Compass AI & Data Summit took place on November 12-13, 2025, at the historic Uránia National Film Theater in Budapest. Organized by CraftHub, The two-day event brought together more than 400+ AI and data professionals from across Europe.
Born from the merger of the renowned Crunch and Reinforce conferences, Compass AI & Data Summit combines deep technical insights with practical, forward-thinking applications, all designed to help attendees level up their work, not by chasing hype, but by focusing on how AI and data actually work in production, inside real organizations.
Across its sessions, a clear message emerged: building effective AI systems today is less about novelty and more about design choices, data quality, responsibility, and long-term thinking.
From Models to Meaningful Systems
Several talks tackled one of the most pressing challenges in modern AI: moving from impressive demos to dependable systems.
Speakers explored what happens when large language models and machine learning tools leave controlled environments and are deployed into real products. Topics ranged from evaluation strategies and system boundaries to the practical limits of automation and the role of human oversight in AI-assisted workflows.
Dr. Egor Kraev (CTO at Motley AI) addressed the limitations of current AI systems and the gap between public perception and technical reality. His talk challenged narratives around general intelligence, emphasizing the importance of clearly defined system goals, evaluation criteria, and constraints.
From an organizational perspective, Simon Müller (Managing Director & CTO at wattx) explored how AI can shape entire companies, and how venture-building with AI introduces new architectural and strategic considerations. His session highlighted how early design decisions influence scalability, autonomy, and long-term sustainability.
While AI often takes the spotlight, the Summit made it clear that data remains the decisive factor behind any successful intelligent system. Silja Märdla (Staff Analytics Engineer at Bolt) shared insights into building analytics platforms that support fast-growing organizations, emphasizing how data structures, and metric definitions directly affect decision-making.
Compass AI & Data Summit also gave space to questions that extend beyond technology itself. Several speakers addressed the ethical and societal implications of AI. Amy Raygada (Principal Data & AI Strategist at Thoughtworks) emphasized that responsible AI is not a feature added at the end, but a design mindset that shapes decisions throughout a system’s lifecycle.
Speakers openly discussed missteps and revisions, architectural choices that had to be rethought, assumptions that didn’t hold up in practice, and the importance of continuous learning once systems are live.
A Community Focused on AI & Data
Beyond the talks themselves, the Summit fostered a strong sense of community. Conversations continued between sessions, during breaks, and well beyond the event itself. Attendees from startups, enterprises, and research environments all could reflect on common challenges.
For many participants, the value of the event lay in its focus on trade-offs over triumphs. Speakers openly discussed system boundaries, architectural compromises, and the limits of current tools, offering perspectives that are often missing from public discourse around AI.
The result was not a single takeaway or conclusion, but a collective understanding: that building effective AI and data systems today requires patience, collaboration, and thoughtful design.
Looking Ahead: The Compass Universe Reunites
Building on this momentum, the Compass universe will return in a unified format next year. Rather than separate topic-focused events, the community will come together at Compass AI & Tech Summit, a two-day conference designed to reflect how technology is actually built today.
The format brings AI, Data, UX, Product, and Engineering Leadership into a single space, acknowledging that meaningful innovation happens at the intersections between these fields. By reuniting the Compass tracks under one roof, the Summit aims to foster deeper dialogue across roles, disciplines, and perspectives.
Ticket sales for Compass AI & Tech Summit will open in February, marking the next step toward the reunited Compass experience. But sponsorship opportunities are already available, allowing partners to engage early in shaping the event and supporting the broader Compass community.