Two AI Competitors Walk Into a Coffee Shop

Building in Bulgaria 🇧🇬
When 2 AUTOMATION & AI “coopetitors” walk into a coffee shop… ☕️
(Yes, this actually happened.)

Last week, I was incredibly grateful to meet so many great people across Bulgaria. I haven’t taken many selfies this time 😂

But one meeting was different. This time, it wasn’t with a finance leader.
It was with Mariela Slavenova.
If you don’t know her yet and you’re interested in smart, pragmatic AI & Automation implementation, go follow her.

I first came across Mariela’s content about a year ago.
What caught my attention?
She wasn’t selling the AI hype.
She had a pragmatic vision of where technology is going, what actually works, and where the real impact comes from.
No BS.
(Pardon my French. 😄)

We connected online because we both believe you can network with people doing very similar things.

Why?
Because “coopetition” works.
You learn from each other.
You challenge each other.
And sometimes, you build something together.
A year later, during my road trip through Bulgaria, we finally met in Varna. 📍

And one thing became very clear:
We both share a frustration with the current “AI at all costs” narrative.
AI is incredibly powerful.
But deploying AI is often the easy part.

The hard part is understanding the process deeply enough to know:
▶️ Where AI actually adds value
▶️ Where automation is better
▶️ Where humans should remain involved
▶️ And how to make the whole thing deliver measurable impact

That’s why, at Capto, we’ve never been interested in implementing AI just because it’s AI.
Technology is the tool. Impact is the goal.
Some people may call that “not doing enough AI.”
We call it building solutions that actually work.
And our clients seem to agree: some have been working with us for 5 years, with 95%+ retention.

So yes, two “competitors” had a coffee.
And something much bigger may have come out of it. 👀
Mariela has done something genuinely impressive, and I can’t wait to share it and, more importantly, bring our clients into it.

More coming very soon.
Bulgaria… we’re building. 🇧🇬

Have a great day everyone, and stay safe!
Alexis

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Originally posted on LinkedIn:

https://lnkd.in/p/dd-vYemg