Untile at Viana Tech Day & Web Summit 2025: what we saw locally, what the global stage confirmed, and what’s next

A recap of our participation in both events and the key market signals we’re bringing into our work with startups and corporates. From decentralization in Alto Minho to the consolidation of the agentic AI era in Lisbon.

Reading time: 8 to 10 minutes

Author: Giuliana Bueno, Marketing Manager at Untile

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Last month, Untile was present in two very different stages of the Portuguese and European tech scene: Viana Tech Day in Viana do Castelo and Web Summit in Lisbon. One is local, intimate, and community driven. The other is global, intense, and built for scale.

Both delivered the same core message in their own way: talent and ambition are growing well beyond traditional hubs, and while AI is becoming more organized and more present in product conversations, the real edge still comes from human clarity, empathy, and ownership.

This post is a recap of our participation and a short, practical read on what these two events say about where the market is going next. In short, Viana showed the strength of regional innovation, and Lisbon confirmed that agentic AI is scaling fast while human empathy stays the product edge.

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Key Takeaways

• The local ecosystem in Alto Minho is growing fast. Ten startup pitches in Viana carried the same ambition and energy you would expect on a global stage.
• Decentralization is not only about geography. It is about mindset, diversity, and shared access to opportunity, decision making, and visibility.
• Agentic AI is here. AI is learning to work in teams, but product winners will still be those who understand people, context, and experience.
• Local and global events play different roles, but they need each other. The local builds roots, maturity, and consistency. The global pushes scale, network effects, and ambition.
• Portugal is in a strong position if it keeps strengthening regional communities while showing up globally with confidence.

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Viana Tech Day 2025: building outside the center

On November 7, we gathered at Santa Luzia elevator for the second edition of Viana Tech Day, co-organized by Dinamo10, Untile, and Cooperativa Tecnológica, with the support of Câmara Municipal de Viana do Castelo through Viana Starts. The setting is symbolic for a reason. It is literally a moving space, and it fits the spirit of what is happening in the region: innovation in motion.

This edition brought together:

• 10 startup pitches
• A hands on workshop called “Vibe Coding for the Uninitiated”
• A conversation titled “Descentralizacao 360. New Geographies, Industries, and Diversity” with Sofia Carvalho, Andreia Martins, Mariana Trigo, and Neide Vieira, PhD

Ricardo Correia, our Head of Business at Untile, joined the jury for the elevator pitches. For us, that role was more than ceremonial. It was a direct seat to watch how much the ecosystem has matured in a single year. More projects, more sharpness, more teams thinking big.

What stood out most was not only the quality of ideas, but the consistency of their ambition. There was real energy at every elevator ride up and down, and a clear sense that these founders are not building “small local projects.” They are building solutions that belong in any market.

The decentralization signal

The Viana Tech Day speakers reinforced a view that feels increasingly true in practice: decentralization in tech is not a structural trend. It is a mindset.

Neide Vieira described it beautifully, and that stuck with me, when she said decentralization is about osmosis, spreading learning, decision making, and opportunity across more places and more people. Not dividing influence, but broadening access.

Sofia Carvalho highlighted another layer of this movement: diversity of experiences and perspectives. Regions like Alto Minho attract people who are choosing to live and build away from major centers, and that choice produces new kinds of products and new ways of thinking.

For regulated and high impact sectors, this is especially relevant. Entrepreneurship closer to real communities produces solutions that are more grounded in real needs.

The projects that won

Three projects earned special recognition in the Pitch Battle:

• L.ai, presented by João Sáágua. A holistic waste management solution focused on circular economy.
• Volt’Hair Collective, led by Vanessa Fernandes. A platform supporting new professionals and models of work in the beauty industry.
• LUNIA, founded by Ana Lima. A project supporting women’s health across their life journey, bringing science and care closer to everyday life.

Each of these ideas carried a clear problem, a clear human impact, and a path to scale. Exactly the kind of combination we look for when we think about product viability.

What Untile is doing next

At Untile, we are proud to bring experience from working with international startups to help strengthen local communities. We are not present in Viana Tech Day only to observe. We are there to contribute and to follow through.

Our next step is concrete. We are welcoming in January founders from Lunia and Volt’Hair Collective for a Product Discovery Day at our office. The goal is to help them move faster from idea to validated product direction, with clarity on who they are building for, what matters most, and what comes first.

Local ecosystems grow when support is practical, not symbolic. We are excited to keep building that kind of support.

→ Watch the Viana Tech Day 2025 recap video

→ Learn more about Untile’s product discovery and delivery process

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Web Summit 2025: AI everywhere, human value still central

A few weeks after coming back from Web Summit, one feeling is still very fresh: how much learning, conversation, and creative drive can fit into a single week.

Web Summit is overwhelming in the best and the hardest ways. You walk a lot, you meet hundreds of people, and every hall feels like a different map of the future. AI was already the dominant theme last year. In 2025, the difference was how much the conversation moved from hype to teams, agents, and real operational adoption.

The rise of agentic AI

Several talks and conversations pointed to the same shift: AI is moving from tools to teams.

Agentic AI, multi agent systems, and autonomous workers are becoming practical reality inside enterprises. We are moving from automation scripts to systems that collaborate, orchestrate tasks, and act with increasing independence.

This is a major product development implication. It changes how we design workflows, how we structure data, and how we build user experiences that involve AI as a sidekick or as a teammate.

Still, the strongest message that emerged alongside AI was another one: empathy and strategic decision making remain essential. AI can process and generate. Humans decide what matters, why it matters, and how it should feel for users.

Another pattern we kept hearing is that AI is no longer just a tool you occasionally use. It’s becoming a core skill. Teams that learn to collaborate with AI well will move faster, make better decisions, and build more resilient products.

In other words, AI is becoming more capable, but the winning products will still be those that understand people more deeply than competitors do.

→ A roundup of the main tech themes from Web Summit 2025

A reminder from an unexpected keynote

Ricardo shared a moment that felt surprisingly grounding during a week so full of technology. The Web Summit opening talk by Khaby Lame, probably the least “tech” person on stage, turned into one of the most impactful takeaways of the conference.

His message was simple:

• Focus on what you love.
• Work hard, with professionalism.
• Stay humble through the journey.
• Success becomes a natural consequence of that.

It was a reminder that growth, in tech or anywhere else, still depends on human attitude. Trends are important, but character and consistency are what make them matter.

What else we noticed

Beyond AI, there were clusters of relevance for our work:

• ESG and sustainability products are gaining traction and maturing fast, especially for SMEs.
• More founders are building in Europe with global standards, not as an afterthought but as a default.
• Side events and community led stages like the Unicorn Factory pitch night reinforced how strong Portugal’s startup network has become.
• The emergence of initiatives like STUDIOS.PT shows a growing maturity around venture building and structured innovation in Portugal.

Web Summit was global, but it also felt like a mirror for Portugal’s ecosystem. Not a mirror showing comfort, but potential.

→ Unicorn Factory Lisboa pitch event recap from our team perspective

→ STUDIOS.PT, the Portuguese Venture Studio Association

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Local and global stages need each other

Between Viana and Lisbon, one thing became clearer than ever: local and global events play different, but equally essential roles for startups and product teams.

Viana Tech Day showed us roots. It showed ideas growing with consistency, close to real people and real needs. It showed that innovation does not need to be centralized to be world class.

Web Summit showed us scale. It showed where the global conversation is heading, what technologies are consolidating, and how fast standards are moving.

And the most important part is this: the two worlds are connected.

Many of the ideas pitching in Viana could have been on stage in Lisbon. Many of the global trends in Lisbon will only matter if they are grounded in local problems that people actually care about solving.

Local ecosystems are where projects start, test, fail, and mature. Global stages are where they expand, connect, and accelerate. Growth with purpose needs both.

What’s next for Untile

Looking back on that week, one conviction feels even stronger: our role is to keep being a bridge between ambitious teams and real product outcomes, whether those teams are in Alto Minho or anywhere in the world. We’ll keep translating these signals into practical product development roadmaps for our clients, while staying close to the ecosystems that help ideas grow.

In practice, that means:

• Supporting local founders through structured Product Discovery.
• Translating global trends like agentic AI into practical product roadmaps for clients.
• Continuing to show up in spaces that strengthen the ecosystem inside and outside Portugal.
• Sharing what we learn so that our community grows together.

If you were at Viana Tech Day or Web Summit and want to keep the conversation going, send us a note. We would love to hear what you are building and what you are seeing in your market.

→ Get a quick quote with our team

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FAQ

What is Viana Tech Day?

Viana Tech Day is a community led tech event in Viana do Castelo, focused on showcasing regional startups, workshops, and conversations that strengthen innovation outside major hubs. It is part of Portugal Tech Week and highlights the Alto Minho ecosystem.

Why does Web Summit matter for startups and product teams?

Web Summit brings global founders, investors, and technology leaders together. It is a fast way to track market shifts, build international networks, and test the ambition of your product against global standards.

What were the biggest product trends we saw this year?

Agentic AI and multi agent systems were central, turning AI from a tool into a teammate. At the same time, empathy, clarity, and strategic decision making were repeatedly reinforced as the human advantage in product design and positioning.

How is Untile contributing to local ecosystems?

Untile supports local founders through practical initiatives like Product Discovery Days, mentorship, and community partnerships. We bring experience from international product work to help local projects validate, mature, and scale.