There was a time when it was enough to say that Rovinj was where media, marketing and business came together. This year, that definition would leave quite a lot outside the frame. Within just a few minutes’ walk, conversations will move from the future of journalism to robotics, from how we learn and choose leaders to healthy ageing, energy systems and decisions about where the next investment capital will go.
Weekend.19, taking place in Rovinj from 24 to 27 September, is therefore bringing not only a long list of speakers, but eight programme sections that show how topics once separated by industry have increasingly begun to overlap.
Among the names coming to Rovinj this year are Mate Rimac, Emil Tedeschi, Jack Kreindel, Korado Korlević, Gerard Baker, Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Fredrik Härén, James Bloodworth and numerous other experts from Croatia, the region and around the world.
Technology after the first AI wave
While much of the business world is still adapting to artificial intelligence, Tech.Weekend powered by Telemach is looking towards what comes next: automation, robotics and Physical AI.
One of the central names on the programme is Mate Rimac, founder and CEO of Rimac Group, who will take part in a one-on-one conversation about the development of Croatia’s technology scene, global competitiveness, innovation and the future of one of the country’s most successful technology stories.
The broader technology picture will also feature Srđan Kovačević, co-founder and CEO of Orqe, investor Moaffak Ahmed from Nordic Makers, Jelena Jurišić, CTO of ENT Group, Božidar Pavlović, partner at AYMO Ventures, and Imtiyaz Basharat, Startup Partner at Stripe.
Technology, however, will also run through other programme sections, because the question is no longer only what new tools can do, but how they are changing organisations, the way we make decisions and the people we choose to lead them.
That is precisely the space HR.Weekend will explore. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, professor at University College London and Columbia University and Chief Science Officer at Russell Reynolds Associates, is one of the most prominent guests on a programme dedicated to leadership, talent and work in the age of artificial intelligence.
Also coming to Rovinj are Dr Meri Tadinac, Head of the Department of Biological Psychology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb, Jasmina Punek, Chief People Officer at Ergomed Group, Aneta Godzwon, HR & Capability Development Director at Orbico Group, Mirko Đukić, Director of bmM Consulting, and Marina Vulović, People & Culture Director at Bambi, which is part of the Coca-Cola HBC Group.
From space to the classroom
The question of the future will not remain confined to companies. Education.Weekend brings together science, education and business experience, with guests including astronomer and educator Korado Korlević, Prof. Dr Ranko Rajović, author of the NTC programme, astrophysicist Gregor Čavlović, Kenan Crnkić, Rector of Algebra Bernays University Mislav Balković, and BOSQARA founder and university professor Stjepan Orešković.
Part of the programme will be moderated by director, screenwriter and Head of Media Studies at the Baltazar Zaprešić University of Applied Sciences Arsen Oremović, but his festival schedule will not end on stage. For Slušaona powered by Rotary Audio, he is preparing the set The Wrong Genre Reaction, in which he will connect performers, genres and periods across seven decades of music that at first glance seem difficult to place on the same playlist, from John Lee Hooker and post-punk to The Clash and Stevie Wonder.
The broader Weekend.19 programme also returns to the topics of media, culture and creativity. Ulrik Haagerup, founder and CEO of the Constructive Institute, will speak about the future of journalism and a constructive approach to news, while global creativity expert Fredrik Härén will explore ideas and creative thinking.
The audience will also have the opportunity to hear British journalist and author James Bloodworth, as well as longtime international journalist and editor Gerard Baker.
Other guests include Laura Bermudez, SVP AI Strategy and Engineering at Tao Digital, and writer, journalist and publicist Miljenko Jergović. Emil Tedeschi, President of the Management Board of Atlantic Grupa, will this time move beyond the boundaries of his well-known business biography. His conversation in Rovinj will also enter the territory of music, personal interests and perspectives that audiences rarely have the opportunity to connect with his public role.
Health moves beyond the doctor’s office
This year’s programme begins as early as Thursday, 24 September, with the inaugural Health.Weekend, which places health at the intersection of medicine, technology, business and quality of life.
One of the main names on the programme is Jack Kreindel, CEO of WellFounded Health and a physician focused on the application of technology in healthcare, human performance and healthy ageing.
He will be joined by Victoria Loomes, Senior Trend Analyst at TrendWatching, Ana Soldo, President of the Croatian Chamber of Pharmacists, cardiologist Borka Pezo Nikolić from KBC Zagreb, Natko Beck, radiology specialist and Head of the Department of Diagnostic Radiology at Srebrnjak Children’s Hospital, and Ognjen Bagatin, manager and serial entrepreneur from Futura Medical Group.
This once again blurs the boundary between topics that were once discussed at entirely separate conferences. Health is becoming increasingly connected with technology and investment, just as technology decisions can no longer be separated from questions of people, education or capital.
Where capital and energy are going
The business side of the programme expands further through energy, finance and investment.
Energy.Weekend poweredUP by E.ON Hrvatska puts the focus on energy transition, electrification and sustainability. Participants include Zsuzsanna Ortutay, President of the Management Board of INA, Marijana Bačić, Management Board Member and Chief Operating Officer for Business Customers at Hrvatski Telekom, Dave van der Meer from Sparta Rotterdam, Alan Mijoč, Chief Operating Officer of Bauwerk Group Croatia, and Neven Vranković, Vice President for Corporate Activities at Atlantic Grupa.
Finance.Weekend brings together people who make financial and strategic decisions in large companies every day. The programme includes Stuart Mauchline, Senior Vice President of Finance at Virgin Music, Milena Radosavljević-Đorić, Country Finance Director at Al Dahra, Léa Raiche-Marsden, VP of Finance at Leanspace, Jacek Popielewicz, EMEA&SA Finance Director at Nexteer Automotive, Marina Balenović Lacković, Head of Group Controlling at EuroTeleSites AG, and Matija Nakić, CEO and co-founder of Farseer.
Their conversations will focus on the transformation of finance functions, leadership and the application of artificial intelligence in finance.
At Investment.Weekend, one of the guests will be Igor Čanadi, a member of the technical team at OpenAI and a software engineer focused on the development of large-scale data systems. He joined OpenAI through the acquisition of Rockset, where he was one of the founding engineers, and previously also worked on the development of the RocksDB database at Facebook.
Capital, markets and investment opportunities will also be discussed by Marko Bogdan, Growth Strategist at Genius and host of the YouTube channel O novcu, Slaven Kordić, Managing Partner at Invera Equity Partners, and Ana Zovko, Executive Director for Digital Business and IT at Croatia osiguranje.
From the first conversation on Thursday to the closing part of the weekend, Weekend.19 will bring together on several Rovinj stages topics that are becoming increasingly difficult to view separately. Technology is entering healthcare and finance, education is meeting the labour market, energy is meeting investment, while the conversation about media is returning to the future of journalism, creativity and the way we understand the world around us.
The eight programme sections in Rovinj from 24 to 27 September will offer many different entry points into the same broader story: what it looks like to do business, create, learn and make decisions while the rules across almost all of these areas are changing at the same time.
