Some cities make an impression and then fade. Sarajevo tends to linger.

By: Thomas Vochten, Microsoft 365 & Security MVP. Part of the content selection team for the conference.

I have been to Sarajevo twice. Not as a tourist ticking off landmarks and not rushing from one place to the next. Two of my best friends are from the region and showed me around. We walked through the city, lingered in neighbourhoods, talked, ate, and observed. Both times I left with the same feeling: this is not a place you just pass through. Sarajevo asks you to slow down a little, to observe, and to engage with what is around you.

What stayed with me most is the mix. Cultures and influences layered on top of each other without being flattened into something generic. I remember ćevapi eaten slowly, not as fast food but as a small ritual, with a glass of cold jogurt alongside it. I remember the coffee, strong and taken seriously, something you sit with rather than consume quickly, often accompanied by a piece of lokum. I remember the people, open and direct, and the history that is not hidden or polished away. It shows up naturally in the streets, in the buildings, and in the many museums that reflect the city’s long and complex past. Sarajevo does not try to entertain you. It expects you to pay attention.

That is why bringing the Adriatics Tech Summit here makes sense.

The Adriatics Tech Summit is built on strong content and trusted partnerships. What completes that picture is the place itself and how it shapes the event. Sarajevo is not just the location of the summit. It is part of its character.

The conference brings together strong technical content, experienced speakers, and a community that takes technology seriously. Placed in Sarajevo, those conversations gain an extra layer. Discussions about security, artificial intelligence, trust, and modern work feel more grounded in a city that understands complexity through lived experience rather than theory. This is a place that has seen systems fail and be rebuilt, and that context subtly changes how people listen and talk.

Sarajevo also changes how people connect during a conference. Conversations do not end when sessions finish. They continue naturally over coffee, a glass of excellent Blatina or Žilavka, during walks through the city, and over long dinners where time is not constantly negotiated. The pace of the city encourages presence. Networking becomes less transactional and more human, which fits the spirit of the Adriatics Tech Summit well.

For many attendees, speakers, and sponsors, this will be a first visit to Sarajevo. That matters. It challenges assumptions about where serious technology conferences belong and what they can feel like. Instead of a familiar conference circuit city, participants encounter a place that leaves an impression and invites reflection.

Sarajevo stands firmly on its own. The city offers enough history, culture, and atmosphere to justify the journey by itself. The museums, the neighbourhoods, the food, and the rhythm of daily life all contribute to an experience that goes beyond a typical conference trip.

The Adriatics Tech Summit could have been held in many cities. But in Sarajevo, the content, the people behind the event, and the setting reinforce each other. The conference benefits from the city’s depth, and the city provides a context that makes the conference more memorable.

Sarajevo does not overwhelm you with spectacle. It stays with you quietly. And that is likely what many people will remember long after the Adriatics Tech Summit has ended. I know I will be back.