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Mislav Malenica
Episode · #144

TEHNOBIZ Mislav Malenica

Guest Mislav MalenicaHosted by Dražen TomićMay 3, 2026
About this episode
What you'll hear in this conversation

Mislav Malenica sees Croatia not as a small nation following Europe's lead, but as a nimble testbed for a new kind of AI economy. He argues that while the EU grapples with balancing protection and innovation — often resulting in paralysis — Croatia has an opportunity to be a "recipe developer" for the continent. As the founder and CEO of Mindsmith and president of CroAI, Malenica is building a domestic AI industry with global ambitions, actively pushing for a state that acts as a partner and service, not a controller. His perspective offers a blueprint for how smaller nations can carve out a leadership position in emerging technologies, challenging established norms and attracting talent and investment by design. Readers will come away with a clearer picture of how proactive policy can redefine a country's economic future.

Insights from the conversation
What to take from this episode
01
Malenica's association, CroAI, gained over fifty members in just a few weeks, ranging from the unicorn Infobip to smaller, rapidly growing startups. The speed and diversity of this initial membership reveal an AI industry far more developed and active than the public or policymakers usually perceive.
02
CroAI explicitly states it does not want government funding, a common request from new industry associations. Instead, it asks for the state to act as a "partner and service" for a new generation of entrepreneurs, redefining the relationship from controller to enabler.
03
Malenica points out that current Croatian laws make employee stock option plans (ESOPs) inflexible and complicated. This isn't merely an administrative hurdle; it directly forces local talent to seek opportunities abroad, turning Croatia into a "talent nursery" for other nations.
04
The biggest source of early investment in the US, Malenica observes, is often "family and friends," facilitated by simple legal agreements "written on a napkin." In Croatia, the sheer complexity of formalizing early-stage investments deters this crucial initial funding, stifling the creation of new ventures before they even begin.
05
Malenica characterizes the European Union as currently "paralyzed" by its internal struggle to balance citizen protection from AI misuse with fostering growth for its own AI companies. This indecision risks repeating Europe's past failure to produce global digital leaders, as seen in the internet era, by prioritizing caution over competitive innovation.
06
Looking at the last twenty years of internet business and digitalization, Malenica notes that among the top twenty global companies, Europe has "almost no representatives." This historical underperformance serves as a stark warning that the EU's current cautious approach to AI policy is likely to yield similar results unless a more proactive stance is adopted.
07
Malenica argues that Croatia's small size is its strategic advantage, enabling it to be "flexible enough" to develop new legal and tax "recipes" for AI within the EU. Instead of merely adopting policies from larger blocs, a smaller nation can become an agile policy innovator, attracting companies and talent that are frustrated by the broader EU's slow pace.
08
The ultimate goal, Malenica explains, is not just to foster Croatian AI firms, but to position the country as a home for "many European firms" seeking a more supportive environment. A proactive national AI strategy can transcend local growth, turning a country into an attractive hub for international companies looking for a more dynamic regulatory and tax landscape.
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