.png "fi-local-logo (1)")
Founder Institute Cyprus
Part of the world’s largest pre-seed accelerator, supporting early-stage founders in building globally scalable startups from day one.
PyData Cyprus
A community for data science and AI professionals focused on practical knowledge sharing, open-source tools, and real-world applications.
Google Developers Group Cyprus
A local chapter of Google’s global developer community, connecting engineers and tech enthusiasts through events, talks, and hands-on learning.
Christos Christodoulou is an AI and product executive with over a decade of experience building applied AI-driven products and and data platforms. He holds a degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in Nanotechnology from Humboldt University of Berlin.
He previously worked at T-Systems (part of Deutsche Telekom) in Berlin, where he led initiatives focused on large-scale data analytics and AI-driven decision platforms. He also worked at Klarna, managing and contributing to teams building machine-learning systems for fraud detection and financial data infrastructure.
Christos currently serves as Vice President of AI and Product at a U.S. healthcare technology company, where he leads the development of AI and generative AI systems, as well as data-driven platforms that support decision-making and operational workflows in the life sciences sector.
He is also the founder of a payments startup in Estonia and is developing a print and digital magazine platform and creative ecosystem spanning Cyprus and Greece.
Outside of his professional work, he swims through the winter for mental clarity and enjoys cooking for large groups, driven by a deep interest in gastronomy.
Christina is an Artificial Intelligence executive with extensive experience leading AI initiatives across organisations in Cyprus. She specialises in AI strategy, ethical implementation, and data-driven decision-making, helping both public and private sector teams adopt AI responsibly while accelerating innovation. She currently serves as Head of Group AI at Columbia Group.
In her talk, Christina will explore the real risks of unmanaged AI and why organisations need clear governance when adopting AI tools. She will explain what responsible AI looks like in practice, from risk-based use and clear accountability to human oversight and approved tools. The session will introduce a practical governance approach that allows teams to innovate with AI while protecting organisations from data leakage, compliance breaches, and unsafe decisions.
The key takeaway: responsible AI is not about slowing innovation down, but about creating the guardrails that allow AI to scale safely and sustainably.
Authorization Is Hard: What Banking Systems Can Teach Us About Security
Knowing who a user is is only part of the problem. The real challenge is defining what they should be allowed to do.
In this session, Marios shares insights from banking systems to explain why authorization is one of the hardest problems in security, and how small design flaws can lead to major risks.
About the Speaker
Marios Georgiou is a Research Engineer with 20+ years of experience across software engineering, cybersecurity, and telecommunications. He has worked extensively in banking systems and is the founder of a cybersecurity and penetration testing company.