Are you also eagerly awaiting December 31st? Closing one chapter, a fresh start, for some a party until late, and for some a warm room and… the latest episodes of Stranger Things! 😊
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While the announcement of the final season of this series, at least partly, marks 2025 for many fans, it’s time for us at Levi9 to look back and ask ourselves: what marked this year for us?
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Traditionally, we do this through 9 short chapters, because for us, 9 isn’t just a number. It’s our story and our signature.
For starters: 20 years of the Levi9 story
2025 was a jubilee year for Levi9: we celebrated 20 years of shared growth and innovation. The central moment of the celebration was the TechDoc festival, held in the city where it all began – Novi Sad. Levi niners enjoyed outdoor screenings of works inspired by AI technology under clear skies, and the unforgettable experience was enhanced by a great party with the levi niners’ favorite DJ, street food aromas, and specially designed Levi9 cocktails.
Inspirational speeches alternated on stage, and a special moment was when we paid tribute to colleagues who have been with us for 20 years. As a memento of the jubilee, all levi niners took home handmade Berkesel backpacks, a carefully chosen, locally inspired gift. We can proudly say that more than 600 levi niners now enjoy the creations of the Berkesel sisters from Zrenjanin.
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The jubilee year was also marked by a new chapter in company leadership – Marjolein Slappendel, our new CFO, and Bert Pluimers, our new CCO, joined us, further strengthening Levi9 for the next phase of development.
Launching the local website
We started the year with a big step toward the domestic IT community; in January we launched a new local website, available at www.levi9.rs.
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This site is specially designed for the talent market in Serbia and represents a central place for everything that makes Levi9 locally recognizable: our culture, current news, events, initiatives, and opportunities for professional development.
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Through rich and comprehensive content, we wanted to provide easy access to information for all interested parties, but also to bring closer the values, atmosphere, and people behind our company.
AI in focus
We are all witnesses that much has been said about artificial intelligence over the past months. At Levi9, AI is not a passing trend, but a strategic direction of development. By integrating artificial intelligence into our service portfolio, we empower teams to deliver smarter, faster, and more adaptable solutions, ready for the challenges of modern business.
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The initiatives we implement on a daily basis help us share knowledge efficiently and continuously. With this goal, TuesdAI workshops were launched in the Belgrade-Zrenjanin delivery center – an interactive format covering specific tools and current topics. These sessions provide an open space for learning, experimentation, and exchange of ideas among levi niners.
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In addition, the NS AI Hub was established in Novi Sad – a central place that enables democratized access to resources, ideas, and projects related to artificial intelligence. The Hub is conceived as a living community that encourages every employee to get involved, contribute, and together with others develop AI initiatives within the company.
AI9 series of articles about AI innovations
We recently launched the AI9 series of articles, in which our colleagues share practical experiences from applying artificial intelligence to various projects, making AI more accessible through real examples from everyday work.
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Our goal is to show how Levi9 explores and uses AI in practice – from a developer’s perspective, but also more broadly, in terms of business, innovation, and collaboration.
Knowledge sharing
Exchange of experiences and knowledge sharing have always been an important part of our culture. During this year, our Technology team launched a series of webinars in which Levi9 experts talk about current topics, with special focus on Data, AI, and SDLC areas. You can watch all the webinars recorded so far here.
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It’s also important to mention the Arch9 conference, held in November in Amsterdam, with the theme “From code to change: Real-world transformation at scale.” In addition to levi niners, knowledge with the Dutch business and tech community was shared by representatives of our clients and partners, including Asics, Ikea, NS Groep, DPG, ai.io, AWS, Snowflake, Stripe, and Okta.
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In addition, the internal Secure9 conference was organized, intended for levi niners in all countries where we operate. Traditionally, every minute of Secure9 was devoted to strengthening security – both of our teams and services, as well as the solutions we deliver to clients.
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Also organized was the ninth edition of the internal hackathon Hack9, held simultaneously in all our Delivery Centers in the Netherlands, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine. For the third year in a row, artificial intelligence was the focus of Hack9. Teams had the task of developing web applications that improve internal Levi9 processes – from sick leave and business travel requests, through maintenance reports, education tracking, to equipment and resource reservations. And the team from Serbia won first place!
Levi9 experts at conferences
Levi9 actively shared knowledge and presented its experts in the technology community throughout 2025, both locally and more broadly. At the DigiTalk conference in Zrenjanin, our Tech Lead SrÄ‘an Matić gave a presentation on software architecture visualization for better business efficiency. As long-time partners of this conference, we had the opportunity to present ourselves through an interactive memory game, and booth visitors competed for a prize – a Levi9 folding bicycle.
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In addition, Levi9 supported events such as AWS Community Day Adria in Sarajevo, and AI week in Belgrade and Novi Sad. Our colleagues appeared as speakers at conferences in Subotica, Rotterdam, Wiesley, and Tokyo. You can read more about the presentations on the website.
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These activities show that levi niners are active drivers of ideas, discussions, and collaborative learning – passing on expertise and inspiration beyond our offices.
Gatherings with meaning
This year, as one of the most memorable opportunities for gathering in our offices, we highlight the Build Your Galaxy DIY Workshop, where levi niners assembled the iconic domestic computer from 1984, Galaksija. A special honor was the visit of the creator of Galaksija himself, Voja Antonić, who shared the story of its creation and impact on generations of future engineers. The reward for successfully assembling the computer (as if that wasn’t satisfaction enough?!) were games of retro games that take many of us back in time: Snake, Minesweeper, and Tetris.
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Another special opportunity for gathering was International Women’s Day, which we marked differently this year, through a story about bees, feminine energy, and nature that teaches us cooperation. In addition to an inspiring presentation, each participant used AI tools to design her own label and took home a jar of honey as a memento from this gathering. We are especially pleased that through this event we also provided support to small local producers and entrepreneurs, which is a value we strive to nurture at Levi9.
CSR activities
Social responsibility continued to give additional meaning to our business. For the 5th time we organized a charity bazaar with computer auctions, and in this way contributed to various humanitarian foundations with the collected amount of more than 4,000 EUR. On several occasions, we hosted sellers from NURDOR and Center Zvezda at charity sales exhibitions, and our employees traditionally joined the Zrenjanin Marathon, and together with other runners contributed to the “Run like a hero!” campaign.
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We also worked together on preserving planet Earth. We invited levi niners to join Zero Emissions Day, the Digital Declutter challenge, as well as the #BikeToLevi9 initiative. We reminded them that every small contribution increases the cumulative effect and has the greatest impact if sustainable habits are nurtured daily.
TalentX survey and TOP10 recognition
Just before the end of the year, we received important feedback directly from the IT community – according to the latest TalentX survey, our company was on the list of TOP 10 most desirable IT employers in Serbia.
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As the IT market is constantly changing and adapting to new circumstances, this recognition comes at the right time and has special significance for all of us. Additional value comes from the fact that Levi9 is the only service company on this list, while in the previous iteration of the survey, in 2023, companies of this type made up as much as half of the ranked employers.
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*****
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We were recognized as a TOP 10 employer in Serbia. We launched AI initiatives that are not just buzzwords, but real tools for change. We shared knowledge at conferences, supported local entrepreneurs, helped the community through CSR activities.
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As the year closes, we are already looking toward 2026, with new ideas, new projects, and new stories.
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Thank you to all levi niners, clients, and partners who made this year special.
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Happy holidays, and see you in the new year! 🎄
