Kyriakos Mitsotakis in his first words during the discussion he had with Elevenlabs CEO Mati Staniszewski in the framework of the “Panathenea 2026” festival, congratulated the organizers and pointed out that in the same venue of the Zappeion we signed the Treaty of Accession of Greece to the EU as the 10th member.
“It is particularly symbolic that we are talking here today about artificial intelligence, about the future, about the dynamic Greek startup ecosystem and about the partnerships we can create with amazing companies like ElevenLabs. What we did today was to expand the partnerships we have already created with leading AI companies, with the aim of improving public services.”
“We are taking one of the leading – if not the leading – voice AI chatbot companies in the world and looking to integrate their technologies into the delivery of public services through the Gov.gr” he said, explaining that this way, instead of typing our request, we will simply talk to the website and get meaningful responses through constructive conversations.
“Of course, we can also use this technology to enhance the way we promote our tourism. And another very interesting dimension of these partnerships is the preservation of some of our most distinctive linguistic dialects. What does it mean, for example, for an AI agent to be able to speak in the Cretan dialect? How difficult is that and how can we preserve these extremely interesting linguistic traditions?”
he added.
Mitsotakis said that in 2019, when he took over the country’s government, Greece was a complete technological laggard at all levels. “The delivery of public services was tragic, there was a huge bureaucracy and citizens were constantly complaining about the way they interacted with the state. So we made the digital transformation of the state a top priority. And I think we managed to outperform many European countries in terms of providing a very user-friendly and citizen-friendly interface with the state through the Gov.gr platform. I think this has been a great success, but obviously it was only the beginning. When I started thinking about AI and the transformative impact it can have on the functioning of government a couple of years ago, I thought this is really an opportunity to dramatically increase productivity in the way the state operates.”
Mitsotakis also said the government has a strategy and a competent ministry for AI. “We have an open data policy. You can go to our website and see the number of open data datasets we have made available in the last two weeks alone. This is an incredible treasure trove for many of the companies that may be here today looking for well-curated, high-quality data to develop their own models. We also intend to be at the forefront of smart regulation, through regulatory sandboxes and other tools we can use to encourage companies to partner with us in the delivery of public services.”
The Prime Minister said we want to use the AI revolution as a real tool to prove to citizens that we can use technology to their benefit – especially in the public services sector. In this regard, he gave the example of an elderly woman trying to solve a pension issue by interacting with the state. “A process that has already been greatly simplified. Being able to chat with an intelligent and friendly AI agent who helps her navigate a complicated bureaucracy is a transformative change. That’s why I believe this digital transformation has been recognized across the country as a great success. And we are still at the beginning. I think we’re just touching the surface of what we can do.”
He said the goal is to become a country leader in using artificial intelligence in a smart and responsible way to deliver public services. Also, to develop a dominant AI infrastructure that will harness investment interest in the country, whether it is the new supercomputer being built in Lavrio or encouraging big data giga factories, such as the project being promoted by the Public Power Corporation in Western Macedonia. We want to be part of the dominant European infrastructure space, he stressed, noting that we have enough investment opportunities to attract interest in such investments.
“Often Europe is seen as a continent that does not encourage innovation to the same extent as the United States. And this is particularly true when it comes to supporting startups and facilitating their operations across European countries. The concept of ’28th regime’ is absolutely crucial so that, for example, new Greek companies can operate in Poland without having to go through countless regulatory or bureaucratic hurdles,”
he added.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis also said that at the same time we should be fully aware that there is another side of artificial intelligence that needs proper regulation. “If, for example, an elderly woman who asks for help with her pension is angry, the AI should be able to sense this and try to manage her emotions. But that’s only one aspect. If we are talking about AI companions aimed at children and teenagers, then we are talking about a completely different story,” he said.
And he emphasized: “As a leader charged with trying to regulate children and teens’ access to social media, because doom scrolling is a reality and is robbing our children and teens of time and the ability to develop social skills, I believe the same will be true for voice AI agents and companions interacting with children and teens, creating this illusion of a relationship that substitutes for human connection. To me this is just unacceptable. So I think the next big front, after we address the social media problem, is to look at how we create a safe space for children and teens to use AI. We are already testing such applications in our schools. For example, we are working with OpenAI to provide tools that, within a regulated environment, will help children learn better and teachers better manage their workload.”
He also noted that every technological revolution has a dark side that needs to be properly addressed and regulated.
“I think the net benefit of AI is clearly positive. We are already working with many startups in the healthcare sector, providing them with smart access to our data so they can develop solutions that can be exported outside the country. Defence is another area where a lot is happening. It is always a challenge to get generals and defence ministries to think not just in terms of big platforms – ships or aircraft – but to really understand the transformation that AI is bringing to the battlefield. We now have a government structure that can award contracts to startups to develop prototypes and test them within the Greek armed forces. Civil protection is another area of great interest: using AI for more accurate weather forecasts, flood and fire management. These are areas where I really want to go deeper and encourage companies to work with the Greek state to develop solutions that can then be exported abroad. And of course, we want to nurture this amazing ecosystem of tech startups that is emerging in Greece,” he said elsewhere in the discussion.
The prime minister also said the government has changed the culture with which young Greeks view entrepreneurship. “There was an almost Soviet mentality. It reminded me of Poland in the 1980s. To talk about entrepreneurship and profit in a Greek university was considered almost sacrilegious – even ten years ago. This has changed and I think it is a great transformation that is taking place in Greece on many levels,” he said.
Mr. Mitsotakis also spoke about the savings and investment union that is being discussed in the EU, the ability to raise private capital in Europe to support fast-growing companies.
“I would not want successful companies like the one you have built to rely solely on US venture capital and private equity funds. Nor would I want the only viable option to be an American IPO. In Europe we simply do not have the scale to raise capital for these kinds of companies. This is a big undertaking for us – technically but also operationally very important for fast-growing companies. We talk a lot about public funding and European funds, but not enough about private funding. In Europe we have huge savings, which usually go to the US only to be reinvested later in Europe. That doesn’t make much sense – and I say that as a European,” he said.
In addition, on the regulatory framework, he stressed that on issues where we think a more aggressive stance is needed – such as the protection of children and adolescents or mental health issues – we need to push harder, without creating an overly complex overall environment for business in Europe.
“I cannot predict exactly what the world will look like in 2030. What I can say is that AI, with all the huge productivity benefits it offers, will cause huge disruption in the job market. For example, the service you offer directly competes with traditional call centers and we need to be aware of this reality. For me, the biggest challenge will be to manage these changes in the job market smoothly so that people don’t turn against technology simply because technology will eliminate jobs that exist today and are no longer needed in a new AI world. As a policymaker, this is extremely important. That’s why thinking about the future of the job market and preparing our children and students for this changing reality is so critical. We need to try to anticipate exactly where the changes will happen and where the new opportunities will arise – because there will be huge new opportunities in the workplace.”
She went on to say.
Mitsotakis also said that a general perception should not be created that the benefits of AI are disproportionately stacked in favour of capital or corporations because that will cause a social backlash.
“I think all companies that are active in the AI space need to understand that there is a social responsibility dimension to their work. And of course, our job – as with any technological revolution – is to ensure that we embrace the benefits while managing the negative consequences and risks as best we can.”
He concluded by saying that the first lesson my entrepreneurship professor taught him when he went to business school was that success in the business world is 10% inspiration and 90% sweat.
“Today we did our first lab experiment after we all sweated a lot,”
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