Speech

Konstantinos Ketsietzis, Journalist

Opening remarks

Thanos Markantonis, Vise Chairman AI Catalyst, Partner Eurocapital Partners

Opening Remarks

Konstantinos Ouzounis, CEO, ethosGROUP

Institutional Greeting

Vasilis Karkatzounis, Special Secretary for Data Governance and Artificial Intelligence, Ministry of Digital Governance

At the opening of the conference, Mr. Karkatzounis conveyed greetings on behalf of the minister, Mr. Papastergiou, noting that AI is a catalyst for how the economy, society, and politics will evolve, and that we must integrate AI into society correctly. In this context, he noted that priority areas have been established, and measures have also been taken at the national level for the AI Act. As he emphasized, AI must be reliable and safe.

Institutional Greeting

Panagiota (Yota) Paparidou, President of the Board, SEPE – Federation of Hellenic ICT Enterprises

Ms. Paparidou, in her institutional greeting, stated that we have made great strides and have international recognition. He added that there is a shortage of human resources and that AI will not take jobs. As he characteristically said, we are a country that has made huge strides in recent years, but the digital transformation of businesses and the skills of citizens are still at a low level.

Institutional Greeting

Manos Macromallis, President of the Board, SEKEE – Chief Executive Officer, Excelon

As Mr. Macromallis said, today, we live in an era where AI is not a promise, it empowers every sector, from industry to medicine. As he said, in Europe, AI companies have raised over 8 billion, and the technology is entering the phase of stable production. Regarding our country, he said it is at a critical crossroads, but it can become an example of speed by leveraging creativity and entrepreneurship – however, it needs to act immediately and with an outward focus.

Keynote Speech: “Embracing AI Transformation: the Road to Becoming Frontier”

Charles Calestroupat, Vice President, Microsoft Europe South

In his speech, Mr. Calestroupat stated that since ChatGPT was released, approximately 1.2 billion people are using artificial intelligence. At Microsoft, as he said, they want to responsibly empower every person to achieve more and solve problems, as rapid change is happening within a context of significant challenges. He also pointed out that there are three key challenges: cybersecurity, skills, and demographics. Mr. Calestroupat conveyed the image of the landscape taking shape in Europe, emphasizing that significant progress has been made in Greece with mygov and the land registry.

Keynote Speech: “Shaping the Future : The UAE’s Vision for Artificial Intelligence and Global Cooperation”

H.E. Dr. Ali Obaid Al Dhaheri, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Greece

In his speech, H.E. Dr. Ali Obaid Al Dhaheri expressed his belief that AI is changing the future, that it is not a distant promise, it is here, in schools, in homes, in society. As he emphasized, the UAE foresaw the new era and became the first nation to establish a dedicated ministry for this purpose, starting at the university level to prepare for the future. He specifically mentioned industry, saying that AI supports economic growth, optimizes logistics, ensures food quality, protects natural resources, but despite all this, it does not replace humans, such as doctors.

Keynote Speech

Yannis Mastrogeorgiou, Special Secretary for Strategic Foresight, Government of Greece & Coordinator of Greek Advisory committee on AI | Strategic Foresight, AI

Mr. Mastrogeorgiou stated, characteristically, that AI has existed for several decades, but the ChatGPT tool was launched three years ago, and since then it has become widely known. As he emphasized, lifelong learning is a key priority for our country, and two main issues must dominate the global discussion – with questions like “Will I lose my job?” and “what should I study?” That is, education and employment. Finally, he noted that we are running ahead of technological development and need to see how society transforms development.

Speech

Michalis Kassimiotis, Managing Director, HPE Greece & Cyprus

Mr. Kasimiotis mainly referred to the operation of the supercomputer “Daedalus.” As he said, in the European reality, systems similar to the “Lighthouse,” upon which “Daedalus” is built, already exist in sufficient numbers. “Daedalus” is a very high-performance system that will increase Greece’s computing power a hundredfold. It is one of the 30 most powerful systems in the world. In this way, Greece enters a “game” in which, at the moment, there are about 15 countries.

Συντονιστής: Αιμίλιος Νεγκής, Δημοσιογράφος

Speech: “IBM as Client Zero: Driving Productivity with AI”

Sofia Argiti, Data & AI Solutions Specialist, IBM

Speech: “Applied Intelligence: AI Tools and Projects That Matter”

Yiannis Kapsokalyvas, Application Services Delivery Manager, InTTrust

Moderator: Myron Flouris, AICatalyst, Steering Committee, Head – Senior Innovation Executive

Speech: “Beyond Innovation: How AI Redefines Performance and Sustainability in Insurance & Health”

Elisavet Nika, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Covariance

Ms. Nika began by saying that we are starting to talk about how artificial intelligence will ensure the sustainability of the state, business, the family, everything that makes up our lives. Next, she mentioned her company, which leads in AI application development, with a strategic focus on the healthcare and insurance sectors. After presenting the AI platforms developed by Covariance (Co Toolbox, Co Assess, and Co React), he pointed out that the successful adoption of AI requires innovation, a change in mindset, and skills development.

Moderator: Konstantinos Ouzounis, CEO, ethosGROUP

Speakers:

• Konstantinos Liakopoulos, Co-Founder, CloudStraight, AWS Advanced Consulting Partner
• Socrates Ploussas, Founder and CEO, KNEX (previously FUND4ALL)
• George Panou, Head of Innovation Center, Eurobank

Speech: “Beyond the Smartphone: Samsung’s ”AI for All” Vision” 

Michalis Liaros, Β2Β Sales Manager, Samsung

Mr. Liaros mainly discussed AI applications for mobile devices. He began by highlighting the exponential increase in the cost of AI models, with an inversely proportional decrease in the intelligence-cost ratio, and presented the evolution of the relevant trends. He then spoke about how AI is transforming work, presenting data showing that 75% of employes use it and that it enhances their productivity and creativity. For Samsung, as he said, the first pillar is artificial intelligence for devices and services, and the second concerns business productivity.

Moderator: Konstantinos Ouzounis, CEO, ethosGROUP

Speakers:

• Pavlos Kitsanelis, Public Sector Lead, Microsoft Greece, Cyprus & Malta
• Panagiotis Golemis, Architecture Leader – Networking Sales, Cisco
• Dr. Kostas Flokos, CEO, UpcoMinds group of companies

Moderator: Ioanna Michalopoulou, LL.M. Life Sciences & Medical Technology lawyer, Managing Partner Michalopoulou & Associates, Head of Health Sector, AI Catalyst  

Speakers:

• Dimitrios G. Katehakis, Director, Hellenic Digital Health Cluster – HDHC
• Ioanna I. Koukli PhD, President, Hellenic BioCluster, Founder and CEO, Pharmassist Ltd
• Stathis Velivasakis, IT Director, Affidea Greece
• Dr. Stavros Pitoglou, Chief Information Officer, Computer Solutions

Moderator: Dimitris Gerogiannis, President of the Board, AI Catalyst

Moderator: Konstantinos Michanetzis, Coordinator / Defence Sector, AICatalyst

Speakers:

• George Nounesis, Partner at EY, Chair, National Council of Greece for Research, Technology and Innovation
• Georgios Pouraimis, Senior Officer HCDI, Hellenic Navy Commander
• Tassos Rozolis, President of the BoD, SEKPY- Hellenic Manufacturers of Defense Materiel Association & CEO, Akmon SA
• Nikolaos Karampekios, PhD, Head of Defence Innovation Department, National Documentation Center

Moderator: Konstantinos Michanetzis, Coordinator / Defence Sector, AICatalyst

Speakers:

• Dr. Elpiniki Papageorgiou, Professor in AI, Dept. of Energy Systems, University of Thessaly, Larisa
• Nikos Raftopoulos, IT and Telecommunications Director, Independent Power Transmission Operator (ADMIE)

Moderator: Konstantinos Ketsietzis, Journalist

Speakers:

• Dr. Konstantinos Karantzalos, Secretary General of Telecommunications & Posts, Ministry of Digital Governance, Greece
• Adrianos Golemis, Lead Flight Surgeon, European Space Agency (ESA)
• John Gekas, PhD, Data & AI Managing Director, Space AI Lead, Accenture

Moderator: Konstantinos Michanetzis, Coordinator / Defence Sector, AICatalyst

Speakers:

• Katerina Pramatari, Professor, Department of Management Science and Technology, Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB), Founding Partner, uni.fund
• George Karantonis, Partner, Metavallon V.C.

Moderator: Orestis Trasanidis, Strategic Synergies & International Markets Manager, 28DIGITAL

Speakers:

• Lisa Zipkis, Operations Manager, Startup Blink
• Dr. Eric J. W. Orlowski, AI Governance Specialist & Researcher, AI Singapore
• Sheila Birgen, Driven Market Director, DCO Innovation
• Daniel Abbou, General Manager, KI Bundesverband