George Brashnarov, a CEO of Nemetschek Bulgaria and a member of the advisory board of BASSCOM (The Bulgarian Association of Software Companies), gave an interview for “Dnevnik” media, highlighting 3 main topics:

• The IT sector has much interest in all important reforms in Bulgaria
• Any company expectations for 80% higher productivity are unrealistic
• The adoption of the euro increases trust in Bulgaria, while the government is undermining it

Here’s the full interview.

George Brashnarov is a well-known figure in the software industry and one of the people who do not rush their judgments and expectations in a changing environment. That is why even now – 3 years after artificial intelligence was released for mass use – he is not quick to give a forecast of exactly how it will affect the industry in which he works.

We Pay for Quality, not for a Postal Address

What is still considered valid in various sectors – that salaries outside Sofia for the same position in the private sector are different – is no longer true, at least for the IT industry. Behind this statistic stands not only the fact that some people employed in Sofia-based companies work remotely from smaller towns. It is also because, in recent years, the sector has been paying for professional qualities and actual work, not for geographical location. At least that’s what the experience of one of the veterans of the sector shows – George Brashnarov, CEO of Nemetschek Bulgaria and a member of the Advisory Board of BASSCOM, the leading organization representing software companies operating in Bulgaria.

Nemetschek Bulgaria opened an office in Varna 10 years ago and has since firmly stood behind the idea that people should be evaluated based on their qualities, not their work location or geography. “The fact that some things in Varna are cheaper did not logically give me a reason to automatically apply lower salaries in Varna, Plovdiv or elsewhere,” he says in an interview with “Dnevnik.” “Now I see that a huge part of our colleagues have actually reached this level of maturity,” the manager adds. In his assessment, the sector reached this point in the past 10 years, as after the pandemic most companies – willingly or not – gave up the idea of having a single office in Sofia, and all have adopted hybrid work to some degree.”

He believes that the pandemic, during which the industry saw 20% growth, stimulated this regional convergence of incomes.

At the same time, salaries in the sector – which everyone knows are the highest in the country – will once again not grow at the previous outpacing rates that were typical for many years, during which the IT sector’s growth outpaced that of the Bulgarian economy, according to BASSCOM data.

Now, the pace of salary growth is slowing for two main reasons: salaries have reached average European levels, and the economic environment does not allow for above-average increases. “Yes, there were periods when there was enough good business. Many companies even invested in continuing their development, retaining their people, and developing them even further,” Brashnarov explains.

He does not claim that good development cannot be expected again in the coming years, but at present, the sector will stick to the average European salary adjustments – around 5% annually.

“We are simply there. And that is not bad news. We say that we managed—with nothing but ambition—to build an industry that within 20 years reached mid-European development levels and started comparing to Germany,” he points out.

50% More Work With the Same Workforce

Contrary to widespread belief that the IT industry is laying off employees after AI entered the scene at the end of 2022, the industry data does not support this. Instead, companies continue hiring – but fewer than in previous years: 1,090 in 2025 compared to 2,700 in 2024. Meanwhile, interest in certain skills is declining at double-digit rates – such as open-source software development and software testers – while demand is rapidly increasing for people who can harness artificial intelligence and the knowledge and skills related to it. The biggest challenge for managers in the sector, according to Brashnarov, is how to achieve 50% more output with the people they already have.

He does not commit to predicting whether and when this will happen, as the situation is entirely new even for the industry itself. “We are in a totally new situation in which artificial intelligence offers enormous opportunities and raises huge questions. We have never had such a possibility before – if we look at it as an opportunity, not a barrier – and it depends on us how we use it. But this is not just my expectation. In all my conversations regarding new projects with new investors and current investors, I see that this expectation is also coming from clients,” he says.

This is why part of the industry’s job is to normalize these expectations, fueled by claims from consulting companies in the U.S. and Europe that the introduction of artificial intelligence can increase productivity by 70–80%. “To me, 70–80% is unrealistic; even 50% may not be realistic at the moment. More likely 10–15–20% in the next 1–2 years,” Brashnarov comments. He gives the example that the predictions made at the release of ChatGPT – that it would reach mass adoption within 3 months – did not materialize; in reality, three years have passed since then. He also notes that the companies behind AI development are currently focused on improving its usability.

He points out that if the new tools are not used to make the sector more productive, that will mean something is flawed.

“Everyone talks about AI, but the application of AI in real business is very low. And it will not increase unless AI tools themselves become more functional and better explained and integrated into the normal workflow. This remains a very big issue,” he says.

He expects that those who manage to implement AI fastest and demonstrate that it works and boosts productivity will take the largest share of the market.

Meanwhile, the software business must manage to normalize the excessive expectations of its clients regarding massive productivity increases resulting from AI adoption.

The Euro Helps, the Government Doesn’t

Unlike most businesses, which see immediate benefits from adopting the euro – such as eliminating transaction costs – the IT sector does not face this issue. At the same time, Brashnarov points out that the moment Bulgaria was invited to join the eurozone, clients began planning budgets and team expansions in the country with much greater enthusiasm, as they saw the last barrier to full trust in the destination as a business location being removed.

He himself was surprised by this reaction because, due to the currency board, businesses in Bulgaria have long considered the stability of the euro–lev peg as guaranteed. But outsiders do not know or accept this. “That is why this step was politically and structurally very important,” Brashnarov emphasizes.

Meanwhile, the Bulgarian government, in his view, has done everything possible to show that the environment in Bulgaria is quite unstable. He gives the example of the announcement made at the very end of the year about increasing the maximum social security threshold, and that a year later things would be even worse.

“So, in practice, the positive effect of the euro was, in my opinion, completely eaten up by the negative effect of the worsening business environment.”

He does not believe that the ambition of the IT sector – united in BRAIT (Bulgarian Employers’ Association Innovative Technologies) – to be recognized by the government as nationally representative will make its voice more important. “There is some small hope, although this does not prevent us (the fact that BRAIT is not part of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation) from being vocal. BRAIT is trying to have an opinion and issue statements even though we are not part of the tripartite council,” he explains.

At the same time, he is not sure about the value of the opinions of the participants in the Tripartite Council, given that next year’s draft budget entered parliament without consulting them.

Asked what the top three most urgent reforms in the country look like from the perspective of the software industry, Brashnarov responds that the sector he works in has no specific demands – the same reforms that are important to all Bulgarian citizens are important to the IT industry: reforms in education, healthcare, security, and justice.

“Our entire society has a special interest in structural reforms—in some of the most troubled sectors that show the biggest deficits and have seen no change in recent years,” he says.

He points to “absurd things” in healthcare – for example, Bulgaria ranks second in Europe in number of hospital beds, 30 new hospitals were opened in one year, and yet everyone says healthcare is in poor condition. “Why does no one see this?!”

For the rest, he says there isn’t even much to discuss – the situation is so tangled that a serious conversation is needed about how each area should be reformed.