VegAI Challenge: When humans and AI team up
How often do you use AI in your workplace?
Over the past month, our colleagues got a chance to dive deeper into AI through the internal VegAI Challenge, designed to spark curiosity, creativity and innovation.
As part of our mission to assemble an AI team, we launched the VegAI Challenge to uncover AI enthusiasts within our company, colleagues eager to explore innovative ways for AI to work with us, not against us. We wanted to give everyone a chance to get their hands dirty with AI.Test ideas, experiment, and see what happens when technology meets imagination.
The task: Build a digital twin prototype
In just a few days, each colleague worked on building a digital twin prototype turning their own ideas into interactive, clickable models.
We chose this challenge because we saw a real need: helping clients speed up decision-making by letting them explore their vision through interactive, clickable models, which used to take weeks to build and now they can be created in just a few days. The idea was to engage our colleagues in using AI as a partner and developing their own digital twin prototypes.
After reviewing all submissions, we picked the top 5 prototypes based on creativity, quality, and outcome. Over the course of one intense weekend, almost 100 colleagues signed up to take on the challenge, diving into AI tools, experimenting with different approaches, and pushing their creativity to the limit.
The judging considered:
- UI and visual quality that feels product-ready
- Approach and use of AI, including prompt quality, context preparation, combination of tools, and iteration
- Functional completeness and reliability of the demo
Colleagues across all offices got to vote for their favorites, turning the whole challenge into a shared experience.
The VegAI Final event: Chat, cheer & celebrate the winners
The VegAI Final Event brought it all together, live in Radnički, where the event took place in the canteen, and streamed across every office, including Novi Sad, Belgrade, Zrenjanin, Niš, and Abuja. Colleagues gathered in Radnički to watch a panel discussion in person, while others cheered from their local canteens via livestream.
During the panel, all five finalists, Dimitrije Ranđelović, Igor Malešević, Gordana Đorđević, Đorđe Miletić, and Michael Osas, shared insights into their solutions, the technologies they used, the challenges they overcame, and how AI helped bring their ideas to life. The Audience had the chance to hear firsthand about the thought process and creativity behind each project, making it both an educational and inspiring experience.
And the winners?
1st Place: Dimitrije Ranđelović - claimed first place, achieving the highest scores from the jury, with votes from colleagues further confirming his win. His project demonstrated outstanding creativity and quality.
2nd Place: Igor Malešević
3rd Place: Gordana Đorđević
"This challenge was an amazing opportunity for me to push my own boundaries, explore the full potential and the current limits of today's AI, and at the same time have a lot of fun experimenting and learning along the way," Dimitrije says.
Huge shoutout as well to Đorđe Miletić and Michael Osas for their awesome work and creativity!
What made the event even more special was that every physical ticket also served as a symbolic contribution to a humanitarian cause, with the company donating a portion of the proceeds for each ticket. This way, everyone attending not only celebrated innovation but also contributed to a good cause, making the event meaningful on multiple levels.
Looking ahead: Building our AI community
The VegAI Challenge might be over, but it’s only the beginning of our journey. Our goal is to build a strong, growing AI community at Vega IT, where colleagues can learn, experiment, and exchange knowledge. Through regular workshops, knowledge-sharing sessions, and hands-on opportunities, we aim to educate and empower our teams to use AI effectively in their daily work.
Until next time, stay curious, keep experimenting, and don’t forget: the best ideas are still generated by you.
