The Recursive Podcast

Can We Safely Live with Humanoid Robots? 🤖 In this fascinating episode of The Recursive Podcast, we sit down with Emily Kate Genatowski, an AI PhD candidate, historian and domestic robotics researcher who provides a unique, hands-on perspective on our future with machines. Unlike most researchers who work in controlled labs, Emily lives full-time with a humanoid robot named Tova (a Unitree G1) in...

What does AI engineering actually look like inside modern enterprises — and how close are we to truly autonomous software development? In this episode of The Recursive Podcast, we sit down with Karol Przystalski, Chief Data and AI Officer at Exadel, to explore how organizations are moving beyond AI experimentation and into AI-native operations. We discuss the evolution from AI copilots and coding...

In this episode of The Recursive Podcast, we sit down with Kilian Kaminski, the co-founder of Refurbed, the Vienna-based marketplace that has become a powerhouse in the European circular economy. Kilian shares insights from his transition from Amazon to entrepreneurship and the ongoing battle to establish refurbishment as a standardized global consumption category. A former head of Amazon’s Certif...

Is Your Hiring Strategy Holding Your Ambitions Back? In this episode of The Recursive Podcast, we dive deep into the evolving talent landscape of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) with Ivan Valev, Sales Manager for CEE & the Baltics at Deel. Deel is a global payroll and HR giant that has scaled from a small tool to a $7 billion powerhouse, helping over 40,000 companies navigate the complexities...

Is Central and Eastern Europe becoming the next global cybersecurity hub, or are we still exporting our best talent abroad? In this episode of The Recursive Roundtable, recorded in Vienna and hosted by Elevator Ventures, we bring together leading voices from the cybersecurity ecosystem to discuss Europe's biggest opportunities and challenges in cybersecurity, AI, digital identity, talent reten...

In this episode of The Recursive Podcast, we dive into one of the hottest topics in tech right now — AI in banking. Our host Dilyana Haralanova speaks with Valentin Stepanovich, Head of Machine Learning Platform at DSK Bank, about where he leads ML and AI innovation initiatives. They explore how generative AI is transforming customer service, fraud prevention, software engineering, and financial o...

Is the “Genius Founder” Myth Hurting Your Startup? In this episode of the Recursive Roundtable, we pull back the curtain on the real founder’s journey — from the grueling early days of fundraising to the high-stakes world of multi-million dollar exits. We are joined by three industry experts who see the lifecycle of a company from every angle: Gergana Stoichkova , a VC expert and fundraising advis...

In this episode of The Recursive Round Table, we explore how AI is reshaping music, filmmaking, and advertising workflows. This isn’t a hype conversation. It’s a real look at what actually works, what doesn’t, and why most people are still getting it wrong. Composer and sound artist Emilian Gatsov – Elbi, advertiser and Director of Innovation at OM Group Konstantin Yankov , and film director and v...

💬 What makes someone a great communicator? Is it talent… or a skill that can be trained? In this episode of the Recursive Roundtable, we explore the art of communication from multiple perspectives — recruitment, HR, filmmaking, storytelling, and coaching. Joining the host Teodora Atanasova on this topic are Boryana Borisova (Director of Talent Acquisition @ Delasport; ICF Certified Coach), Konsta...

What does it really take to build a successful fintech company in Europe? In this episode of The Recursive Podcast, we sit down with Svetlin Sabev, Bulgarian fintech entrepreneur and founder & CEO of Afranga, a regulated lending marketplace that connects investors with growing European businesses. Svetlin shares the lessons from building multiple fintech companies. He talks about the importanc...

Last week Dilan Sisu, VC (e2vc) and Etien Yovchev, Co-founder (The Recursive) met in Sofia and decided to film a conversation that turned into a thoughtful discussion about the role of media and influence in venture capital. The discussion jumped from whether VCs secretly care about popularity (and why visibility can be a strategic asset, not vanity) to where the next unicorn founder is more likel...

Why Raising Too Late Kills Startups? In this episode of the Recursive RoundTable, we unpack one of the most misunderstood topics for founders: fundraising strategy — not just the “how,” but the when, the why, and the who. GUESTS: Iliya Valchanov, Co-founder & CEO @ Juma Konstantin Bezuhanov, Co-founder & CEO @ Evrotrust Stoil Vasilev, Co-founder & CEO @ Paypercut They share: 💡 why sta...

In this episode of The Recursive Roundtable, we explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping work, companies, and the global economy — and whether today’s AI boom mirrors the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s. More than 50% of recent venture capital investment has flowed into AI, raising inevitable comparisons to the dot-com era, when capital rushed into internet startups before real value was...

Can companies really stay safe in a world where attackers only need to be right once? In this episode of The Recursive Podcast, we sit down with Miroslav Naydenov, a cybersecurity expert at Amatas, who has spent years on the front lines of digital crisis management — restoring breached systems, outsmarting attackers, and preparing businesses for threats they don’t even know exist. We talk about wh...

Can founders really scale without letting go? In this episode of The Recursive Podcast, we sit down with Boyan Stoyanov , an entrepreneur and operations strategist with a decade of experience building and running teams across Europe & Southeast Asia. After leading recruitment and people operations for digital-first companies, Boyan now helps organizations scale sustainably under the VEDA brand...

In this episode of The Recursive Roundtable, three practitioners unpack where AI truly adds value — and where it doesn’t. They focus on practical implementation, human judgment, and the guardrails needed to keep quality high. We examine how to start with AI the right way (individual productivity tools vs. team-wide process changes vs. building ML products, and why not every problem is a fit), how...

Fibank’s Chief Digital Officer Vladimir Ikonomov talks about the bank’s digital‑only expansion into Greece and the innovative services it’s bringing to customers. Learn how a traditional bank is positioning itself alongside fintechs and what the future of banking looks like. ☑️ 24/7 localized customer support with native Greek speakers ☑️ Real‑time payments, instant loan approvals and AI‑driven hy...

In the first episode of The Recursive Roundtable series we celebrate the 10‑year anniversary of Endeavor Bulgaria! Dilyana Haralanova, COO of The Recursive, was joined by Jack Thorogood (CEO of Serbian scale-up Native Teams, Milena Milić (Manager of startup community Garaza), and Max Gurvits (VC investor and partner at Vitosha Ventures) to discuss how the Balkan startup scene has evolved and where...

From selling mangoes in Venezuela as a kid to building a video agency in Vienna — and now moving to Plovdiv to start a training company, Juan Guerra’s entrepreneurial journey is anything but conventional. In this episode, we sit down with Juan Guerra, a seasoned agency founder turned scaling mentor. As the founder and CEO of Scaleyard, Juan helps service-based entrepreneurs grow their monthly reve...

🎙️ #TheRecursivePodcast takes a different turn this time, driven by a pressing question: Who is protecting Europe’s future? How can we face and overcome today’s growing threats? Which companies are shaping the future of cybersecurity and defense tech in Central and Eastern Europe? 🛡️ Over the past five years, Europe’s resilience has been tested like never before. And until now, the story of securi...

Can Games Fix Our Broken Education? 📚 In this powerful episode of The Recursive Podcast, recorded at ViennaUp Festival, we sit down with Yane Frenski, former United Nations innovation expert turned EdTech entrepreneur. Yane is the founder of Vizipedia, a startup using AI and game-based learning to transform how students learn critical skills for the future. 🎮 What you’ll learn: * Why traditional...

In this special ViennaUp Festival edition of The Recursive Podcast, we sit down with Edward Feltmann, Investment and Deal Sourcing Manager at VERBUND X Ventures, to explore how sustainability, energy innovation, and venture capital intersect in the race toward a net-zero future. Edward Feltmann is a strategic investment leader with a focus on sustainable energy innovation. At VERBUND X Ventures, h...

How do you turn a slow-moving, traditional economy into a thriving innovation hub? 🇦🇹 In this special ViennaUp Festival edition of The Recursive Podcast, we sit down with Awi Lifshitz, CEO of weXelerate – Austria’s largest innovation ecosystem – to explore how bold vision, strategic partnerships, and startup thinking can reshape entire economies. In this episode, Avi shares: 🔹 Why Austria lagged...

Dusan Duffek is a serial entrepreneur turned investor and Managing Partner at Zero One Hundred, an early-stage VC fund investing in companies across CEE and the Middle East. As a co-founder of The Doers Company, he drives initiatives like Reflect Festival and Doers Summit. Dusan also co-founded Zero One Hundred Conferences, fostering connections across the European investment landscape. Based in A...

Mergim Cahani is the visionary founder of Gjirafa, which he describes as the fastest-growing tech company in the Balkans. Founded by Mergim in 2013, Gjirafa is an internet company providing services such as e-commerce, video streaming, online marketing, cloud computing, and entertainment production. Often referred to as the "Balkan Amazon," Gjirafa makes a remarkable impact in the region. Tune in...