting talent and start exporting intelligence. The real opportunity lies in building sovereign AI capabilities and solutions that are not only innovative, but also owned, understood and applied locally. This is how smaller economies become relevant in a world increasingly shaped by AI.”
Fridtjof Berge, co-founder and Chief Business Officer of Antler, emphasised the region’s strong potential: “The Adria region has world-class talent, the challenge is keeping it here. With AI, the opportunity has never been greater: major tech companies can now be built from anywhere, and entirely new ecosystems can emerge as winners. But this requires laying the foundations, ensuring access to capital, markets and the infrastructure needed to build. Regions that establish these foundations today will be the ones that matter in technology tomorrow, and the Adria region has the opportunity to achieve this.”
Panellists agreed that in order to transition from a services-based model to a product-based one, it is essential to address challenges related to access to capital, global markets and the right infrastructure. They also stressed the importance of creating an environment that fosters innovation and retains talented individuals in the region, preventing “brain drain”. One thing is certain, our region can become a place where great ideas grow.
“I believe there is strong potential for start-ups in the region: teams are capable, they have great ideas and they come with competitive valuations,” said Paul Grossinger, the figure behind Gaingels, one of the largest investment initiatives in the world.
“When we launched the Adria ScaleUp initiative at last year’s Summit, our goal was to open space for conversations about supporting start-up development in the region. One year later, we have outstanding innovation sessions with 12 investor-ready start-ups, delivered in cooperation with SEE UP, a hackathon bringing together 11 teams of young engineers from the region developed in collaboration with AI Nation and Reputeo, with the support of the MTEL prize fund, as well as high-quality discussions like today’s, which brought key global start-up ecosystem players to Montenegro. This is the result—important for the region and important for the next generation,” said Nedim Jahić, moderator of the discussion and representative of Sustineri Partners, the Summit organiser.
