On Wednesday, we had the pleasure of attending the Prague Crawl 2025, and what an incredible experience it was! As a company deeply embedded in the web scraping and automation industry, participating in this event was not only a chance to network but also an opportunity to broaden our horizons and share insights with like-minded professionals. The conference focused heavily on data collection and the use of AI, and we felt that we gained a glimpse not only into the future of web scraping but also into the future of the entire internet.
A Personal Invitation
Our journey to Prague started earlier this year when I had a call with Jason Grad (CEO at Massive - Residential Proxies), who personally invited me to the conference. Having the chance to meet Jason in person after months of remote communication was already an exciting prospect, and it turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip. It turned out that we have a lot in common - both of us have a huge love towards sports.
The Prague Crawl was co-organized by Apify and Massive, a brainchild of Jason Grad and Jan Čurn, conceived during a casual evening out. Their vision came to life beautifully in this well-curated event.
A Roadtrip and Reunion
I was thrilled to attend the event alongside my co-founder, Barnabás Szénási. It was a nostalgic moment for us, as the last time we traveled together for a conference was in 2022 for the Affiliate World Conference in Bangkok. With Prague just a five-hour drive from our Budapest HQ, we decided to hit the road. Half the drive was spent discussing our strategy, reviewing our current direction and exchanging ideas, while the other half allowed for more personal, free-flowing conversations.
Event Organization: Nearly Perfect
The event was perfectly organized, and a big shoutout must go to Michelle Macias Mendez, Apify's Event Manager, for orchestrating everything so smoothly. Event location, catering, communication was smooth. The only minor hiccup was during the opening workshop, where it was showcased how to integrate Claude with various actors via the MCP protocol to simply give prompts to AI to scrape various data. While the idea and content were brilliant, the local Wi-Fi and mobile network were not quite up to the task. Perhaps sending out preparation materials beforehand would have helped. Most of the attendees brought their laptops, and was actively following the live demo. It suggests to me that they would have been willing to put in the effort to prepare in advance. It’s a clear indication of the audience’s high engagement level and interest in hands-on learning.
Standout Speakers
Several talks stood out for their depth and thought leadership:
- Jiří Moravčík (Senior engineer at Apify) delivered an exceptional presentation on datasets used for training AI models. His engaging style made a complex topic accessible and fascinating.
- Brian Kennish (Co-founder, CTO at Massive) shared valuable insights on the use of AI in development, offering a refreshing perspective beyond a typical product demo.
- Sarah McKenna (CEO at Sequentum) provided a comprehensive overview of the VC landscape in the web scraping industry and brilliantly highlighted the growing challenges posed by anti-bot systems. It was great to see her emphasize the importance of browser-based scraping and mentioning anti-detect browsers.
Networking Opportunities
The event struck a perfect balance between informative talks and ample networking breaks. We had the opportunity to meet developers and companies from industries like travel, real estate, and ticket resale, many of whom were seeking solutions similar to ours to navigate detection challenges.
The Highlight: Panel Discussion
The panel discussion was a personal highlight. It was here that I connected with Breno Colom (Product & Sales at Bitmaker), who shares our belief that on-premise scraping solutions are the future for scaled-up operations. This point resonated across multiple sessions, with speakers frequently touching on how LLMs like LLaMA, which can be run on-premise, are becoming essential for cost-effective scraping.
A Perfect Ending
The day concluded with an afterparty hosted at the Apify office, conveniently located in the same building. With music, pizza, beer, and a stunning view of Prague's nightscape, it was the perfect way to wind down. I finally had the chance to meet Pierluigi Vinciguerra (Co-founder, CTO at Databoutique.com) in person after years of collaborating remotely through The Web Scraping Club.
Final Thoughts
Prague Crawl 2025 was an action-packed, energizing one-day event that left us inspired and eager for more. It was very intensive, every minute was worthwhile. If the event returns next year, we will definitely be there again.
If you're curious about on-premise web scraping solutions or want to learn more about the future of scalable, cost-effective data extraction, don't hesitate to reach out. Let's keep the conversation going!
