At SingularityU Summit Greece 2021 EY Greece

Sustainable entrepreneurship, the role of Artificial Intelligence in the transformation of the economy, as the factors that will determine the future of Greece, were the subject of EY Greece’s participation in SingularityU Summit Greece 2021, which it supported as a Platinum Sponsor.

Mr. Harry Gaskell, Purpose and Sustainability Leader, EY UK and Ireland, spoke about the need for a renewed business attitude towards climate change and sustainability issues. According to the speaker, the recent United Nations Climate Conference made it clear, for the first time, that businesses are not only part of the problem, but can also be part of the solution, stressing that changing and moving the economy from carbon will come from them.

“Businesses can not save the world on their own,” Gaskell said, adding that they needed the help of governments and society. Although many companies perceive climate action as an additional cost, the speaker stressed that they should adapt their way of thinking, and approach it as opportunities to create value, not only for themselves, but also for their consumers. people and society.

To do this, businesses need to redefine their purpose to focus on the “Man, Planet, Profit” triptych. “Successful businesses,” he added, “also understand the emotional impact of climate change on people and use it to create change for their people and their customers.”

Concluding his presentation, Mr. Gaskell addressed Alicia Humpreys, EY Sustainability Leader – People Advisory Services and Head of the EY Earth Strategic Initiative, who described, from her own perspective, the EY experience from her trip to Sustainability – from efforts to change the mindset across the organization, to developing a global climate strategy, to achieving a negative carbon footprint in the financial year 2021.

In the next section, Dr. Lazaros Polymenakos, Director, Technical AI Consulting of EV Greece and EY Central, Eastern, Southeastern Europe and Central Asia (CESA), spoke about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it transforms the way we work, communicate and process information and the data.

According to Dr. Polymenako, Artificial Intelligence is “the new currency” – companies will produce it, compete for it, use it, market it, invest in it, judge their progress in its field and share with their customers. The readiness of each company for the adoption of AI technologies, evolves into venture capital, but also into a criterion for valuing the value of an organization.

“We need to reinvent business to harness the potential of Artificial Intelligence,” he said, adding that businesses will benefit from the increased human potential of artificial intelligence-based smart machines. At the end of his presentation, he urged the participants to consider the possibilities offered, to invest and to become part of the global revolution that is being launched today by Artificial Intelligence.

Dr. Polymenakos also participated in a discussion with Carlo van de Weijer, SingularityU Faculty, AI, Mobility & General Manager, Eindhoven AI Systems Institute, on the ethical implications of using Artificial Intelligence in various aspects of business and everyday life. .

“Re-imagine Greece” was the theme of the CEO panel in which Mr. Panagiotis Papazoglou, CEO of EY Greece, participated at the end of the first day of the Summit. In this environment, where different characteristics and skills are required, Greek companies will need a new model of leadership, namely that of the “Leader of the People”, as the recent At the same time, he stressed that Greek CEOs, like their counterparts worldwide, have made technology and data a priority. “But they should not overlook the emphasis on the human element – their people and the wider social environment “, stressed Mr. Papazoglou.

For the development of Greece in the future, Mr. Papazoglou noted that we must take advantage of the country’s dynamics as one of the most attractive destinations for foreign direct investment, to close the investment gap of recent decades. “We have signaled that we are now becoming more attractive, either by digitizing the public sector or by making other changes that make the environment more environmentally friendly,” he said.

He also added that, according to the findings of the EY Attractiveness Survey Greece 2021, it is positive that there is a shift of investments directed in the country, towards the technology sector. However, Mr. Papazoglou stressed that we must use the human resources of Greece – whether it lives in the country or works abroad – to be able to translate the research and innovation produced in Greek research and academic institutions, into solutions and products that will add value to the real economy. “If we want to accelerate the development of the country, we must focus on technology,” he concluded.

Finally, Mr. Papazoglou estimated that the human resources and the geographical characteristics of the country are its biggest strategic advantages, noting that “utilizing these, we can really turn Greece into a different country in the coming years.”