NEXT CTO

Let’s take a moment to look back on our recent Tech Execs gathering at STRV Scroll Bar in Prague, a closed, invitation-only evening for 60 CTOs and senior engineering leaders from banks, scaleups, and product companies across CZ, SK, and beyond. The role of a tech leader is changing faster than the job description, with AI, geopolitics, and budget pressure all part of it, and the night was built around the conversations that help leaders navigate that together rather than alone. Josef Starýchfojtů (CPTO, Mews) kicked things off with “No more programmers,” on how Mews moved to a single R&D team where everyone is a product builder and what broke along the way. From there the room split into breakout tables, each working through one key CTO competency for 2027 toward four short takeaways: what stays, what changes, what ends, and where they disagreed. Over dinner by Isaac’s BBQ, Martin Gyurák (Broker Trust) and Dušan Vojtek (ex-McKinsey, ex-Avast) made the case that a CTO’s key skill may not be tech at all but business, and knowing which technology actually moves it, with a refactoring story from regulated finance. The evening closed with networking, honest takes, and a party, in that order, with what was said in the room staying in the room. Thank you to everyone who joined us.