On October 9–10, Estonia’s restored National Library hosted the Tallinn Digital Summit, the largest edition since the event launched in 2017. The country’s flagship technology event gathered over 1,000 participants, including more than 200 VIPs – heads of state, ministers, and executives from leading tech companies.
Bamboo Group passed a rigorous selection process to become a participant for the first time and showcase its product, IVO. In this article, we share the forum’s main topics and the team’s impressions.
A High-Level Closed-Door Club
The Tallinn Digital Summit, organized by the Prime Minister, cannot be called a traditional tech event with conferences and exhibitions.
“This is a high-level platform where participation is available only by invitation. The event brings together Estonia’s key government representatives, ministries, and leading companies at the forefront of digital transformation, cybersecurity, and AI adoption. At the same time, it welcomes foreign municipalities and ministries to exchange insights and explore Estonia’s best practices. You won’t find an event like it anywhere except in countries that are positioned as digital frontrunners,” says Rada Ryzhykava, Head of Marketing at Bamboo Group.
“This is a super closed-door crowd – it’s always been held in super secure areas,” shares Vladislav Herchykau, CEO of Bamboo Group. “And we got in with this very select circle – mostly defense and cybersecurity companies that are reinforcing Estonia as NATO’s cyber defense hub. We were accepted as a good, innovative AI product for Automotive, for a very narrow domain. That’s precisely what we do. Bamboo Group ended up on the same step with the European Commission and NATO, with heavyweight brands, and that’s very cool from a marketing standpoint, from a reputation standpoint, and our visibility. We feel that, on one hand, it’s pleasant for us, on the other hand, it’s definitely well-deserved. I understand why we were selected, and I’m proud we were.”
This year, the Tallinn Digital Summit coincided with the Arraiolos Group summit of 11 European heads of state and a ministerial meeting of the Freedom Online Coalition. This convergence significantly elevated TDS’s political, diplomatic, and technological weight. Thus, beyond Estonian government representatives, the speaker lineup featured German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, European Commission President Kaja Kallas, Microsoft’s Global Director of AI and Cybersecurity Policy Nicholas Butts, AMD Silo AI co-founder Peter Sarlin, and other prominent figures.
Distinguished guests included the presidents of Poland, Latvia, Portugal, Germany, and beyond.
Atmosphere, Organization, and Key Themes
Despite its high-profile status, the event proved intimate yet dense and well-organized. The main program featured high-level panels, keynote speeches, and thematic sessions led by Estonian ministries and leading companies.
“I noticed how impressed the foreign guests were by the on-stage presentations. Many left inspired, continuing the discussions over lunch. One of the hottest topics was AI governance and policy – very timely and relevant. Overall, the stage program seemed to be exceptionally strong and engaging, and visitors definitely prioritized it over visiting the booths,” shares Rada Ryzhykava.
Significant effort went into facilitating networking, notes Alexander Antonuk, Head of Strategic Delivery & Operations at Bamboo Group – from frequent breaks and dedicated, comfortable networking areas to separate meeting rooms. At the same time, exhibitors lacked visibility during session breaks, which limited interaction with foreign representatives in the exhibition area.
As for discussion topics, this year’s event had a noticeable tilt toward security and resilience amid challenging geopolitical circumstances. This led to numerous presentations on national defense, information security, and AI in dual-use technologies.
In turn, in the “civilian” context, the focus was on AI’s transformative power in the economy and public sector, as well as its governance, regulation, and policy. Background topics also included data management, venture investment, digital transformation, and innovation leadership in both government and business. That said, expert discussions showed a notably realistic grasp of AI’s limitations, points out Vladislav Herchykau, CEO of Bamboo Group.
“I really liked that there was no hype in the agenda, no ‘AI will replace everything,’” shares Vladislav. “At the summit, people gathered who understood the implementation details: that this is still smart interaction with humans – of such an agent, a virtual co-worker – for boosting execution on specific tasks, for accelerating certain processes.
There was an understanding that technically, all of this needs to be hosted on-device and be platform-agnostic in many ways; that these should be small models, because computational capacity has to be factored into architectures right now, and LLMs will become scarce and expensive over time. But the main conclusion I drew: the primary bottleneck won’t even be computational capacity but talent – literally, the number of people who will implement this and work through these solutions.”
Vladislav emphasizes: forum discussions showed awareness that, while it’s still unclear whether AI is a bubble, many AI products aren’t inherently viable. Either they’re trying to solve overly idealistic problems, or the problem is architecturally solved incorrectly. Moreover, you can only delegate to AI transparent, stable processes with checklists – and those are still in the minority.
Overall, TDS proved to be a powerful expert community built around dialogue between government and business, where knowledge exchange outweighed sales. That’s what truly sets it apart from most industry forums and exhibitions.
Exhibition Area and IVO Demonstration by Bamboo Group
In contrast to the mainly defense-heavy discussions on stage, the exhibition floor showcased the breadth of Estonia’s digital ecosystem. At the same time, it was relatively modest, featuring stands of 16 specially selected companies and products – from cybersecurity and FinTech to EdTech, e-Government, and even forestry solutions. The giant Nortal, which handles around 30–40% of Estonia’s e-governance, was among the summit’s main partners with a dedicated stand. Other participants included Cybernetica, MindTitan, CGI, Netgroup, 5.0 Robotics, and others.
“Most of these companies are familiar faces – we regularly shared the space at the country’s national stands at huge conferences like GITEX,” says Rada Ryzhykava, Head of Marketing at Bamboo Group. “And for us, the event was a valuable opportunity to present our latest R&D in a focused area – transport and mobility – particularly IVO, an AI-powered in-vehicle onboarding system. We aimed to showcase how it can support municipal fleets with ongoing driver training, in an industry facing staff shortages and high turnover. In fact, this became our unique angle at the exhibition – we became an exclusive example of AI in this particular industry.”
“IVO is really a powerful and very versatile product that can be used in very different domains, on various types of vehicles, at different stages of onboarding,” shares Vladislav Herchykau. “It’s an AI agent that uses voice to account for real-time context – a product you can touch, you can see in action. Because most AI products on the market today are, well, let’s say, prototypes or very raw. We haven’t seen similar ready-made products even at GITEX, where thousands of companies exhibit.”
Meetings and Connections
The Tallinn Digital Summit was Bamboo Group’s first forum focused primarily on B2G rather than the usual B2B segment – something of an experiment for the company. At the booth, the team engaged with government representatives and international organizations from Turkey, Finland, Latvia, Moldova, Romania, Jersey (a British Crown Dependency), Gambia, and Estonia. Some visitors were from the AI and defense sectors.
Among the attendees, European Commissioner for Justice Michael McGrath toured all exhibitors with his delegation. He reviewed Bamboo Group’s IVO demonstration and, as a driver himself, found the product highly useful. UN representatives also expressed interest in the solution.
Meanwhile, a Jersey government representative showed interest in Bamboo Group’s healthcare expertise as part of their own digital health initiative.
“Definitely, the main pain points I observed were challenges with interoperability and data exchange between foreign government systems, as well as the complexities public-sector organizations face when adopting AI,” Rada Ryzhykava summarizes.
To cap off the first day of the Summit, Bamboo Group CEO Vladislav Herchykau was invited to the presidential dinner, which provided an excellent opportunity for deeper engagement with international delegates.
Conclusion
Tallinn Digital Summit 2025 proved that true innovation flourishes where collaboration meets expertise and shared purpose – rather than competition.
Although it was a relatively small-scale event, it certainly didn’t feel like one. Everything – from the stage setup to exhibitor stands and catering – was organized to the highest standards, reflecting the summit’s exclusive, well-curated nature.
For Bamboo Group, the summit was both an essential mark of recognition and a valuable step into the B2G landscape – an opportunity to showcase the company’s contribution to responsible AI and its practical impact on private and municipal mobility.
We are grateful to the organizers – the Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications, and the Government of Estonia – for the opportunity to represent our experience among Europe’s innovation leaders. Tallinn Digital Summit is definitely an event to keep an eye on for companies driving digital transformation and shaping the continent’s technological future.
