AI Events and Community in Slovakia 2026: Conferences, Meetups and Where to Connect

Slovakia's artificial intelligence community is more active than it might appear from the outside. Beneath the radar of global tech media, a dense calendar of conferences, meetups, and hackathons connects researchers, founders, and practitioners across Bratislava, Košice, and beyond — and increasingly across borders into Prague, Vienna, and the broader Central European ecosystem.

Whether you're a developer building your first AI agent, a corporate decision-maker evaluating AI adoption, or a researcher looking for peers — here's where the Slovak AI community gathers in 2026.

Regular Meetups: The Backbone of the Community

Better AI Meetup

The most consistent gathering of the Czecho-Slovak AI community, Better AI Meetup runs roughly monthly and alternates between cities including Bratislava, Brno, and Prague. Each edition focuses on a specific theme — recent topics have included the robustness of large language models, AI agents in public services, and the practical limits of current AI systems.

The meetup is explicitly non-corporate in spirit: it targets AI designers and builders who care about building AI that actually works for people. Speakers tend to be practitioners rather than executives, and the format encourages real technical discussion rather than polished pitches.

The 18th edition in early 2026 focused specifically on AI agents and how they can improve public wellbeing — a theme that reflects the community's growing interest in applying AI beyond commercial contexts.

👉 Better AI Meetup

Bratislava AI Forum

A high-level summit that has established itself as Slovakia's most significant AI governance event. The 2025 edition brought together Slovak President Peter Pellegrini and ECB President Christine Lagarde to discuss "Responsible Intelligence" — covering the UN Global Digital Compact, OECD AI Principles, and the path toward digital trust. The forum positioned Slovakia as an active participant in global AI governance architecture, building toward the 2026 High-Level Global AI Conference. In February 2026, President Pellegrini continued this diplomatic thread at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, meeting Prime Minister Modi to discuss democratizing AI so it benefits populations rather than a concentrated group of tech giants.

Less technical than Better AI Meetup but important for anyone tracking national AI strategy and regulatory direction under the EU AI Act.

Major Conferences

SOFTECON

Organized by SOFTEC, SOFTECON is one of Slovakia's flagship technology conferences where business meets technology. The event features case studies from real digital transformation projects at leading Central European companies — making it particularly valuable for practitioners looking for concrete examples rather than theoretical frameworks.

The 2026 edition continues to feature AI as a central theme, reflecting how deeply AI has penetrated enterprise operations across sectors.

👉 SOFTECON

Machine Learning Prague

While technically based in Prague, Machine Learning Prague is the premier ML conference for the entire Czecho-Slovak region and draws significant Slovak participation. The 11th international edition in May 2026 covers both research advances and applied machine learning, with talks available in-person and online.

For Slovak AI professionals, this is one of the most important annual events on the calendar — the quality of speakers and the depth of technical content is consistently high.

👉 Machine Learning Prague

ITAPA Health and Care

A specialized conference at the intersection of AI and healthcare, held in 2026 at Jasná. Topics include AI in medicine, telemedicine, cybersecurity in hospitals, and the European Care Framework. Relevant for anyone working in health tech or medical AI — a sector where Slovak companies like Powerful Medical and AI:Dental are building internationally recognized products.

👉 ITAPA

Hackathons and Developer Events

AI Dev Days Hackathon

A Microsoft-sponsored developer event challenging participants to build AI applications and agents using modern platforms including Azure AI and GitHub Copilot. Good entry point for developers looking to get hands-on experience building production-grade AI tools, with mentorship and networking built in.

👉 Microsoft Reactor

Research and Institutional Community

KInIT — Kempelen Institute of Intelligent Technologies

KInIT is the anchor institution of Slovakia's AI research community. Beyond publishing scientific work, KInIT actively builds community through events, awards, and cross-sector initiatives.

Their annual AI Awards: Trustworthy AI ceremony — held during events like the Forbes Business Fest — highlights companies and individuals who approach AI development responsibly. The 2025 winners and finalists include companies directly listed in the AIList.sk directory: AI:Dental (AI assistant for dental X-ray interpretation), TrollWall AI (toxic comment detection for social media), Gerulata Technologies (disinformation combat), and Powerful Medical (cardiovascular AI diagnostics). The 2026 edition continues to focus on reliability, transparency, and privacy — values that align with EU AI Act requirements but go beyond mere compliance.

KInIT also leads the slovaks.ai initiative, which maps and connects Slovak AI professionals worldwide. The project aims to build a global network of Slovak AI talent, facilitating knowledge transfer between diaspora experts and the domestic ecosystem without requiring people to physically return home.

👉 KInIT | slovaks.ai

The Regional Dimension: Prague-Bratislava-Vienna Axis

One defining feature of Slovakia's AI community is how deeply it overlaps with neighboring ecosystems. Many Slovak founders build companies registered in Prague. Many Slovak researchers collaborate with Vienna-based institutions. The Better AI Meetup explicitly serves both Slovak and Czech communities.

This regional integration is a strength rather than a weakness — it gives Slovak practitioners access to a much larger talent pool, investor network, and conference calendar than a country of 5.5 million would otherwise support.

In early 2026, Lenovo expanded its global R&D footprint with new AI innovation centers in EMEA focused on agentic AI — creating additional collaboration opportunities for Slovak researchers and engineers connected to international networks.

How to Stay Connected

If you're looking to stay on top of what's happening in Slovak AI:

• Follow the event calendar at AIList.sk/events — we track conferences, meetups, and workshops relevant to the Slovak AI ecosystem
• Submit your own event if you're organizing something the community should know about
• Browse the company directory at AIList.sk to find Slovak AI companies active in your sector

The Slovak AI community punches above its weight. The events listed here are proof that the ecosystem is real, growing, and worth being part of.

AIList.sk is Slovakia's directory of AI companies, startups, and innovation. Browse the directory →