This September, our founder and CEO, Jeta Zagragja, took part in three panels at Infobip Shift 2025 in Zadar, Croatia, one of Europe’s largest developer conferences. With thousands of innovators, founders, and tech leaders in the audience, the conversations went far beyond surface-level advice. Jeta didn’t just share tips; she shared stories, candid reflections, and tough truths, blending personal experiences with hard data to spark conversations that matter.
Here are some of the key themes, in her own words and reflections.
The Fine Art of Letting Go (Just Enough)
When the discussion turned to delegation, Jeta opened this panel with an unexpected comparison: parenting her two-year-old. Instead of a framework or diagram, she offered a picture everyone could understand.
“You can’t bubble-wrap growth. My son learns balance by falling. He gets bumps and bruises, but those stumbles are how he figures things out. Building a team is the same. If you never let people stumble, they’ll never learn to walk on their own.”
Her message? Delegation isn’t about removing yourself from decisions. It’s about creating a safe space where mistakes are part of growth. “You step in when something risks breaking bones, not for every bruise,” she added.
She also reflected on her own journey with AnchorzUp, noting that leadership must adapt with each stage of growth; whether in the scrappy bootstrapping days, after raising funding, or while scaling internationally. Leadership must be adaptive, not rigid.
And she cautioned against the toxic pride many founders take in burnout:
“Burnout is not a badge of honor. Startups should focus on quality of work, not quantity of hours. Growth comes from clarity and focus, not from losing people along the way.”
For Jeta, one of her most important growth moments was realizing that there is no single “right” way to do things. As long as the company’s objectives and vision are clear, it’s okay that people choose their own path to get there.
Mind the Gap Between Female Founders and Industry Disruption
The second panel tackled a harder topic: why female founders remain underfunded, despite outperforming in results. Here, her tone shifted from storytelling to straight facts.
In 2024, women-founded businesses in Europe attracted just 12% of VC funding, with all-female teams receiving less than 1%. Yet women-founded startups delivered more than 2× the revenue per dollar invested compared to their male peers.
Looking at the region, she added: Kosovo has ~15% women-owned startups, Albania around 30%, Croatia ~21%, and Turkey ~29%. Encouraging, yes, but far from equal.
“Even with improvement, the job is not done. We need more role models, more investment, and more diversity in the rooms where decisions are made. Performance, not pity, should define the narrative.”
Jeta also spoke about the quiet, unspoken biases that women face:
“Investors may not say it outright, but the raised eyebrow is cultural shorthand: ‘But who’s really behind this company?’ Many women solve this by co-signing with a male co-founder or advisor; not because they need him, but because it buys credibility in the room.”
Her message was clear: systemic barriers remain, but women founders are not waiting for permission. They are already reshaping industries, and redefining success, on their own terms.
Lead Like a Bot, Think Like a Human: Leadership in the Age of AI
Finally, Jeta joined a panel on AI and leadership, a topic where optimism often dominates the stage. She took a different approach: honesty first.
“We are all scared. We are all confused. And yes, we are underprepared. As leaders, we’re expected to stand on stage and speak confidently about a utopia where AI gives us abundance and freedom. But I’ve never been a gullible cheerleader. If you want to know the truth about AI, follow the money.”
She reminded the audience how innovation has been accelerated: electricity took decades to spread; the internet, about 10 years; the smartphone, under five. ChatGPT reached 100 million users in two months. The cycle has collapsed from decades, to years, to months; and with it comes an incredible opportunity. Leaders and employees no longer have the luxury of slow adaptation, but they do have the chance to shape the future in real time. Every major invention has reshaped leadership, yet none has moved as fast, or carried as much potential for progress, as AI does today.
Furthermore, she pointed to where AI has truly helped leaders: faster data processing, forecasting, and scenario testing, especially valuable for smaller companies without big analyst teams.
But the dangers are just as real:
- Information overload: too much data without context.
- Black-box decisions: recommendations without reasoning.
- Bias inheritance: AI repeating the hidden biases of past data.
“AI can suggest brilliant strategies, but if they go wrong, the responsibility comes back to the leader. Leadership today is navigating between machine precision and human judgment; using AI as an amplifier, not a substitute, for wisdom.”
Jeta closed with a hopeful yet grounded reflection on jobs and human value:
“Yes, many jobs will be reduced or replaced. But the roles that demand care, creativity, and human presence will remain. Not because AI can’t do them, but because their value lies in the human connection itself. The real test of leadership in the age of AI is whether we use this technology responsibly, not just to build smarter companies, but a fairer society.”
Closing Reflections
Infobip Shift 2025 was more than a stage for AnchorzUp. It was a space where Jeta could bring a voice from Kosovo to global conversations about leadership, diversity, and technology.
Across three panels, Jeta’s message was consistent: leadership is balance, between holding on and letting go, between performance and recognition, between machine efficiency and human empathy.
We are proud to have Jeta represent AnchorzUp in these conversations, and we’ll continue to carry these lessons into our own journey of building, scaling, and leading with purpose.