On development, career paths, and team leadership in the era of artificial intelligence

Being an excellent engineer or team leader has never been easy—but in the age of LLMs and AI tools, it seems even more uncertain. Will developers tomorrow still write code, or only prompts?

What does it mean to build a career when technology is changing faster than the curriculum, and the question “what to learn today so you don’t disappear tomorrow” is becoming louder?

On this panel, we have an honest conversation about the journey from engineer (IC) to engineering manager (EM) in a world where AI takes over part of the work—but also opens new doors.

We’ll also touch on the role of managers in an AI (LLM) world: how to guide young people, which skills can bring them—or take away—their security in the labor market, and what it really means to build a career while the rules of the game are being written on the fly.

We’ll talk about:

• Skills that remain “indestructible”,
• Natural (and useful) fears in transition,
• Ways to prepare for (in)security in the job market.

No sugar‑coating, but plenty of practical advice. If you also wonder who will survive—and what will be prompting—see you there!

Panelists at the Split Tech City Festival 2025 include:

Jelena Jelušić (HR & Employer Branding Consultant, INSPO Consulting) – Organizational psychologist with over 20 years in HR and employer branding. First recipient of the Employer Branding Impact Award in the Adria region, previously Senior Employer Brand Manager at Photomath (now part of Google).

She now leads INSPO Consulting and helps companies become “talent magnets.” Co‑founder and moderator of the Engineering Management meetup.

Goran Pugar (Engineering Manager, Notch) – A mathematician with nearly 20 years of experience in software engineering, from Java development in TelCo industry to various lead roles, now focusing on Go, DevOps platforms, and Agentic AI.

He enjoys mentoring engineers and spends his free time hiking mountains like Moslavačka Gora or Velebit.

Antonio Krističević (Engineering Manager, Fonoa) – Engineering manager with nearly a decade in software development, currently leading multiple teams in a startup environment, with emphasis on cloud-native and distributed systems.

Known for a pragmatic, data-driven approach. In free time enjoys tennis or CrossFit.

Ivo Krka (Engineering Manager, Google) – Holds a PhD in Computer Science with 15+ years experience. Worked in academia, big tech, and startups, leading development at Gmail and YouTube, served as CTO in a sports startup, and principal engineer in biotech.

Now leads a team at Google Zagreb focused on AI and education, with a focus on building teams and career development.