Original Contributions
now1 repo (few stars)
target1 project 500+ stars + adoption
Launch killer open-source AI tool (ai-middleware)
Personal brand · market presence
Vladimir — AI-native vertical-services engineer
Senior / Lead TypeScript engineer, Niš · Serbia. Building AI-native
vertical services in public — two OSS projects (ai-middleware,
expo-voice-kit). Market presence → O-1A filing as the milestone.
444
days to filing
6 of 8 criteria targeted
· need 3
O-1A evidence track
The formal credential module — 6 criteria in active pursuit.
Judging Others' Work
now0 evidence
target3–5 judging roles
Devpost/MLH judging; IEEE reviewer post-publication
Press / Published Material About You
now0 evidence
target5–8 articles/features
Netokracija, Startit, The Recursive, HackerNoon
Scholarly Articles / Authorship
now0 evidence
target6–10 published pieces
AAI2026 Springer paper; dev.to/Medium posts
Awards & Prizes
now0 evidence
target2–3 awards
Hackathons: Lablab.ai, Kaggle ARC, DevNetwork
Critical / Essential Role
nowLead dev at Howcan Inc. (US startup)
targetStrong documentation + CEO letter
CEO recommendation letter; document architecture decisions
Membership in Associations
nowFormer BEST Niš (doesn't count)
target1 merit-based membership
IEEE/ACM after publication record
High Salary
now$2,800/mo — not competitive
targetN/A
Not viable; focus elsewhere
Open tasks
11 unchecked across the active days.
TODAY — Friday 2026-04-17
- Vlada: fill out 6-pager questionnaire (today/evening).
- Vlada: confirm title pick (one of 4 TC-focused options).
- Vlada: send Howcan street address (for affiliation block).
- Vlada: sole author vs co-author with Nathan — decision needed.
TOMORROW — Saturday 2026-04-18
- AAI2026 6-pager v1 DRAFT — Claude writes 6-page Springer paper once Vlada's questionnaire is in. Template already downloaded and §2 drafted — Saturday is §1 + §3 + §4 + §5 + §6 + §7 + abstract, merged into
SICAAI_Template_2026.docxvia python-docx surgery. Target: have v1 ready by Saturday evening for review. - Vlada: review v1, annotate changes.
- ai-middleware GitHub repo init — empty public repo with README + design doc stub. Paper will cite this repo.
SUNDAY — 2026-04-19 (submission day)
- AAI2026 6-pager v2 → submit via http://submission.aai2026.kg.ac.rs/ — final polish, .docx export, portal upload. Screenshot the confirmation page.
- Log submission in Evidence Inventory tab — date, title, conference, confirmation ID, file link.
MONDAY — 2026-04-20 (AAI2026 deadline — safety buffer)
- Infobip SHIFT 2026 CFP draft starts — deadline May 22. Talk angle: derivative of the AAI paper (same TC-automation thesis, practitioner voice).
- Blog post #1 outline — dev.to + Medium mirror. Title candidates: "Replacing the Transaction Coordinator: notes from building an AI-native real estate agent" or "The middleware layer every LLM app code is missing."
Deadlines
Sorted by date · overdue flagged, never hidden.
- Apr 17, 2026 TODAY — Friday 2026-04-17 88d overdue
- Apr 18, 2026 TOMORROW — Saturday 2026-04-18 87d overdue
- Apr 19, 2026 SUNDAY — 2026-04-19 (submission day) 86d overdue
- Apr 20, 2026 MONDAY — 2026-04-20 (AAI2026 deadline — safety buffer) 85d overdue
- May 22, 2026 Infobip SHIFT 2026 CFP 53d overdue
In flight
Multi-day workstreams underway.
- AAI2026 — 2-stage game: April 20 (abstract → Book of Abstracts ISBN). September ~30 (expand to 6-page full paper → Springer LNAIS proceedings). Both notches hit.
- ai-middleware MVP — repo init → README → design doc → first working
.use()API → npm publish. Target: end of Month 1 (mid-May). - Infobip SHIFT 2026 CFP — deadline 2026-05-22.
- BEST Niš judging — outreach → response → slot confirmed.
- expo-voice-kit refactor from expo-stream-audio — Phase 1 work item, starts Month 2.
Evidence shipped
Proof of progress · 5 logged.
-
Apr 17, 2026 2026-04-17 — AAI2026 submission-portal registration started (Howcan affiliation, industry positioning, reviewer-availability flipped to YES for future Judging evidence).
-
Apr 17, 2026 2026-04-17 — Official SICAAI 2026 template downloaded; full formatting specs locked in
Springer_LNNS_template_notes.md. Template authoring will use python-docx surgery on the official .docx (preserves running header + styles). -
Apr 17, 2026 2026-04-17 — §2 Related Work drafted (
AAI2026_6pager_Section2_RelatedWork.md), 12 citations, no Dealyo internals — ready to merge into Saturday's full paper. -
Apr 16, 2026 2026-04-16 — ORCID iD registered:
0009-0002-7336-4916. Persistent identifier now tied to all future scholarly output. -
Apr 16, 2026 2026-04-16 — Two new evidence-targeting tabs added to battle-plan xlsx ("Balkans Targets" + "Global Online Targets"), ~110 vetted opportunities.
Backlog
Opportunities surfaced, not scheduled — click to expand.
Press / Interview pitches (global)7
- Netokracija — pitch "Serbian dev building AI-native title automation" angle
- Startit.rs — same angle, Serbia-focused
- The Recursive — CEE tech publication; AI-native vertical services angle is a natural fit
- HackerNoon — technical post (self-submit)
- The New Stack — pitch editor for deep-dive on AI-native vertical services
- InfoQ — after ai-middleware has traction
- Changelog podcast — after ai-middleware ships
Speaking (virtual, global — USCIS counts these)5
- React Summit Remote
- JSNation (virtual track)
- Next.js Conf community talks
- Node Congress
- QCon (lightning talks)
Speaking (onsite, Balkans)6
- HeapCon (Belgrade, autumn)
- CODEstantine (Niš)
- CityJS Belgrade
- Voxxed Days Bucharest
- DevTalks Romania
- JS Belgrade meetup — 30-min talk
Judging (virtual preferred — zero-friction targets surface first)6
- Devpost judges-wanted form —
devpost.com/judges. Virtual hackathons year-round. No network needed. - Major League Hacking (MLH) judging pool —
mlh.io/judges. Student hackathons, all virtual. - IEEE Reviewer signup — once AAI2026 Springer paper publishes, Vlada qualifies. Strong O-1A evidence.
- ACM journal peer review — secondary target once publication record grows.
- GitHub Hackathon judging — surfaces via GitHub event listings.
- BEST Niš — parked 2026-04-17. Revisit once Vlada has published paper + visible OSS project to reference; low-friction alternatives above come first.
Letter candidates (Month 6+)5
- Silvio Kutić (Infobip founder)
- Nenad Filipović (AAI2026 chair, University of Kragujevac)
- Dejan Vukmirović (Serbian tech ecosystem)
- Howcan CEO (Critical Role letter, US-based)
- Vercel AI SDK maintainer (if
ai-middlewareearns notice)
Content ideas3
- Blog #2: "What next-safe-action taught me about composable APIs"
- Blog #3: "Building a voice-AI hook for Expo apps"
- Twitter thread: "5 libraries I wish existed for the Vercel AI SDK"