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prg.ai newsletter #56

AI Awards highlighted projects that have pushed Czech education, industry and AI safety forward this year. Days of AI drew over fourteen thousand attendees and confirmed that interest in the practical use of artificial intelligence is growing across the country. Meanwhile in Brussels, the AI Act is being adjusted to make it more realistic for both companies and public administration. At home, concrete results are piling up – new technologies from CTU, collaborations with industry, student successes and more proof that the Czech AI ecosystem is maturing and accelerating.

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🔥 AI at the center of the action

AI Awards 2025 honored projects transforming schools, industry and global AI safety

On 4 December, the AI Awards 2025, the only Czech expert awards dedicated to artificial intelligence, were presented at Vzlet. The fifth edition highlighted projects that are moving education, research, public administration and business forward, and also recognized the lifetime contribution of Professor Hynek Heřmanský. Among the winners are the Department of Social Work at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University, AI dětem with its AI curriculum for schools, the Multi-Robot Systems Group at the CTU Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Fly4Future with its Eagle.One system, EDIH CTU with the ADAM chatbot for the Ministry of Finance, and E2B for a key technology enabling safe development of AI agents. Last but not least, do not miss the photo gallery.

The fourth Days of AI are over

It feels almost unbelievable, but this year’s Days of AI have come to an end. More than fourteen thousand visitors across all regions of Czechia could see for themselves what AI can do today – and where its limits (for now) lie. In Prague, events such as AI for Business attracted major names from Czech business, AI for Gov focused on effective use of AI in public administration, and the Better AI meetup brought talks on robust and efficient AI. There were also exhibitions, a theatre play, a pub quiz, hackathons and even events for seniors. This year, 35 cities took part and 241 events took place. Have a look at this year’s aftermovie!

The EU has heard Czech calls to simplify the AI Act

The European Commission has published the Digital Omnibus – a package of measures that streamline the upcoming digital legislation. The omnibus also reflects comments that Czechia, represented by Deputy for Artificial Intelligence Jan Kavalírek, has repeatedly raised in Brussels. The omnibus brings a 6–12 month postponement of the applicability of some provisions, less bureaucracy and stronger protection of corporate data. The Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, a member of the Czech National AI Platform, played a key role in achieving this outcome. The Digital Omnibus must now still be formally approved by the European Commission, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament.

Data Day 2025 focused on agents

Where are agentic systems today and where will they be a year from now? That was the theme of this year’s edition of the community data & AI conference Data Day 2025. The line-up featured experts from Livesport, Apoco, Apify and EmbedIT, and of course a host of inspiring presentations. Those who attended can try to spot themselves in the photo gallery. See you again next year!

Seznam: the Czech answer to ChatGPT is here

The largest Czech internet company Seznam.cz has launched, in a beta test version, a Czech answer to foreign services such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude. It has been simply named Seznam Asistent, and the company expects it to become a “natural entry point to information on Seznam.” You can try it out now yourself.

🏡 What’s new at prg.ai

Better AI Meetup brought together Czech and Slovak communities to talk robustness and efficiency of large models

In November, as part of Days of AI 2025, we co-organized the Better AI Meetup with Kinit, focusing on two key challenges of today’s foundation models: robustness against adversarial attacks and optimization of compute demands. Stanislav Fort (AISLE™) and Vladimír Macko (GrizzlyTech) approached the topic from both ends of the spectrum – from strategic risks to low-level GPU tuning. The event was supported by the Slovak Diaspora Project, bringing a strong Slovak AI community to Prague, and included an online stream as well. The recording is available on YouTube.

AI for Business delivered practical how-tos and a deeper look at AI’s real-world impact

As part of Days of AI, we turned the ČSOB headquarters into a hands-on learning lab for the third time. The program brought together leaders, product teams, developers and data specialists and showed how to move from hype to measurable value. Participants took away concrete approaches for building AI strategies, designing agents, working with data in natural language, deploying GenAI in regulated environments and transforming customer experience. In total, there were 15 workshops, 19 lightning talks and over 30 speakers. And we have a magnificent aftermovie. 

Dublin as an inspiration for kick-starting AI

A similar size, a complex history and the ambition to succeed on the global AI stage. These are just some of the things connecting the Czech Republic and Ireland, which Lenka Kučerová from prg.ai visited as part of an international project run by CzechInvest. Over three days, the delegation met with thirteen key AI organizations and around twenty experts and managers. “We have a lot to learn from Ireland. Support for entrepreneurship, ties between academia and industry, and the way they attract foreign investment. It shows that it’s not about the number of inhabitants, but about a clear plan and vision for how to succeed globally,” says Lenka.

Successes of Czech e-government must not stay invisible

The AI for Gov conference, held as part of Days of AI 2025, focused on the use of artificial intelligence in public administration. It presented current approaches to implementing AI in government offices and highlighted specific examples of AI in public services. You can watch a full recording on YouTube. Similar questions were also raised at the Navigating the World of Digitalisation conference organized by the Digital and Information Agency and NAKIT. One of the panels, which included our director Lukáš Kačena, focused on the legal framework and accountability for AI use in the state and business. The spotlight was on concrete AI deployments – and there are already several of them in Czech public administration. On the conference website you can also watch a complete recording.

👏 Local AI wins

The best IT diploma thesis comes from CTU FEE

In the previous issue, we mentioned that Aneta Furmanová from the CTU Faculty of Electrical Engineering (FEL ČVUT) made it to the final eight of the prestigious IT SPY 2025 competition. Today we are happy to share that she took the gold thanks to her diploma thesis and became the overall winner. A graduate of the Master’s program in Medical Electronics and Bioinformatics impressed the jury with her work on modelling the structure of sonic crystals using machine learning with an emphasis on physical interpretability of results. A special award, the Raiffeisenbank AI Prize, went to Julija Jeršova from the University of Economics in Prague (VŠE). Congratulations!

Robots and drones are faster than security guards

The Computational Robotics Laboratory operating within the Center for Artificial Intelligence at the CTU Faculty of Electrical Engineering has developed autonomous ground robotic systems that can reliably carry out inspection runs in GNSS-denied environments, both day and night. The systems were tested at the Charles Square campus as well as in real sites of Czech critical infrastructure. The aim of the ASCIP project is to verify how to shorten response times during incidents at industrial sites, increase safety and reduce the need for physical patrols.

Cooperating drones are testing power lines

The future of power line inspections has been outlined by the robotics team from the CTU Faculty of Electrical Engineering together with E.ON Group Innovation and the distribution company EG.D. They successfully tested the HIVE technology for autonomous inspections of power lines with cooperating drones. A demonstration near Horní Cerekev showed 100% success rate and up to 150% higher efficiency compared to traditional operations with single drones.

AI helps quartz reveal even more

Seemingly inconspicuous quartz grains can tell scientists a lot about how landscapes evolve. Denys Anopa, a student at the CTU Faculty of Information Technology in Prague (FIT CTU), has now proposed a way to improve and simplify their analysis using artificial intelligence. For his bachelor’s thesis, he received the Dean’s Award for the summer semester 2024/2025. The work also delivered a practical result in the form of a dataset that can help other researchers. Denys manually annotated more than two hundred microscopic images, as no publicly available datasets of quartz grains existed before.

The Ministry of Education now recognizes the “digital skills driving licence”

Olga Štěpánková, fresh holder of the Milada Paulová Award, talked in an interview about the ECDL/ICDL project. This fair system, which can objectively verify what a person can actually do through a short test, scored a major success this year – the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports has allowed ICDL tests to be used as an equivalent or part of IT subject exams at secondary schools.

Spanish premiere of a chatbot from FIT CTU

The Faculty of Information Technology at the Czech Technical University in Prague (FIT CTU) presented a special intelligent chatbot at the Smart City Expo World Congress 2025 in Barcelona. It can be directly applied in many areas – from urban planning, transport and crisis management to public health, agriculture, forestry and environmental protection. The chatbot can process large amounts of data from various sources, such as databases of the Czech Statistical Office, Eurostat, cadastral records or transport systems. The result is a concrete and precise answer for a specific location.

Gold from CRAC 2025 goes to the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University

Milan Strana from the Institute of Formal and Applied Linguistics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University (MFF UK) returned from China with a valuable trophy. CorPipe 25, the Czech entry in the CRAC 2025 Shared Task competition, took first place. We’ll be keeping our fingers crossed again next year, when one of the most prestigious conferences on AI and natural language processing moves to Budapest.

Jiří Janoušek officially dean of FIT CTU

On Wednesday, 12 November 2025, the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague hosted the inauguration of the newly elected dean of the Faculty of Information Technology at CTU in Prague, Assoc. Prof. Ing. Jan Janoušek, Ph.D. In his speech, he emphasized above all the importance of human capital: “Our greatest strength lies in people – employees and students. My ambition is that alongside providing excellent teaching, the faculty also becomes a centre of top-level research and a place where the computer science community likes to meet and return to.”

A project from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics is changing how we look at big data

Researchers from the Department of Software Engineering at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, led by Professor Tomáš Skopal, tested how to use artificial intelligence trained on ordinary images from the internet. Their research, supported by the Czech Science Foundation, opens the door to a new, simpler way of analysing large data collections. It can be useful wherever analytical representations are hard to interpret for both humans and machines.

The exhibition Metamorphoses of Art 2.0 has opened its doors

The multimedia exhibition Metamorphoses of Art 2.0 has welcomed its first visitors. It is on display in the atrium of the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics at CTU until 4 January 2026. The exhibition builds on a successful 2024 project that presented paintings by artist Klára Sedlo in dialogue with artificial intelligence. Those who are far from Prague do not need to despair – the exhibition also has a digital twin.

Researchers from CIIRC CTU make a breakthrough in virtual commissioning

We’ll stay with digital twins a bit longer – but move from the world of art to the production line, where even a millimetre-level error can be critical. The RICAIP Testbed Prague team at CIIRC CTU, together with AUMOVIO, has developed a unique system for creating a digital twin of a production line. For the first time, it enables faithful simulation of the environment and camera systems in connection with control logic and artificial intelligence. The benefits are clear: the technology shortens time-to-production, improves reliability and opens the door to full digital integration of production technologies.

A video game by a Faculty of Mathematics and Physics graduate teaches AI to perceive emotions in music

Stop filling out boring questionnaires and play a video game instead! That’s the premise of Symphony of Adventure, an innovative bachelor’s thesis by Reut Tal that combines data collection with music and gaming. The graduate of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics created a computer game that is not only fun, but also useful – it serves as an effective tool for collecting and sorting data for artificial intelligence.

Datamole celebrated its 10th birthday

There were candles to blow out on Wednesday, 26 November. Our partner Datamole celebrated its 10-year anniversary at the public meetup “Data & AI Innovation in Agriculture & Industry”. The event featured a number of unique case studies focused on AI and data innovation in agriculture and industry. Our director Lukáš Kačena and Tomáš Rehorek from Recombee were among the speakers, with Tomáš presenting examples of applied AI. Datamole co-founder and CTO Ondřej Stuchlík also appeared on the podcast Data Talk. Together with host Jirka Vicherek he discussed Datamole’s beginnings and the use of data science in agritech, foodtech and industry. You’ll also hear why Ondřej champions the approach “make the requirements less dumb” and why he expects architects to understand code.

Raiffeisenbank reveals how AI is changing the banking world

In the podcast AI v kostce, Martin Hajný, Head of the AI Competence Center at Raiffeisenbank, talks about the creation of an internal AI portal for thousands of employees. The 30-minute video interview helps explain how AI is reshaping the banking sector and how banks are dealing with security requirements.

Štěpán Kopřiva from Adastra: From startup founder to leader

In the podcast Restart Systému you can listen to the story of Štěpán Kopřiva, CEO of our partner Adastra, who worked his way from technological expert to the top of one of the most important IT companies in the country. Together with the hosts he also touched on topics such as connecting education and business or how to successfully sell a startup. His colleagues Ondřej Vaněk and David Kaláb then spoke in the Forbes podcast about the often demanding process of deploying AI in business.

PR Index offers a new way to measure communication

NEWTON Media is giving marketing professionals another tool to measure successful communication – this time in real time. PR Index, created by analytical experts according to AMEC standards and in line with the Barcelona Principles, combines sentiment, reach and brand visibility. It allows comparison with competitors and the broader industry and helps deliver on communication goals.

Geodata rule the world

How are AI and geolocation data changing the way companies make decisions? That was the topic of the AI Mobility workshop led by Dataclair O2. Whether it’s analysing footfall in shopping centres, finding the ideal location for a new branch, understanding travel times or even the impact of the gaming phenomenon Kingdom Come: Deliverance II on visits to certain areas – O2 Geodata offer companies valuable insights for smarter decision-making.

A million dollars for talented coders

If you happened to be in San Francisco on 6 December, we hope you stopped by the big hackathon hosted by Apify as part of the Apify $1M Challenge. Teams could build new AI agents and grab a share of the 1-million-dollar prize pool. You can still join the challenge until 31 January 2026.

AI helps understand the needs of endangered species in Rwanda

What do gorillas and artificial intelligence have in common? You can ask Jonathan Ledgard. In a new episode of Adastra’s podcast, he describes how his team uses sensors and AI to explore “interspecies money” – a concept in which non-human creatures could also have their own digital wallets and a way to express their needs, which humans then help fulfil. And that’s not all. An interesting case study shows how artificial intelligence and blockchain are transforming conventional approaches to nature conservation.

SportsPro Media Summit: AI, sport and content

This year’s SportsPro Media Summit in Madrid also featured a Czech presence. The gathering of global leaders in sports streaming focused on trends in personalisation, data-driven decision-making and the future of fan experience – and AI was very much part of the conversation, especially the changes it brings to the world of sports content.

Could you beat a virtual bookmaker?

The winners of the Qminers Quant Hackathon could. After a qualifying round, the 20 best individuals or teams advanced to the finals – an in-person hackathon that took place on 6 December at the CTU Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Prague. They received a new test dataset and could again fine-tune their solutions in real time. Curious who took gold? Head to the competition website.

DataSentics hit the road

The grand tour of the Data + AI World Tour 2025 is slowly coming to an end. In November alone, it visited Munich, Zurich and Paris, among other cities. You could meet the DataSentics team there – talking to visitors about everything from intelligent agentic solutions and SAP BW migration to Databricks applications. For those interested, a recording of the webinar “How AI Dynamic Pricing Transforms Retail Strategy” is also available, exploring why traditional pricing models fail and how AI-driven dynamic pricing supports real-time, data-based decision-making.

JetBrains is among the largest taxpayers in the Czech Republic

The economic news portal E15.cz recently covered the unusual story of JetBrains. The company, originally founded in Russia but now headquartered in Prague, currently boasts 12 million users and counts Google among its official programming partners. Its best-known products include its own AI model Mellum for code generation, the Junie programming agent and the Kineto tool for “vibe coding”.

🎭 Events we’re looking forward to

🧩 Interesting news and resources

Czech company Oddin.gg tops the ranking of fastest-growing tech firms

For more than twenty years, Deloitte has been ranking the fastest-growing technology companies from the public and private sectors in Central Europe. This year, Oddin.gg once again defended its first place, with an incredible revenue growth of 4,267%. The ranking also features a total of 22 Czech and Slovak companies.

EU AI Office invites you to online workshops on the AI Act

The European Artificial Intelligence Office (EU AI Office) is organizing a series of expert online workshops on 10, 11 and 12 December. The first one will focus on the classification of high-risk AI systems for products listed in Annex I of the AI Act. The remaining two workshops will cover areas listed in Annex III, including biometrics, migration, education and critical infrastructure.

The USA launches the Genesis Mission

President Trump has signed an executive order launching the so-called Genesis Mission – a nationwide effort to harness the power of artificial intelligence to accelerate scientific research. A large part of the existing network of government databases and supercomputers will be transformed into a unified platform for AI development, accessible to both private and public-sector researchers. The initiative aims to speed up discoveries in areas such as energy, healthcare and security. The plan includes collaboration with the private sector, including giants such as Microsoft.

New fund to support European AI and deeptech

More than 100 founders and leaders from companies such as drone maker Quantum Systems and online supermarket Rohlik have launched a new pre-seed and seed fund United Founders. Its goal is to support founders building AI and deeptech companies across Europe. The fund has closed a first round of €30 million and aims to reach a final size of €80 million over the next 12 months. United Founders is the brainchild of Vít Horký, founder of Czech B2B startup Brand Embassy, and Jakub Havrlant of Rockaway Capital.

The honeymoon is over, says a new Rossum report

Rossum has published its Document Automation Trends 2026 report. For the study, they surveyed 450 finance leaders in the UK, USA and Germany. The results show how teams are integrating intelligent technologies into existing processes, building governance that supports scalability and generating measurable returns from automation. At the same time, the report signals the end of the era of non-scalable pilots. Boards now expect results – and quickly.

Stanford AI lectures now available for free

Stanford University has made a series of AI and ML courses available on its YouTube channel. Lectures from 2021 and 2022 give learners an introduction to the basics of generative AI, machine learning, large language models and the ethical aspects of AI.

📢 Community calls

Learn how to sell your idea

CTU is launching the Spin-off/Start-up Ready! program and is looking for participants. The course is open to all CTU students, PhD candidates, postdocs and researchers – Czech and international – who want to explore the business potential of their ideas. You can look forward to practical assignments, individual mentoring and useful networking. The program is held in English and is free of charge. Applications are open until 15 January 2026.

CzechInvest’s Technology Incubation supports top-tier innovation

As part of the The Country for the Future program, CzechInvest is developing the ambitious Technology Incubation project, which helps discover and accelerate exceptionally innovative and scalable early-stage companies. Selected tech startups can receive direct support of CZK 1,100,000–4,500,000, indirect support worth CZK 500,000 and up to 2 years of incubation – all without giving up equity. The current call for applications runs until 9 January 2026.

One night. Thirty cities. A serious dose of coding

ElevenLabs invites you to a global hackathon dedicated to conversational agents. It takes place on 11 December, simultaneously in 30 cities around the world – including Prague. Join some of the best AI developers on the planet and compete for prizes with a total value of over $200,000.

💼 Open job positions

Apify

Amazon

Barclays

Blindspot

ČEPS

ČRA

Dataclair O2

Datamole

Datasentics

DNAi

ententee

JetBrains

Livesport

Make

MSD

Phrase

Profinit

PwC

Raiffeisenbank

SpaceKnow

T-Mobile

Share

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Vítězová AI Awards 2025

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prg.ai newsletter #55

The fourth edition of AI Days, the largest Czech festival dedicated to artificial intelligence, is in full swing — this year reaching 36 cities across the country. The European Commission has announced the creation of the Czech AI Factory with a new supercomputer named KarolAIna, CTU has elected AI expert Michal Pěchouček as its next rector, and Europe has unveiled new strategies to boost AI development. Meanwhile, the Czech AI scene keeps thriving — from a billion-crown investment in Resistant AI to new research labs and award-winning scientists.

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