How global forces are reshaping the business landscape, what opportunities and risks are emerging on the horizon, and what is required for organisations to thrive in an era of continuous transformation.
Greece “has undoubtedly made great strides in the fiscal field,” but now the challenge lies in everyday economic activity and productivity, stated the Vice President of the Government, Kostis Hatzidakis, at the Fortune Greece CEO Initiative 2025, held today, Monday, November 24, at the Athens Concert Hall.
Mr. Hatzidakis, in a discussion with Peggy Antonakou, General Manager Google NA Europe, Panagiotis Polydoros, Country Manager for Greece, Cyprus and Malta at Mastercard, Dr. Kyriakos Sabatakakis, President and CEO of Accenture Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, and Vasilis Chatzikos, CEO of Siemens S.A., moderated by ERT journalist Apostolos Mangiriadis, noted that “the emphasis must be placed on the microeconomic level so that we do not waste the progress we have achieved.”
He stressed that the country must accelerate in innovation, startups and artificial intelligence (AI), recalling the 2023 law with the “most advanced provisions for startup entrepreneurship,” such as 305 percent super-deductions. He also referred to the national AI strategy and the “FAROS Artificial Intelligence Factory.”
He made special reference to PPC’s initiative for the giga factory in Western Macedonia and to the “MITOS” project, where 4,050 procedures have been mapped for simplification or abolition — with the assistance of artificial intelligence. “We have already implemented this pilot in pensions, using robotic tools,” he said.
Regarding the challenges of AI, he stressed that Greece must “protect what it has achieved, but also change its production model more decisively,” with a focus on sectors such as pharmaceuticals, agri-food, logistics and robotics. “We have the human capital to be actively involved in the AI revolution. It’s not only the state — businesses, and especially small ones, must keep up with developments.”
Responding to the question of whether economic growth will be accompanied by job losses, Google NA Europe General Manager Peggy Antonakou emphasized that artificial intelligence is not about replacing people, but about how we use algorithms to perform more complex and productive tasks. “There is also the creative side of AI — and we are still at the beginning,” she said, recalling that Google had conducted the first relevant research back in 2019.
She agreed that there will be job shifts, not necessarily losses, citing the example of Demis Hassabis of DeepMind, who, during a recent visit to Greece, noted that in the future societies will value and compensate more highly professions that today are undervalued — such as nurses and teachers. “We may see a shift in value toward professions that are not digital,” she said.
Mastercard’s Country Manager for Greece, Cyprus and Malta, Panagiotis Polydoros, noted that in recent years “cosmic changes” have taken place in markets and payments, driven by digitalization. “Since 2015, 40 percent of transactions are now carried out digitally,” he stressed, highlighting that this has substantially improved the everyday life of Greek citizens.
More important, however, he said, is not only the immediate tax benefit — about half a billion euros in additional revenue from the expansion of electronic payments — but the cultural shift. “We have moved into a regime of greater tax conscientiousness,” he noted. Despite the progress, 43 percent of transactions are still made in cash. For this reason, Mastercard is pursuing an inclusive digital economy. “We do not want a digital economy that excludes anyone. That is why we want to convert many merchant locations into cash withdrawal points,” he explained, noting that the goal is convenience and choice for everyone.
Looking ahead, he estimated that Greece now has the technological infrastructure, maturity and culture to become a country that not only adopts but also innovates in digital transactions — citing agentic commerce as an example. “It is a great opportunity for the country,” he concluded.
Accenture Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria President and CEO, Dr. Kyriakos Sabatakakis, emphasized that until now the discussion around artificial intelligence has focused primarily on increasing productivity, but the emphasis is now shifting to how organizations will maintain control over their data.
Based on Accenture’s research, large and very large enterprises have now adopted AI at levels comparable to those in the United States. “The huge lag is found in small and medium-sized enterprises, which make up 70 percent of the total,” he stressed, saying that this is where the discussion in Greece must now focus.
In this environment, the issue of digital sovereignty is becoming critically important — especially in light of geopolitical realignments. “In our country, significant steps have been taken. An ecosystem is already being created around FAROS,” he noted. The next major step, according to him, is investment around giga factories, emphasizing that in Europe “strength must lie in unity,” with closer collaboration among European AI centers.
The CEO of Siemens S.A., Vasilis Chatzikos, noted that Greece is “at an initial but critical stage” in the adoption of artificial intelligence. As he said, AI is already entering large companies at a faster pace, and within the next two years “the speed will increase dramatically.” “In a few years we will speak of humanity before AI and after AI,” he emphasized.
Referring specifically to Greece, he spoke of a “great opportunity” and a moment when the country is at the “right price and momentum” to accelerate. At Siemens, he said, the company has already transitioned more than 100 clients “into the language of the machine,” integrating AI into real production environments.
AI, he added, will radically change industrial design as well, allowing faster and more efficient decision-making processes. “In the coming years we will invest more than 1 billion euros to bring AI even more deeply into the language of machines,” he said, describing a new era for industrial and production technology.
