Attending /function1 in Dubai wasn’t just about seeing what’s new in AI, it was a personal reminder of what truly matters when building a company. Being surrounded by founders from all over the world made one thing very clear to me: regardless of where we come from or how big our teams are, we’re all facing the same fundamental challenges.

Ideas matter more than ever.

The more people I spoke with, the more it became obvious: everything starts with a sharp, honest idea that solves a real problem. Funding helps, but it’s not the foundation. And chasing investment for the sake of investment is a distraction. What consistently wins is execution driven by clarity, knowing exactly why your product should exist.

Hiring is still the hardest part and that’s universal.

It doesn’t matter whether someone is building in the Balkans, the Middle East, the US, or anywhere else. The struggle is the same. Finding the right people, enabling them to apply efficiently, helping them stand out in an overwhelming market remains a huge challenge.
Hearing this over and over again felt like validation for what I’m building with CoverMe. The problem isn't local, it's global.

AI doesn’t erase these challenges. It evolves them.

A recurring theme at the event was that AI won’t magically fix everything. It won’t remove complexity from hiring or job applications. Instead, it changes how those problems appear. Tools get faster. Recommendations get smarter. Personalization becomes an expectation, not a luxury.
But the human aspects communication, confidence, clarity, still matter. They just show up differently.

What AI really shifts is the standard:

People now expect processes that feel intuitive, supportive, and respectful of their time.

This made me rethink my own priorities. I need to care more about refining the idea and the experience than I do about chasing funding or obsessing over milestones. Real progress comes from staying close to the problem and the people who feel it.

Attending /function1 brought me back to that focus. It reminded me to ignore the noise, stay grounded in the mission, and keep building tools that genuinely help job seekers express who they are.

I’m coming back with the same idea, but with a sharper understanding of what it needs to become.

Build for humans. Use AI wisely. Improve the moments where people need support the most.

That’s the path forward for CoverMe, and this event made that clearer than ever.