AI in Practice: Changing the Future of Business

Not a build, not a competition — an evening aimed squarely at the people who sign off on AI budgets. "AI in Practice: Changing the Future of Business" runs on Monday 19 October 2026 at European University Cyprus, 6 Diogenous Street, Engomi, Nicosia 2404, and the stated audience is C-level leaders and SME owners. It is on this calendar for one reason: these are the people who decide whether anything built at November's hackathons ever gets bought. The running order.

• 18:00–18:30 — registration and networking
• 18:30–18:50 — welcome remarks, including opening remarks from Demetris Skourides, Cyprus' Chief Scientist
• 19:00–19:55 — three keynotes back to back
• 20:40–21:15 — speaker Q&A
• 21:15–22:30 — networking reception with refreshments

Who is speaking.

• Monica Odysseos — Head of the AI and Data Lab at Grant Thornton Cyprus, on how AI changes work and decision-making rather than just output volume.
• George Malekkos — CEO of POWERSOFT Computer Solutions and President of CITEA, on the unglamorous part: mapping an actual business problem onto an AI solution instead of the reverse.
• Paris Thomas — executive advisor on AI and strategy to Fortune 500 companies, with the keynote "AI and the Future of Business: Will Your Business Be Here in 2030?"

Who is behind it. Organised by Panis.News, co-organised with GrantXpert Consulting and the Future Skills Hub at European University Cyprus. Silver sponsors: Growth Hacking Cyprus, RSEVEN, Mel's Digital. Supporting partners include the Cyprus Computer Society and XValley Tech. Tickets. Registration is on Luma and there are two tiers, Standard and VIP — this one is paid, unlike most things on this list. Pricing is shown at the checkout step; check it before you plan the evening. There is no published cut-off date, so the constraint is room capacity. The honest framing. This is a talks-and-networking evening, not a workshop — you will not leave with a deployed model. What you will leave with is the room: the Chief Scientist, CITEA's president, Grant Thornton's data lead and a few hundred Cypriot business owners, all in one building, ten days before the island's hackathon season proper kicks off with SkillsCyprus (29–31 October) and DevFest Cyprus (31 October). If you are a founder looking for a first paying customer rather than a prize, the ROI here is better than a weekend of hacking.

Event website