Director’s Desk
By Elias Spirtounias, Executive Director | Business Partners Jul-Aug, 2026

First Person

As we cross the midpoint of the year, geopolitical developments, technological advancements, economic uncertainty, and changing regulatory frameworks are increasingly redefining how organizations operate and compete. Against this backdrop, agility and adaptability are emerging as fundamental necessities for survival and growth. For Europe, competitiveness remains a defining challenge, requiring enhanced productivity, accelerated innovation, improved energy…

The Next Interface of Business: Why Voice AI is Reshaping Customer Experience and Enterprise Operations
By Apostolos Ioakeim, CEO, Voice Logica | Business Partners, Jul-Aug, 2026

TECH SHIFT

Artificial Intelligence is no longer an emerging technology. It is becoming an operational necessity, with conversational and voice AI poised to transform the way businesses communicate and build customer relationships. While the first wave of AI focused on improving individual productivity through content generation, data analysis, and personal assistants, a new phase is now unfolding.…

Investing in Passion
By Business Partners | Jul-Aug, 2026

Business Stories

Turning his lifelong passion into a successful business, Orestis Nikou is the founder and owner of Nikou Fine Classics, specialists in classic vehicle restorations, appraisals, and investment advisory services.   What does the classic vehicles market in Greece look like today? Greece’s classic vehicle market is still at a relatively early stage of development and…

AI Adoption Starts with Culture
By Elena Barla, Co-Founder and CEO, future brAIn and CEO+ | Business Partners, Jul-Aug, 2026

Business Insights

Everyone treats AI adoption like a technology problem. It isn’t. The much harder question is whether organizations are actually ready to adopt AI, scale it, and use it responsibly. Most aren’t, and most don’t know it yet. Individually, people are already good at using AI. They write with it, research with it, summarize, analyze and…

The Business Culture of Resilience: What Greece Can Learn from Japan’s Long View
By Alexandra Loli, Ph.D., Publisher and Editor in Chief | Business Partners Jul-Aug, 2026

BEYOND TIF

As Japan prepares to take its place as the honored country at the 90th Thessaloniki International Fair, the occasion offers more than a celebration of bilateral ties, technology, culture, and investment. It creates an opportunity to reflect on a deeper question: What can Greece learn from a country that has built its global reputation not…

A New Outlook Rewiring Vision
By Business Partners | Jul-Aug, 2026

The Fulbright Alumni Corner

John S. Pezaris, Ph.D., is the principal investigator and director of the Visual Prosthesis Lab in the Department of Neurosurgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and an assistant professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School. With degrees in computer science from MIT, a doctorate in computational neuroscience from Caltech, and a post-doctoral fellowship in neurobiology at…

Investing in Innovation: Accelerating Greece’s life sciences ecosystem
Business Partners | Jul-Aug, 2026

AmCham Greece in the USA

Dr. Simos Simeonidis, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of life sciences VC firm Kos Biotechnology Partners, talks to Business Partners about the promise and future of Greece’s life sciences and biotech landscape and why the time is now to invest in it.   Greece has long produced exceptional scientific talent, much of which has historically built…

Building Greece’s Innovation Economy
By Business Partners | Jul-Aug, 2026

The Interview

Research, innovation, and technology are strategic drivers of economic growth and societal progress. As Greece seeks to strengthen its position within the global knowledge economy, it must successfully translate high-quality research and scientific knowledge into real-world applications and commercial opportunities. Here, Stavros Kalafatis, Deputy Minister for Development Responsible for Research and Innovation, discusses government efforts…

The Health Dividend: Investing in Innovation, Balance, and Resilience
By Alexandra Loli, Ph.D., Publisher and Editor-in-Chief | Business Partners, Jul-Aug, 2026

Thought Leaders

The relationship between health and prosperity has never been more evident. Around the world, healthcare is increasingly recognized not only as a social imperative but also as a strategic investment—one that influences economic performance, workforce productivity, business competitiveness, and societal resilience. The quality of a nation’s healthcare system is closely linked to its ability to…