diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 306c173..6d76432 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ cache:
     - .pip_cache/
 
 before_script: # common setup for every job
-  - python3.8 -m venv $VIRTUAL_ENV
+  - python3.12 -m venv $VIRTUAL_ENV
   - source $VIRTUAL_ENV/bin/activate
   - pip install --upgrade pip
 
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ deploy:
     - pip install -r requirements.txt
     - echo "Starting the application to test startup with SSL..."
     - cd backend
-    - python3.8 -m main  # App will start, validate, and exit
+    - python -m main  # App will start, validate, and exit
     - echo "Application startup validation completed successfully."
 
 release:
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ release:
     - pip install -r requirements.txt
     - bash make_openapi_client.sh
     - cd backend/python-client            # Navigate to the folder where the package was generated
-    - python3 -m venv .venv
+    - python -m venv .venv
     - source .venv/bin/activate
     - pip install -U pip twine
     - twine upload --repository-url ${CI_API_V4_URL}/projects/${CI_PROJECT_ID}/packages/pypi dist/*
\ No newline at end of file