Konstantin Veselinov, founder and CEO, CENTIO #Cybersecurity
What is the role of technology in education today, in your opinion?
Technology has lowered the barriers to learning. In the past, knowledge was something difficult to access — textbooks, classrooms, a specific teacher. Today, it is just one click away. The pace of learning has also changed. We can now learn in ways that feel more natural to us — faster, more practical, and more interactive.
For teachers, things are different as well. They are no longer simply sources of information, but rather the people who help students understand it, connect it, and apply it in real-world contexts. And this is where the important point comes in — technology alone does not make education better. It simply creates opportunities. The real question is how we choose to use it: whether we reduce it to yet another screen full of PDFs, or turn it into a tool that genuinely helps children understand, think, and apply knowledge.
This choice is not abstract. It is made every day by schools, teachers, organizations building solutions, and the government. And in my opinion, the right choice is obvious. We should use technology not to digitize the old model, but to transform it — to make learning more practical, more adaptive, and closer to the real world. Because ultimately, education is not only about access to knowledge, but about the kind of people we shape and the skills they develop.
What skills or competencies do students develop thanks to technology?
Technology itself does not develop skills. It creates an environment where certain skills become far more important than others. Today, access to information is easy. Anyone can find almost anything. The difference lies in what you do with that information. The focus naturally shifts — from memorization to understanding, from repetition to thinking, and above all, to application.
We want to raise people who act thoughtfully, responsibly, and with reasoning — people who can define goals and pursue results. Not parrots, but capable thinkers and doers.
Students are increasingly developing critical thinking, the ability to ask the right questions, verify sources, and connect information from different places.
There is another important aspect as well: they are learning how to learn. They learn to search independently, experiment, try, and fail faster. Technology allows knowledge to become action — to create something, not simply know it.
That is why, in today’s world, the most valuable skills are not “what you know,” but “how you think” and “how you apply.” From this point on, everything depends on whether the system is capable of supporting exactly these skills.
Where does Bulgaria stand when it comes to technology in education?
Bulgaria is taking steps in the right direction, but the pace is still dramatically behind. We are competing with the world — America, Asia, and soon Africa. We see what Asia is doing in education, and the results will become visible very soon. Meanwhile, we continue explaining that the system is conservative. That is unfair to children.
We are depriving them of opportunities, even though this could be changed within a year or two and bring us into the present. We should not forget that these are the future owners of the country, and they will be the ones responsible for developing it. By creating functionally illiterate future generations, we are condemning the state itself to functionally illiterate development.
What are the biggest barriers to implementing technology in education, and how can they be overcome?
The biggest barrier is a lack of confidence. When a technology is unfamiliar, it creates tension: what if something goes wrong, what if it takes away control, what if it makes your role less important?
This naturally leads to resistance. And it becomes especially visible with modern technologies such as AI. In many places, the first reaction is to ban it — because students might “cheat,” because people do not know how to use it, or because it feels like a threat. But this approach misses the main point. AI is already part of the real world. Students will use it regardless. The real question is whether they will learn how to use it properly.
There are also practical barriers — lack of training, lack of time, and sometimes poor infrastructure. Very often, tools are introduced without a clear idea of how they will help in real work. The solution is not more technology, but better implementation: clear examples, training, and gradual adoption.
When a teacher sees how AI can save hours of preparation or explain a difficult topic more effectively, attitudes change very quickly. The approach should be practical, built on small steps, real benefits, and constant support. That is when technology stops being perceived as a threat and starts becoming genuinely useful.
How does your company contribute to improving education and technology adoption in Bulgaria?
At our companies, the approach is highly practical — we do not just talk about education, we try to actively build it.
With Intreea, we focus on creating an environment where learning produces visible, real-world results. Our focus is on helping people develop skills they can actually apply, rather than simply “covering material.”
With CENTIO #Cybersecurity, we bring another important topic into the conversation — cybersecurity. It is already part of everyday life and has a place in modern education. We work to make it understandable and accessible, rather than something abstract happening “somewhere else.” We also work toward creating conditions for training more specialists in this field, because the shortage of talent in the sector is severe.
UX2.DEV provides another direct example: we invest time in entering classrooms. We work with students from TUES, showing them real-world cases and what practical work actually looks like.
The common goal across all three initiatives is simple: to reduce the gap between what is taught and what happens in the real world. That is where we believe the greatest value lies.
CENTIO #Cybersecurity is one of the members of EdTech Bulgaria. Why did you decide to join?
The decision was natural. We are already working in education through different initiatives, and it was important for us to be part of an environment where other organizations share the same mindset.
EdTech Bulgaria brings together exactly those kinds of people — companies and teams that are not only talking about change, but actively working toward it. For us, this is a way to exchange experience, see what works and what does not, and move faster. Education is too large and important a topic to tackle alone.
There is also another important aspect: when there is a community, the voice becomes stronger — both toward institutions and toward the market. That is why joining was simply a logical continuation of what we are already doing.
What does EdTech Bulgaria provide for organizations, users, and Bulgarian education?
EdTech Bulgaria creates an environment. For organizations, this means exchanging experience and learning faster — seeing what works for others and avoiding some of the same mistakes. Instead of everyone reinventing the wheel, we move forward together.
For users — teachers, students, and parents — this means better solutions. When there is a strong community, quality improves. There are more ideas, more feedback, and more real-world examples.
For education as a whole, it is a way to accelerate change. One organization can achieve a lot, but when there is a community, the effect is completely different.
Another important aspect is that it creates a bridge between business, practical work, and education — a connection that is often missing today.
What does the Bulgarian EdTech ecosystem need most today?
The biggest need is a stronger focus on real results. There are many solutions, many platforms, and many ideas. What is often missing is a clear connection between the technology and the actual outcome: what truly changes for the student, what skill is developed, what result is achieved.
There is also a need for faster feedback loops — understanding what works, what does not, and why. At the moment, that cycle is too slow.
Another key element is the connection with practice. Education and business often move in different directions. When that connection is missing, students end up learning things that are difficult to apply in real life.
And finally, we need more courage to experiment. Not every solution will work, but without experimentation there can be no real progress.
When there is a clear goal, fast feedback, and a strong connection to the real world, progress happens much faster.
What kind of support is missing for EdTech companies in Bulgaria?
What is missing is a consistent environment for testing and implementation. Many EdTech companies have strong ideas and working solutions, but gaining access to real environments — schools, teachers, and students — is difficult and slow. That slows everything down.
There is also a lack of clearer collaboration with institutions. Processes are often heavy and bureaucratic, while the pace does not match the speed at which technology evolves.
There also needs to be more trust in new solutions. Very often, proof is demanded before there is even a real opportunity for implementation, which creates a closed cycle.
Support is not only about funding. More important are access, partnerships, and opportunities to test solutions in real environments. When those exist, development accelerates very quickly.
What advice would you give to startups in the education sector?
Start with a real problem, not with a product idea. Education is a very specific environment. What looks good as a concept often does not work in the classroom. That is why it is important to work closely with teachers and students from the very beginning.
The focus should always be on the result — what changes for the person on the other side. If that is unclear, the technology itself does not matter.
It is also important to think about implementation, not only the product itself. In education, implementation is often the harder part — how it will actually be used, who will introduce it, and how it will be maintained.
It makes sense to start small, with a clear case and real feedback. That is where growth comes from.
And finally — patience. Change in education happens more slowly, but when it happens, the impact is long-term.
Can Bulgaria become a leader in EdTech, and in which direction?
Bulgaria already has a place in EdTech, especially when it comes to practical, application-oriented solutions. We have strong technical teams and experience in building products. That allows us to create solutions that work not only locally, but internationally as well.
One of the areas where we are already strong is practical learning — solutions that develop real-world skills and resemble actual working environments. This is also the direction we pursue with Intreea.
Cybersecurity is another clear example. The topic is becoming increasingly important, and the expertise here is already at a high level. This is an area where Bulgaria is already creating value, including through companies such as CENTIO #Cybersecurity.
The approach that works is focus. We do not try to do everything. Instead, we build strong solutions in specific areas where we have a real advantage. And that is what gives us not just potential, but a real position.
What will be the future of education in Bulgaria, and what role will technology play?
The future of education will be more practical, more flexible, and much closer to the real world. There will be less learning “for grades” and more learning for application. The focus will shift toward skills rather than the sheer volume of information.
Technology will become a natural part of this process. It will no longer be something additional, but a core tool — much like the internet is today. AI will also enter the classroom, not as a replacement, but as an assistant for both students and teachers.
The role of the teacher will become even more important — not as a source of knowledge, but as someone who guides, provides context, and helps develop thinking.
The system itself will need to become more adaptive. Different students learn in different ways and at different speeds, and technology makes this realistically possible.
The change will not happen overnight, but the direction is clear. Education is moving toward a model where knowledge is accessible, and value comes from how you use it. And this is exactly where technology plays its role — making that transition possible.