THERE IS NO LACK OF TECHNOLOGY, THERE ARE JUST NOT ENOUGH HANDS TO IMPLEMENT IT

Yonko Chuklev holds a Master of Laws from Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", and in 2015 he studied "Alternative Investments" in London. School of Economics . His professional experience includes working between Sofia and London, and he has also worked on projects in New York. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian Industrial Association and is the Vice-President and founder of the Professional Association for Robotics, Automation and Innovation (PARAi). In the association, he works on projects such as "PARA Robo Incubator" (a mentoring and funding program for the development of prototypes of robots and other equipment), Robotics Strategy Forum (the largest specialized robotics forum in our country), vouchers for robotics training for companies and other projects to promote trade relations and educational initiatives.

How would you define Bulgaria's place in the development of artificial intelligence and robotics in Europe? In which areas do we have a real competitive advantage?

Bulgaria is gradually transitioning from a regional hub for outsourced services to a profile as a creator and exporter of technologies in Eastern Europe. This trend is not abstract – it is concretely visible in at least four key verticals.

First, fundamental AI models and spatial vision . The INSAIT Institute has created the first European open model SPEAR-1, trained on real 3D robotics data - a step that puts Bulgaria on the map of spatial artificial intelligence.

Second, space infrastructure and Edge AI. Bulgarian EnduroSat has become a leading European manufacturer of satellite systems, and their partnership with NVIDIA to implement AI in space places Bulgaria among the pioneers in high-tech orbital solutions.

Third, medical and surgical electronics . 3D endoscopes and micro-optical components for the global Da platform are assembled in our country. Vinci . Separately, "BTL Industries " opened the largest Czech investment in our country - a high-tech factory for medical devices in Plovdiv for 100 million leva, and Bulgarian hospitals are among the first in Southeast Europe with experience in robot-assisted surgery, since 2008.

Fourth, battery systems and industrial storage . The Factory X1 project of the Bulgarian IPS was included by the EC in the register of strategic projects under the Net Zero Emissions Industry Act, and the largest electricity storage system in the EU became operational in Lovech.

These are just the four verticals that stand out the most right now. I'm sure that if we look closely, we'll find competitive advantage in a number of other niches that haven't yet received the attention they deserve.

Which are the sectors of the Bulgarian economy in which AI and robotics can lead to the greatest growth in productivity and competitiveness?

I think a few recent investments outline these sectors very clearly. Food, electronics, metals, e-commerce, and logistics are five sectors where investment is already speaking louder than any forecast. I suspect that if we broaden the scope of our observation, the list would grow. Here are a few examples:

• Shumen-based producer Fikosota and its subsidiary Fikosota Food are investing over 10% of the two companies' annual turnover in automation and robotics. This is an impressive share for a sector traditionally considered more conservative in terms of technology.
• A picking robot significantly speeds up work in the warehouse of the Bulgarian transport and logistics company TRANSPRESS, and online retailer eBag noted 5,700 orders fulfilled in just one day - an indicator of what automation achieves during peak load.
• Teletek Electronics factory in Sofia has invested over 2 million euros in automation and robotics over the last two years.
• " Montageengineering ", a company for the production and installation of metal structures, invests in robotic welding, which brings over 70% higher speed compared to manual execution.

Many companies are already using AI tools, but when can we talk about real technological transformation of business, and not just the use of individual AI applications?

The real transformation begins when AI stops being just a single assistant for generating text or images and becomes an essential part of core processes. We are talking about transformation when AI contributes to better decisions in multiple processes such as supply chain management, predicting equipment maintenance needs and many more.

What is the development of robotics in Bulgaria? Are there enough companies that develop and implement industrial and other robotic solutions?

Historically, Bulgaria has functioned primarily as an importer of standard industrial equipment. However, over the past 10 years, a local core of integrators and engineering companies has formed, which are flexible to the specific needs of Bulgarian production. However, their number remains rather limited compared to the real needs of Bulgarian production. There is no lack of technology, there are just not enough hands to implement it on the ground, for every factory that needs it. It is these companies that are the bridge between the concept of robotics and real production.

Will AI and robotization lead to job losses or rather to a change in the nature of work? Which professions and skills will be most in demand?

In the short and medium term, AI poses a more direct threat to the structure of the labor market in our country and in Europe than robotics. It is likely that office activities, administrative services and analytical roles will be under serious pressure in the next 5 years. Robotics, in turn, is rather changing the nature of physical labor. For example, operators are becoming process controllers. Many professions will remain in demand. Recently, a managing director of one of the large technology companies in Poland told me that AI devalues routine skills, but makes specialists who can think critically, work with people and learn quickly even more valuable.

Bulgaria has a serious problem with a shortage of workers. Can automation be part of the solution and how far can the replacement of human labor with robots and AI go?

Automation is a key element of the solution, but it is not a panacea. The sectors with the most acute shortage in our country are construction, tourism, healthcare and manufacturing. Here lies an important asymmetry. While in office activities Only 4 years after the launch of ChatGPT, we are already seeing pressure on employment, physical replacement by robots in complex, unpredictable environments ( e.g., construction site, hospital room, hotel kitchen ) cannot happen at the same rate. Digital labor is being automated exponentially faster than physical labor.

What are the main barriers facing Bulgarian enterprises in implementing AI and robotics – investments, lack of specialists, infrastructure, data or regulations?

The barriers vary significantly depending on the technology, so I would divide them into two separate stories. In AI, the main obstacle is not money or infrastructure , but people. The lack of trained personnel and practical expertise slows down the entry of AI into Bulgarian enterprises much more than the cost of the tools themselves. In robotics, the picture is different. Here, the main obstacle is the high initial investment costs, combined with a shortage of suitable local partners and system integrators to undertake the implementation of specific projects. Infrastructure, data access and regulatory framework play a role, but in the Bulgarian context they remain secondary to these two factors. If tomorrow we had enough trained specialists and enough system integrators , the remaining barriers would be overcome relatively quickly.

How should education and vocational training change to prepare people capable of working in an environment where AI and robots are part of everyday business?

I'll give an example of what happens in a high school - Seoul Digitech High School in South Korea. There, students aged 15-18 do not work with learning platforms for block coding or robotics constructors. They work directly with industrial libraries such as PyTorch , TensorFlow , and specialized hardware. Separately, instead of rudimentary chatbots , they train computer vision models on real industrial data – for example, to automatically detect microdefects in semiconductor boards or battery cells. For their graduation, they implement a working model that is evaluated on real factory indicators. If we have to draw a few things from this example, they are that the curricula are designed directly with the industry and this leads to work with real equipment such as industrial hardware or professional AI environments. Also, the possibility of graduating from high school, university, and even a doctoral dissertation should be introduced by solving a specific production problem set by a Bulgarian enterprise.

What is the place of PARAi in the processes related to the development of robotics in Bulgaria?

There are many strong companies in Bulgaria, our role is to encourage them to work together, not separately. One company is looking for technology. Another – a partner for joint development. A third – an engineer with a specific specialty. A fourth – access to an international market. The university is looking for a connection with real business. The student is looking for his first job opportunity, and the industry is looking for the next generation of personnel. PARAi is the place where all these searches meet.

How do you see the Bulgarian economy in 2030, if we manage to use the full potential of AI , robotics and automation? And what should we do today to avoid remaining just users of foreign technologies?

I see an economy that in 2030 registers over 1,000 patents per year, we have our own Bulgarian LLM with real global application, there are ten Bulgarian technology companies that are traded on the largest stock exchanges in the world such as those in Frankfurt or NASDAQ , an economy with 20 smart factories, each of which exports over 50 million euros per year, and the density of robotization in Bulgaria to reach 150 robots per 10,000 employees - a level comparable to the leading European industrial economies. I also see Bulgarian venture capital funds that will manage assets of over 500 million euros, annual investments in Bulgarian technology projects reaching 1 billion euros and at least 50,000 people employed in high-tech production, and 10,000 specialists working specifically in creating solutions with robotics, automation and AI.

For this to happen, we need to activate the incentives for development activity that were voted in the Education and Training Act, to carry out an educational reform that would eliminate the funding of kalpak (the so-called "money follows the student"), to develop a real technology transfer office that would sell Bulgarian scientific developments and find partners for them, to attract a global educational brand to Bulgaria, to introduce a model of accelerated tax depreciation for automation and robotization based on proven European examples (such as Italy introduced with Transizione 4.0, which led to a 30% growth in the robotization of small factories in just two years), to build more technology parks outside Sofia, to reform state public procurement so that young technology companies can actually sell to the state and thus obtain their first serious reference clients, and to continue to expand international partnerships, including through investments in Bulgarian STIFs abroad.