Distinguished guests and industry leaders reconvened at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center for another day of knowledge, insight, and inspiration as EmTech Europe 2025 in partnership with Kathimerini, Greece’s leading newspaper continued. On the second day’s agenda were: sustainable materials, AI in healthcare, governance, science and media, as well as predictions of the tipping points yet to come.

Innovation made sustainable with advanced cooling materials

In today’s technology ecosystem, rapid advancements, especially those related to energy-intensive AI applications, require the parallel development of sustainability innovations. This is the specialty of Apheros CEO Julia Carpenter, one of MIT Technology Review’s 35 Innovators Under 35. Carpenter pointed out that ‘cooling is critical for data centers, which already consume 1% of the world’s energy for cooling alone. Switching to liquid cooling can save up to 85% of energy costs, which can amount to $2 million annually.’ Apheros is leading this effort by using a specially formulated metal foam that significantly increases the efficiency of cooling systems.

‘We must ensure that technology remains safe and reliable, and that people remain in control’

Junaid Bajwa, senior partner at Flagship Pioneering, focused on cutting-edge technologies that are shaping the future of healthcare. Bajwa noted that ‘with the gap between supply and demand for healthcare professionals expected to reach 11 million globally, the role of AI is critical in speeding up processes and reducing bureaucracy, freeing up valuable time that can be spent on patient care.’ Bajwa cited the example of radiology, where the use of AI can reduce image analysis time from three hours to just 13 minutes.

‘In the future, there is no doubt that shipping will become autonomous thanks to AI’

The impact of AI and robotics on maritime transportation was highlighted by Michael Triantafyllou, Professor of Marine Science and Technology at MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. Citing the pioneering work on the Tuna and Pike robots, Triantafyllou explained how innovative technologies are enabling the large-scale development of autonomous submarines. ‘AI is revolutionizing ship navigation,’ he said, predicting that in the next decade there will be an extensive fleet of AI submarines mapping the deepest parts of the oceans, generating such a vast amount of data that AI will be the only way to process and use it.

‘We don’t want technology for technology’s sake – we need to find out what the problems are and move towards solutions’

Next on the Emtech 2025 stage, Dimitris Papastergiou, the Greek Minister of Digital Governance, spoke about the country’s role in the new environment shaped by the latest developments in technology and AI. Referring to his time as mayor of Trikala, the minister expressed his belief that technology must respond to practical problems. In response to a question about the Tempe accident, he expressed a sense of ‘defeat’ and stressed the need for the government to continue to develop safe infrastructure. After a comprehensive overview of the government’s current technology initiatives, the Minister concluded that in order to create a climate of trust among citizens, the government must lead the way by first changing itself and providing digital solutions that improve daily life for everyone.

‘AI is forcing us to rethink the purpose of humans on Earth’

Danilo McGarry, Chief AI and Transformation Officer at Ective, predicted the sweeping impact of AI on our daily lives, sharing with the audience the ways in which AI will cause seismic changes not only in the way we work but also in the way we live. ‘The next stage [of AI] will be Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) – a system that can do what a human does, but better,’ he said, predicting that humanoid robotic versions of AI will be available in about five years. McGarry cited the impact of AI in medicine, law (even predicting that 50% of the world’s law firms could go bankrupt due to automation), marketing, banking, and even human relationships. He emphasized the need for collaboration between major platforms to promote and adopt regulations and shared his belief that AI will evolve in ways that will ultimately lead us to rethink our role as humans in this world.

Safety and ethics in the age of artificial intelligence

Security and ethics issues surrounding the widespread adoption of AI were discussed by top executives from leading technology companies who gathered on the Emtech Europe 2025 stage.

Andreas Athanassopoulos, CEO of Olympia Group, shared that the group is in the process of integrating AI applications and acknowledged their significant contribution to production and supply chains, as well as to improving working conditions. John Gikopoulos, Chief Innovation Officer of Qualco Group, spoke about the upcoming wide availability of new agentic solutions that can actively communicate with users and emphasized the importance of the EU AI law to ensure secure data management. On the topic of ethics, Alexandros Manos, CEO of Netcompany-Intrasoft, stressed the need for every organization to develop a framework that ensures transparency, accountability, and fairness. Finally, Dimitris Primbas, General Manager of IBM Greece & Cyprus, said that without ignoring the high cost of adopting AI, it is necessary to invest in new technologies as the return will be manifold and crucial.

AI: a tool that’s only as useful as its user

Luc Julia, Chief Scientific Officer of Renault Group France and co-creator of Apple’s Siri, spoke about the evolutionary path of conversational models and shared his predictions for their future. Julia touched extensively on the ethical issues arising from the rapid advancements in AI but advised that we should approach regulatory frameworks with caution. To that, he stated: ‘If we overregulate technology, we risk banning useful and innovative applications.’ He also shared his own definition of AI: Augmented Intelligence, an enhancement of human intelligence. In his view, AI is merely a tool; the responsibility for its use falls entirely on us.

‘Companies that used to send communications in PDF can now convert them to video for different languages and markets’

Peter Hill, Chief Technology Officer of Synthesia.io, one of the most innovative companies in the AI-driven video creation space, shared the multitude of video-making capabilities that are currently accessible to everyone, regardless of their experience: ‘The way we create videos is similar to the way we create a PowerPoint presentation.’ As for the company’s plans for the near future, Hill mentioned exploring technologies that will make AI-generated videos even more interactive and personalized. In terms of the evolution of AI, Hill believes that while the technology can automate many processes, he believes that a combination of AI and traditional creativity will ultimately be the dominant model.

‘The role of the physician remains irreplaceable’

The conference was concluded by Antonis Armoundas, Principal Investigator at the Division of Cardiology at Mass General Hospital and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, who discussed personalized medicine and the opportunities and challenges of applying AI in healthcare. Among the challenges, Armoundas highlighted the need to eliminate biases inherent in algorithms and the use of common formats for sharing medical data to ensure its clarity (data interoperability). Presenting a study from the field of cardiology, he argued that AI approaches aim to facilitate early diagnosis and treatment tailored to patients’ individual conditions. However, as he noted: ‘the role of the physician remains irreplaceable.’