Meet our founders Tomáš Hubínek and Karel Šimánek, whose story won the Readers' Choice Award for the best business story in the EY Entrepreneur of the Year competition.
Tomáš Hubínek and Karel Šimánek founded BigHub, a technology company that specializes in applied AI. Their skillset and technology stack has multiple applications, from predicting employee turnover and detecting electricity theft.
They met while studying at the Czech Technical University in Prague. Both of them were working in consulting and banking firms before realizing the untapped potential of AI in business. It all led to the founding of BigHub in 2016, which has been profitable since its inception and is on track to reach a turnover of CZK 100 million.
Their story has garnered attention and recognition from readers of Mladé fronta and Idnes.cz. The readers awarded BigHub with the Readers' Choice Award for the Best Business Story in the EY Podnikatel roku competition, a globally renowned competition for entrepreneurs founded by EY in 1986.
Detection and Prediction by BigHub
BigHub's work spans a variety of industries, including energy, logistics, retail and human resources. BigHub's neural network technology helps detect unwanted vibrations in the turbines of the Temelin nuclear power plant and predicts equipment failures at fueling stations, or has been involved in the development and implementation of an early detection system for identifying fraudulent shipments entering the logistics network.
"This year's winners are already showing us the environment in which the human species will exist shortly. And they also represent the future of high-end IT businesses, where the Czechs have traditionally asserted themselves in the strongest global competition. I believe that such success awaits BigHub Tomáš Hubínek and Karel Šimánek as well, and I congratulate both gentlemen on their victory," said Jaroslav Plesl, Editor-in-Chief of MF DNES, to the winners of the Readers' Choice Award.
Another area where BigHub would like to help is healthcare, where artificial intelligence can be of help. "I like projects that have an impact and medicine is an area where AI can be very useful," admits Hubínek.
Constant monitoring of AI trends
In addition to their work at BigHub, Tomáš and Karel are actively involved in various initiatives to support and promote the development of AI technology and talented students. They are both lecturers at the Czech Technical University in Prague and high schools and are dedicated to staying up-to-date with the latest AI trends.
They also organize regular meetups for industry professionals across companies to network and share their expertise and participate in a data podcast, which provides insightful interviews on expert topics from the Czech and Slovak data scene. Furthermore, they support the Josef Hlávka Prize, which recognizes and rewards talented students.
