The CEE region has many talented women who are contributing significantly to the development of AI – and it is always important to recognize and celebrate their achievements and create opportunities for more women to enter this field.
This is why we are delighted to present to you our 2023 The Recursive Award – Most Inspiring Women in AIthrough which we invite our readers to have their say in recognizing the contributions of women in this field.
Through this initiative, we aim to raise awareness of the importance of diversity and inclusion in AI and encourage more women to pursue a career in this field. It is essential to have a diverse range of voices and perspectives represented in AI development to ensure the technology is inclusive and beneficial for all. Check out our list of nominees and their achievements:
Svetlana Kordumova is the founder and CEO of Pixyl, a startup that uses AI-based solutions to identify fashion clothing in images. Doctor in multimedia and artificial intelligence from the University of Amsterdam, in recent years she has participated in numerous AI projects combining science, technology and fashion.
Martina Silov is the executive director of the Croatian AI Association. His main goal within the association is to raise awareness of the concept of technological optimism in Croatia, while promoting it through meetings, gatherings and European CroAI projects focused on high technology.
Hajdi Cenan is the co-founder and CEO of air, a deep tech startup whose deep learning platform helps businesses predict the behavior of their end customers. In her other roles, Cenan is co-founder of PWMN Croatia, the association that promotes equality and gender-balanced leadership; He is vice-president of the Croatian AI Association and is also president of the Croatian Startup Ecosystem Association.
Julia Hoxha is the co-founder and CEO of Zana Technologies, a conversational AI technology startup whose digital solutions aim to innovate and improve healthcare using ML and AI technology. A PhD in computer science and engineering, she is a former postdoctoral researcher in medical informatics at Columbia University and a former research associate at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.
Elitza Stoilova is the co-founder and CEO of Umni, a no-code platform which allows businesses to create, manage and train AI chatbots for their websites. Stoilova has 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, and as CEO of Umni, she combines her experience as a sales and marketing director, general manager and destination marketing consultant.
With a PhD in Statistical Genetics and an MMath in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Oxford, Denise Xifara has worked in academia at Oxford and won several awards from the American Society of Human Genetics and the Leventis Foundation. Xifara has taught coding, AI and other technical skills to businesses and has also worked with many startups, building AI, blockchain and chatbot applications.
Gumnishka is the founder of Humans in the Loop, a social enterprise specializing in data annotation for the computer vision industry, whose employees perform manual labeling and verification to train machine learning models. She is also the founder of the company’s charitable arm, the Humans in the Loop Foundation, which uses profits generated from social enterprise to provide training and support to workers who are all refugees and affected people by conflict.
Plesea is the co-founder of DRUID AI, an end-to-end platform for AI-powered conversational business applications. A PhD in Business Informatics focused on artificial intelligence and the semantic web, with extensive experience in developing custom software for B2B systems and management, primarily using Microsoft technologies.
Konstantina Psoma is the founder of Kaedim, a startup that provides game developers with modeling software that can quickly convert 2D images into 3D models and harnesses the power of AI systems to make 3D asset creation smooth, fast and accessible. Psoma, born in Athens, studied IT and innovation in the UK, then undertook several projects on 3D modeling, character and set design and 3D animation.
Apostol is the co-founder and chief product officer of Nestor, a company human intelligence platform which helps organizations engage, develop and retain talent in the new hybrid world. A PhD in Machine Learning, Aposol leads product research and development at Nestor, has extensive experience in the software industry and his research work on AI has also been referenced by Intel and LG.
Dzhuliana Nikolova is technical co-founder of OneUpOneDown, a platform that provides mentoring experiences for women in business and technology, powered by AI matching technology. Nikolova studied landscape architecture in Bulgaria before moving to London where she completed her second master’s degree in graphic design.
Manja Bogicevic is one of the data science entrepreneurs in Serbia, as the co-founder and CEO of Kagera.ai, specializing in empowering digitalization in the energy sector. Bogicevic’s vision is to help managers and engineers optimize production and minimize downtime through machine learning.
Sofiia Shvets is the CEO of Let’s Enhance, a Ukrainian start-up developing an AI-driven online service for enhancing and zooming images without losing quality. Shvets has extensive experience, including working for Google, and is passionate about applying machine learning to real-world problems.