Setting Up in Greece
1 July 2025
Artificial Intelligence is evolving fast, and with it, the questions we’re asking are changing. What does responsible AI adoption look like? How do we move from experimental use cases to real-world value? And most critically: what happens when AI starts to act, not just react?
Across Europe, we’re witnessing a growing shift from generative AI to agentic AI – systems with greater autonomy that can make decisions, take actions, and collaborate with humans in increasingly complex environments.
This shift brings massive opportunity across sectors like finance, healthcare, the public sector, and investment. But it also raises new questions about ethics, governance, and regulation.
What Is Agentic AI?
Agentic AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that can autonomously initiate actions in pursuit of goals, often adapting to changing conditions without constant human input. Unlike traditional AI, which follows predefined instructions, agentic systems can make real-time decisions based on context and learned patterns.
In simpler terms, if generative AI writes the email, agentic AI decides when to send it, to whom, and how to follow up.
This evolution is enabling a new wave of AI-human collaboration, where the line between tool and teammate becomes increasingly blurred.
Real-World GenAI Use Cases
The practical impact of generative AI is already visible across multiple industries:
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Healthcare: Clinical documentation assistants, drug discovery acceleration, diagnostic support
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Finance: Personalized wealth management, fraud detection, real-time credit risk modeling
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Marketing: AI-generated ad copy, performance optimization, customer segmentation
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Public Sector: Multilingual service delivery, data processing, policy simulation tools
These GenAI case studies show that the technology isn’t theoretical. It’s deployable, scalable, and increasingly central to operations.
Ethics, Governance, and When Not to Use AI
As generative and agentic AI gain traction, ethical AI adoption becomes a central issue. When should a decision be made by a human, not a machine? How do we ensure transparency, fairness, and accountability in AI systems?
The answer lies in strong AI deployment strategies, supported by national and European efforts in digital governance and AI policy. Greece, like many nations in Southern Europe and MENA, is now engaging more deeply in shaping frameworks for AI innovation that balance agility with responsibility.
As EU AI regulation rolls out, developers and policymakers alike must collaborate to ensure that innovation is inclusive, trustworthy, and grounded in shared values.
Building the Ecosystem: Events, Investment, and Momentum
From GenAI in finance and investment to public sector applications, we’re seeing an ecosystem take shape. Key forums like the EIB AI Conference, AI Investors Summit, and AI Agents Conference are bringing together entrepreneurs, researchers, and regulators to chart the path forward.
Workshops on agentic systems, summits focused on AI innovation in Southern Europe, and a growing wave of AI startup pitches are all helping drive regional momentum.
In parallel, new platforms are emerging. From GenAI podcasts in Athens to public briefings on AI digital governance in Greece, a shared space for learning and alignment is growing stronger by the day.
What’s Next
The future of AI in Europe is not just generative. It is agentic, embedded, and deeply human. From real-world deployments in healthcare and finance to ethical frameworks and regulatory milestones, we are now in a new phase of AI evolution shaped as much by trust as by technology.
As these tools move from labs to workflows, from prompts to autonomous action, the next question is not just what can AI do, but how should it act?
