Aleksandar Raić for tportal.hr
Where does Croatia stand in the global artificial intelligence market, what are the challenges of AI regulation, and what are the plans of Pontis Technology – a young company that is part of the American investment group Bridgewest, which recently welcomed Aleksandar Raić, one of Croatia’s most experienced AI experts, as a member of its board? In an interview with tportal, Raić shares his insights.
Part of the global IT scene, but with a Zagreb-based address, Pontis Technology, a young company and a member of the American investment group Bridgewest, has been building its story since 2022. This year, they have set an important goal—to create an AI solutions team by hiring 20 experts to position themselves as an AI integrator for large companies with a wide range of solutions.
We spoke about these ambitious plans with Aleksandar Raić, a renowned Croatian AI expert who joined Pontis Technology in August as a board member responsible for AI and as the Global VP for Artificial Intelligence at Bridgewest. With more than three decades of experience in senior roles at companies like Pliva, Infobip, and Croatia Osiguranje, Raić is one of the most experienced AI experts in Croatia. While we’re typing this from our newsroom in Zagreb, he is writing his PhD on artificial intelligence from his wooden house near Velika Gorica.
In an interview with tportal, he revealed the strategy and goals of Pontis Technology in expanding their AI division, the challenges they face in positioning themselves on the global AI market and shared his thoughts on AI regulation and the position of Croatia and Europe in this field, which is dominated by the U.S. and China.
20 AI experts
“We want to build a robust brand in an industry that is changing daily and become a recognizable provider of AI solutions on the global stage. This has been acknowledged by the American Bridgewest group. The market is quite chaotic given the number of solutions and technologies that are developed every day. Our mission is to help the market and people choose the right solution for their needs by combining our solutions with those of our partners,” emphasizes Raić.
As a member of the American Bridgewest investment group, Pontis Technology covers the entire spectrum of IT solutions—from backend and frontend system development to databases and advanced business intelligence (BI). They now aim to become an AI integrator for large companies and are in the process of adding an artificial intelligence (AI) division. In mid-October, the company will welcome 20 experts specializing in AI, having received over 250 applications for these positions in just a few weeks.
“This shows the significant interest. We plan to continue in this direction and double the AI team by next year,” emphasizes Raić, adding that they are currently looking for larger office space due to the team expansion and new strategy.
“It’s important for us that the team is united not only professionally, but also socially, which is why we will all work from our Zagreb office. However, we plan to expand into other cities and countries in the region, focusing on Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, where we already have a company established in Sarajevo with eight employees,” Raić adds.
What guides them in the complex construction of their solutions?
In our conversation with Raić, we discussed the types of solutions we can expect in the future on the AI market and what will come from their development. “Conversational AI, analytical AI, computer vision, and robotics,” says Raić.
He notes that one of Pontis’s key focuses is analytical (predictive) AI, an area that data scientists work in, with the primary focus on – data. According to Raić, predictions and analyses can be derived from the data that a customer possesses, allowing users to better understand their data and monetize it according to its value.
“In a conversation with an AI system, a person can request it to program or code something, even if they are not a computer scientist. That’s the conversational part of AI, and we want to add analytical AI to that. ChatGPT has essentially ‘hacked’ the operating system of humans—speech, language, and understanding—which are key reasons for the advancement of the human species: communication and collaboration,” explains Raić.
Companies often sit on vast amounts of data that they neither monetize nor understand, says our interviewee. “Reports represent inactive knowledge until appropriate services are created to enhance the data. A company’s intelligent behavior depends on understanding that data,” asserts Raić.
Additionally, Pontis Technology will focus on the computer vision segment, where sensors and cameras enable systems to recognize objects and make decisions. “For example, in pharmaceutical production, a camera can replace a human in inspecting medicines. If the camera detects damage, a robotic arm will remove the product from the line,” explains Raić. Similar technology can be utilized in smart cities, where AI-enabled cameras provide energy-efficient solutions.
Autonomous AI agents
The company is also exploring the field of robotics. “Robotics encompasses both software and hardware components, and we are starting to develop autonomous AI agents that perform specific tasks. The AI monitors these processes and involves a human if something goes wrong. Robots will enable a portion of human labor to be transferred to machines, and they are expected to become part of our daily lives very soon, both in offices and households. The best example is how advanced and sophisticated they are in surgery today. It is important to know how to manage that hardware,” explains Raić.
Ultimately, the goal is to develop systems in which autonomous AI robots take over some human tasks, while the hardware and software evolve to support these changes. “Our plan is to focus on specialized robots that possess knowledge in a specific domain and can continuously train and learn, thereby adapting to the demands of the work they perform,” Raić states, adding that in the future, they will also communicate with each other: “If you have a home robot that knows how to cook and you ask it what the weather will be like tomorrow, it will seek that information from another robot.”
On AI regulation and Europe’s position
However, none of this will be possible without AI regulation. Raić emphasizes that they are committed to ethics and safety in AI, and he believes that regulation is indeed necessary. It’s worth noting that on August 1 of this year, the European Parliament and Council Regulation establishing harmonized rules for artificial intelligence (AI), known as the AI Act, came into force— the world’s first comprehensive law on artificial intelligence.
“The goal is for robots to serve people, not to hallucinate, and to fulfill their purpose, which must be positive for humanity and other living beings. The AI Act regulates these issues and will require that every AI system be verified for compliance with the regulation starting in 2026. This is the best long-term approach to technology development because, in the design of solutions, you already know which parameters you need to meet to avoid hallucinations and misuse of robots. Regulation is crucial for everything, especially for AI. However, it is also important to ensure that Europe does not lag in innovation compared to the U.S. and China, which is indeed happening,” warns Raić.
The Scale effect
With the AI Act, Raić notes that the scale effect has occurred — Europe has “loaded” a massive regulatory burden that has slowed innovation. “However, they realized this in Brussels on January 25 of this year and decided to invest four billion euros in AI innovations. Europe understood that mere regulation could lead to an imbalance because people will want to develop these systems outside of it. This way, AI companies can gain access to resources to become competitive, which is crucial for innovation.”
It is essential that regulation keeps pace with innovation and that regulatory hubs are established. The European Union should set up data centers and hubs in all member states where AI technology, especially open source, is pre-installed on GPUs. This will enable startup companies looking to develop new solutions to access innovation hubs with equipment co-financed by the EU and open source models,” emphasizes Raić, adding that anyone with a good idea for an AI solution will also have to face the regulatory question of whether it aligns with the AI Act, how the project will function, and that key decisions must always be made by a – human.
“The idea is that if you want a positive startup atmosphere, you should enable people access to legal assistance through such a regulatory innovation hub so they don’t have to take excessive risks, but rather have the opportunity and resources to create solutions or products they can bring to market. The European Union must launch this by 2026, and I believe Croatia should be among the first countries to take advantage of it and be proactive,” says Raić, adding:
“For Croatia, it is important to work for foreign markets. Unfortunately, most of the IT spending in Croatia is state spending; our industry is not sufficient. However, at the same time, Croatia is an excellent breeding ground for quality talent and outstanding engineers, and our children win medals at informatics Olympiads. So, the potential workforce exists, but the market is limited. AI is interesting, and it would be good for Croatia to position itself as a startup nation, as a hub where innovative solutions emerge that could attract foreign highly qualified workers who would come here to live because Croatia is a wonderful place to live.”
Innovation and Ethics
Agriculture and a PhD Hand in Hand
When he’s not working on AI solutions, Raić runs a family farm in his wooden house near Velika Gorica, enjoys life with his five dogs and two cats, and has planted an olive grove in Istria—all while writing his PhD on AI under the guidance of former minister Blaženka Divjak.
“Our mission is not only to develop the most advanced AI solutions but to do so responsibly and with a clear goal—to use technology to improve human life. Artificial intelligence should be a tool that makes everyday life easier for people, not something they should fear. At Pontis, we believe that innovation and ethics must go hand in hand. The future of AI is in our hands, and we have the opportunity to create solutions from Croatia that will resonate around the world. Our goal is to become a recognizable global player while also creating an environment where Croatian experts can build their careers,” emphasizes Raić.
“I have traveled the whole world, but there are almost no places as beautiful and safe as Croatia. However, we need more high technology to attract highly educated talent. Our education system should also be more open to foreign students, allowing universities to offer programs in English, which should be the second official language. We need bilingual forms in public administration, similar options in kindergartens and other institutions to adapt to foreign workers,” emphasizes Raić.
Approach to elderly people and the market
On that note, besides wanting to be an AI solution provider, Pontis Technology is developing an AI solution specifically for elderly individuals—an AI Bot Tutor that combines analytics and conversation.
“If you are an older person wanting to learn something new, a problem arises because you can’t remember as well as you did when you were younger, due to the biological aging of the brain,” explains Raić. “After the age of 30, brain function declines. What a person can do is remember new things if they analogously link them to existing knowledge. For example, if you are a doctor, you need to connect new knowledge with the area of medicine you know best, as this will allow you to naturally build upon your existing knowledge.
Older people often visualize or connect new information with their own knowledge and experiences to adopt it more easily. In this segment, we want to develop a bot as a tutor for elderly individuals. Europe is facing the problem of an aging population, so we consider this solution to be useful. At the same time, people are living longer, which is positive, but older individuals must function in a digitizing world, meaning they need to be digitally literate. It is essential to make the elderly population more functional,” emphasizes Raić.
