CCIS and Orion Telekom Launch Development of a Serbian Business AI Model Based on NVIDIA Technology

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (CCIS) and Orion Telekom, as NVIDIA’s AI Factory partner in Serbia, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation today, effectively launching the development of a Serbian business language model based on NVIDIA technology — a model designed to understand the Serbian language, both Cyrillic and Latin scripts, domestic business terminology, regulations, and the specific characteristics of Serbian industries, with the aim of enhancing competitiveness and accelerating the digital transformation of companies in Serbia.

The Memorandum was signed by Marko Čadež, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, and Slobodan Đinović, CEO and founder of Orion Telekom, in the presence of Carlo Ruiz, Vice President for Enterprise Solutions & Operations EMEA at NVIDIA.

“The Memorandum we signed today enables the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia and Orion, as NVIDIA’s AI Factory partner in Serbia, to initiate the development of a Serbian business language model — more precisely, a series of models — based on NVIDIA’s Nemotron architecture. This is a model that understands the Serbian language, both Cyrillic and Latin scripts, our business terminology, regulatory environment, and the specifics of our industries,” said Čadež.

According to him, the global AI race is entering a phase where competitive advantage will no longer be measured by the speed of completing individual tasks, but rather by the ability to fundamentally transform how business itself is conducted.

“The greatest value of AI does not come from accelerating a single email or summarizing a document. True transformation happens when AI connects multiple processes, systems, and decisions into a single coordinated workflow,” Čadež explained.

Companies that merely add AI to existing systems, he added, may achieve modest efficiency gains, while those that redesign their processes around new technologies will gain entirely new competitive positions — and competitiveness remains one of CCIS’s core responsibilities.

“We bring together more than 130,000 companies across a wide range of sectors, from banking, telecommunications, and pharmaceuticals to energy, food production, and many others. Our responsibility is not only to sign memorandums. Our responsibility is to turn this infrastructure and this model into a tangible competitive advantage for the Serbian economy — without losing time,” emphasized the President of CCIS.

Čadež highlighted that it is a significant privilege for this step to be taken together with Orion and a company such as NVIDIA. He noted that Carlo Ruiz’s presence at the signing was not merely ceremonial, but rather a signal that Serbia had been selected and that Orion Telekom had been chosen as NVIDIA’s AI Factory partner, demonstrating that what is currently being built follows global standards.

“Serbia now has a generational opportunity to establish the foundations of future economic sovereignty and competitiveness. The countries and companies that succeed will be those capable of integrating technology, institutions, capital, and human judgment into a unified vision. That is precisely what we are trying to achieve today,” Čadež stated.

Čadež also recalled attending the opening of Orion’s first AI Factory in February this year, describing it as the first commercial sovereign AI infrastructure in Southeast Europe equipped with the latest NVIDIA chips, designed to ensure that domestic data remains stored within Serbia.

Đinović emphasized the importance of the Memorandum, which, according to him, will enable the creation of a series of specialized small-scale AI models intended for domestic and regional companies, while also announcing plans for business expansion and company growth.

“We have submitted an initiative to the Government of Serbia aimed at establishing a national AI factory. We expect that investment to amount to approximately €800 million, while, according to our estimates, the state could benefit by around €2.5 billion. This is something that will create substantial momentum toward AI technologies and position us as generators of new revenues and jobs,” said Đinović.

Following the signing ceremony, Carlo Ruiz, Vice President for Enterprise Solutions &Operations EMEA at NVIDIA, held an exclusive executive masterclass titled ‘AI & the Future of Business’ at CCIS for leading representatives of Serbia’s business community.

Photo: Ivana Vukotić / CCIS