Igor Đurić and Nikola Nestorović met at secondary school and have been close friends since. Both are 23: Igor graduated from the School of Computing (RAF), Nikola from the Faculty of Organisational Sciences (FON). The Adria Future Hackathon 2026 in Tivat and Kotor was not their first shared competition. They had previously placed second as a team, so they arrived in Montenegro knowing how to work under time pressure and turn an idea into a prototype quickly.
The hackathon was organised as part of the Adria Future Summit, under the theme of artificial intelligence and sustainability. It was run by AI Nation and the Adria Future Foundation, in partnership with Reputeo and Sustineri Partners, with the support of the World Bank. The prize fund was provided by MTEL, the Summit’s platinum partner. The jury comprised four specialists from technology, investment and innovation: Ravik Mima (Keiretsu Forum), Bojana Maraš (MTEL Digital Factory), Žan Dapčević (IBEX Fund) and Davor Sakač (TS Ventures Fund).
The team’s solution, Nara, uses machine learning for financial forecasting in the fruit and vegetable sector. The platform draws on weather forecasts, market price movements and seasonal patterns to give farmers concrete estimates of projected income and costs. As Igor puts it: “The idea is to help farmers make faster decisions, reduce losses and improve their returns.” The aim is to give producers a tool that tells them when, where and to whom it is most profitable to sell, tailored to the specifics of agricultural production in the region.
From ten finalist teams selected from over thirty applications across the region, the jury awarded Nara first place.
On the state of the regional innovation scene, Igor notes that the region “is still not sufficiently developed when it comes to innovation and the startup ecosystem,” though he says progress over the past few years is visible. In his view, what the new generation needs most at events like the Adria Future Summit is “contact with people from industry, mentors and specialists who can help them expand their network,” because a strong professional network significantly eases the path in any technical field.
During the hackathon, Igor had the opportunity to meet mentors from different industries and members of the jury, though the intensity of the competition left little time for the Summit’s wider programme.
Asked how he sees ideas like Nara developing over the coming year, Igor says: “It is very hard to predict what ideas will look like in a year’s time. AI has significantly accelerated development across almost every industry, so giving specific forecasts would be naive.” He does expect that a growing number of people without technical backgrounds will be able to develop technically demanding solutions with the help of AI tools, and that events like this will attract more participants from non-technical faculties, bringing more varied perspectives into the room.
