Besim Ismaili@besim_ismaili301

Events attended

Submissions made

Norway

10+ years of experience

About me

Besim Ismaili is a technology leader, data architect, and founder dedicated to unlocking societal and business value through data. With nearly two decades of experience across Data Engineering, Business Intelligence, AI, and Solution Architecture, he has shaped large-scale data platforms for organizations such as Equinor, IKEA, DNB, Ruter, TINE, FHI, and several public-sector entities. He is the Co-Founder and CTO of ELA Analytics, a data and AI consultancy building advanced analytical solutions, and the driving force behind platforms such as Numus (personal finance & wealth management) and Ecosphere (ESG & sustainability intelligence). His work has received multiple recognitions, including the Oslo Municipality Smart City Prize, Vienna F10 Fintech Hackathon, Silicon Viking Finalist, Innovation Norway Top 10 Nordic Solutions, and finalist for the DnD BaneNOR “Strekningsanalyse” award. He was previously named Best New Employee at Nordic Choice Hotels by Petter A. Stordalen. Besim is the author of Data Science for Digital Mavericks, a strategic guide for leaders on using data to drive business transformation. He is also a certified board member, part of DN Executive Network, and a frequent speaker on data strategy, AI, FinTech, and digital innovation — with appearances at global forums including Oslo Big Data Day and the Global Big Data Summit in Santa Clara. Educated at leading institutions including MIT, Stanford, Harvard, and UC Berkeley, he combines deep technical expertise with a mission-driven approach: leveraging data to build better companies, smarter cities, and positive societal impact. With a strong cross-disciplinary background, hands-on engineering capability, and leadership across complex ecosystems, Besim continues to push the boundaries of how data can elevate decision-making and sustainable growth.

Socials

👌 Attended Hackathons

AI Trading Agents

⏱️ Design, build, and deploy trustless AI trading agents. 📅 March 30 – April 12, 2026 🌐 Build AI trading agents that execute strategies using ERC-8004 or Kraken CLI. 🤝 Build solo or in teams to create autonomous trading, risk, yield, or protection agents. 💰 $55,000 prize pool, allocated and shared via Surge and Kraken. Your team should have registered project at early.surge.xyz in order to be eligible for the prize. Get access in your team profile or our discord 🔑 Access to early.surge.xyz If prompted for login credentials, use: • Username: admin • Password: JBRv2xWG7AzwVrLz88

Complete AI Hackathon

Teams work together with multiple AI agents in shared workspaces to design, build, and launch complete AI products — from initial idea to market-ready app. 📅 February 23– March 1, 2026 ⏱️ 6 days to build and ship an end-to-end agentic AI product 🤝 Work together in shared AI workspaces where your team and AI agents collaborate in real time 🔧 Build with multiple AI agents that handle development, design, testing, and documentation together 🎯 Create everything in one place — from ideation to product to marketing materials, all by prompting and observing 🚀 Focus on real-world products that teams could actually ship and use 🏆 $3,500 in prizes + premium 3-month Complete.dev access for top teams 🧑‍💻 Join your team workspace and start building together

Agentic Commerce on Arc

In this hybrid hackathon powered by Arc, developers will build the next generation of agentic commerce systems using Arc with USDC. Explore a world where AI agents and web services can pay for APIs, data, compute, and content in dynamic, usage-based ways, while Arc provides stablecoin-native settlement with predictable USDC fees and deterministic, sub-second finality. This hackathon is supported by Google & Google DeepMind, with a dedicated challenge and $40,000 in Google Cloud Platform (GCP) credits awarded for the best use of Gemini models and Google AI Studio. 📅 January 9 – 24, 2026 • Jan 9 – 23 (Online Phase) – Collaborate and build online with developers and AI innovators from around the world. All projects must be submitted by the end of the online phase on January 23rd. • Jan 23 (On‑site Build Day – San Francisco, CA) – Selected participants will be invited to an exclusive in‑person session to refine their projects and connect directly with mentors. • Jan 24 (On‑site Demos & Awards – San Francisco, CA) – Live pitching sessions to a panel of judges and ecosystem partners, followed by the official winner announcement. Get guidance from Arc and Circle experts through on-site support. 📍 On-site Venue (Jan 23–24): MindsDB SF AI Collective 3154 17th St, San Francisco, California, USA 🤝 Go solo or team up, it's your flow. 🏆Compete for $50,000 in USDC & GCP Credits. 📍 On-site participation is by invitation only. Travel and accommodation expenses will not be covered. 🧑🏻‍💻 Secure your spot now - sign up before the Kick-Off Stream!