Speakers

• 

  Kostas Georgakopoulos Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Pfizer
  

  Kostas Georgakopoulos

  Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Pfizer

  Mr. Georgakopoulos is a Cybersecurity Executive with more than 25 years of experience building Global Information Security programs for some of the largest global financial institutions in the world. He is currently serving as the Chief Information Security Officer of Pfizer. He is an industry recognized expert in the field of cybersecurity and building cyber security organizations. He has led Information Security programs, advised C-Level executives, Board of Directors, security industry organizations, as well as regulators on matters involving cybersecurity, incident response and security best practices. Mr. Georgakopoulos has supported organizations in some of the most complex cybersecurity breaches and coordinated incident response efforts with multiple law enforcement agencies and regulators. He has presented cybersecurity topics for a variety of audiences including RSA, the industry ISACs, and other industry organizations. Mr. Georgakopoulos has also taught at the graduate level at Fairfield University where he built, from the ground up, a leading cyber security curriculum as well as serving as an adjunct instructor at Sacred Heart University. He is currently helping build cyber security programs at two additional higher education institutions and has been asked to serve as a Board advisor to Quinnipiac University. Mr. Georgakopoulos has held global CISO positions for leading financial services organizations including Mondelez, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Bank of China, NASDAQ, & UBS, and Procter & Gamble, the largest consumer manufacturing company in the world. Prior to joining Mondelez International, Mr. Georgakopoulos served as the Global Chief Information Security Officer of Procter & Gamble, Americas CISO and Global Head of Security Operations for UBS and as the Global CISO for NASDAQ where he led the organization through the largest breach of the period and partnered with multiple law enforcements agencies, regulators and successfully mitigated a national security threat.

• 

  Grigorios Tsoumakas Professor of Machine Learning and Knowledge Discovery at the School of Informatics of the Aristotle University
  

  Grigorios Tsoumakas

  Professor of Machine Learning and Knowledge Discovery at the School of Informatics of the Aristotle University

  Grigorios Tsoumakas is an Professor of Machine Learning and Knowledge Discovery at the School of Informatics of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) in Greece. He received a degree in Computer Science from AUTH in 1999, an MSc in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, in 2000 and a PhD in computer science from AUTH in 2005. His research expertise focuses on supervised learning techniques (ensemble methods, multi-target prediction) and natural language processing (semantic indexing, keyphrase extraction, summarization). He has published more than 150 research papers and according to Google Scholar he has more than 20,000 citations and an h-index of 53. Dr. Tsoumakas is a senior member of ACM and IEEE. His honors include receiving the European Conference on Machine Learning and Principles and Practice of Knowledge Discovery in Databases (ECML PKDD) 10-Year Test of Time Award in 2017 and the Marco Ramoni best paper award at the 19th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (AIME 2021). He is an advocate of applied research that matters and has worked as a machine learning engineer, researcher and consultant in several national, international, and private sector funded R&D projects. In February 2019, he co-founded Medoid AI, a spin-off company of AUTH developing AI solutions based on machine learning technology.

• 

  Andreas L. Symeonidis Professor with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Aristotle University
  

  Andreas L. Symeonidis

  Professor with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Aristotle University

  Dr. Eng. Andreas L. Symeonidis is a Professor with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece and the Head of Research at Cyclopt.com. He specializes on the analysis, design, implementation and maintenance of advanced software and systems. Dr. Symeonidis’ work has been published in 3 scientific books and over 200 journal articles, book chapters, and conference publications. He has been heavily involved (technically and managerially) in more than 30 contract EU- and National-funded R&D projects , while serving occasionally as an R&D project evaluator and reviewer for the European Commission.

• 

  Hannah Sophie Weber Researcher - PhD candidate in Oxford University, Virtual Routes, UK
  

  Hannah Sophie Weber

  Researcher - PhD candidate in Oxford University, Virtual Routes, UK

  Hannah-Sophie Weber is a Research and Project Officer at Virtual Routes, based in London. Alongside this role, she is pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in International Relations at the University of Oxford, where she researches public-private interaction in cybersecurity governance. She holds an MPhil in Politics (European Politics and Society) from the University of Oxford and two undergraduate degrees of B.A. Political Science & B.A. Empirical Cultural Studies and European Ethnology from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich. She previously worked for Virtual Routes as a Junior Researcher. Other prior positions include her roles at the United Nations Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies (UN-ODET) in New York City, the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) in Oslo, the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) in Berlin, the German Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) in Bonn, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) in Brussels, and the Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF).

• 

  Peter Vassilikos Cybersecurity Consultant, CBSLAN Security Operations Center
  

  Peter Vassilikos

  Cybersecurity Consultant, CBSLAN Security Operations Center

  Peter Vassilikos is an accomplished business and technology leader with over a decade of international experience in senior management roles across leading IT organizations. He combines strategic vision with deep technical expertise in Artificial Intelligence (AI), High-Performance Computing (HPC), Cloud, and Cybersecurity, driving innovation and business growth.
  Certified by NVIDIA, IBM, and Cisco, Peter has developed advanced proficiency in AI systems architecture and infrastructure enablement. His expertise spans NVIDIA DGX, Omniverse, and Spectrum-X ecosystems, as well as IBM Software-Defined and AI-Driven Storage. This rare combination enables him to design and deploy scalable, high-performance infrastructures that transform data into measurable business value.
  Beyond AI, Peter is highly experienced in Cybersecurity consulting, delivering end-to-end strategies that enhance protection, compliance, and operational resilience. He ensures that organizations can innovate confidently while maintaining strong governance and data integrity.
  As Group Training Director & HPC & AI Manager, Peter leads large-scale training initiatives focused on digital enablement and workforce readiness. He has built structured corporate learning programs, standardized procedures, and centralized knowledge frameworks that align teams, elevate skills, and drive organizational excellence.
  His career reflects cross-functional leadership in sales, business development, IT engineering, and education, with a proven ability to adapt across markets and cultures. Fluent in multiple languages and globally connected, he fosters high-performing teams and sustainable partnerships worldwide.
  Peter has also served as a guest tutor at prestigious higher educational institutions, teaching Information Systems and sharing insights from his extensive international management experience. His passion for knowledge transfer and mentoring reflects his belief that technology reaches its true value only when people understand and trust it.
  Driven by curiosity and collaboration, he continues to explore new ideas and partnerships with organizations ready to scale their AI, HPC, and cybersecurity capabilities into the next era of intelligent growth.
  Expertise: AI Infrastructure | HPC | NVIDIA Ecosystem | IBM Data & AI | Cybersecurity | Training & Enablement | Business Development

• 

  Panagiotis Katsaros Professor - Vice-Chairman of School of Informatics, Aristotle University
  

  Panagiotis Katsaros

  Professor - Vice-Chairman of School of Informatics, Aristotle University

  Panagiotis Katsaros received the B.Sc degree (1992) in Mathematics from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece), the M.Sc. degree (1993) in Software Engineering from Aston University in Birmingham (UK) and the Ph.D (2002) in Informatics from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He is Assistant Professor in the School of Informatics in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. His research interests focus on formal verification, model-based system design, dependability and security of systems and software. He has published over 100 papers in international journals and conference proceedings on the aforementioned areas and he has scientifically coordinated international research projects funded by the European Space Agency and other organisations. Prof. Katsaros has also organised important conferences in his area, such as the ETAPS 2018 in Thessaloniki.

• 

  Brigadier General Grigorios Gkoutzelis Director of the Cyber Defence Directorate, General Staff of National Defense
  

  Brigadier General Grigorios Gkoutzelis

  Director of the Cyber Defence Directorate, General Staff of National Defense

  Brigadier General Grigorios Gkoutzelis graduated from the Hellenic Military Academy in 1992, initially commissioned as a Supply and Transportation Officer before transferring to the Research and Informatics Corps in 2003. His academic foundation is distinguished by two Master’s degrees from the University of Macedonia in Management Information Systems and Law and Informatics. Furthermore, he holds several high-level international certifications, including Agile Project Management, ITIL v4, PRINCE2, and Microsoft Azure AI, and has completed advanced specialized training in cybersecurity at the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.

  Throughout his career, Brigadier General Gkoutzelis has amassed significant experience in senior command and staff roles within both national and international posts. He has served as the Commander of the Hellenic Army IT Support Center and as the Director of Cybersecurity for the Hellenic Army General Staff. His international profile includes tours as a staff officer at NATO Force Command Madrid from 2009 to 2012 and NATO Rapid Deployable Corps – GR HQ from 2016 to 2019, as well as a deployment to Afghanistan in 2020, where he served as the J1 Director at the Resolute Support Mission Headquarters in Kabul.

  He is graduate of the Hellenic National Defence College, and fluent in English, Spanish, and Italian. Following his promotion to the rank of Brigadier General in 2024, he served as Deputy Director of the Hellenic Army’s Signal-Informatics Directorate and subsequently as Coordinator for the newly established Joint IT Directorate of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff. Most recently, he held the position of Director of the Innovation Directorate before being appointed, on January 19, 2026, as the Director of the Cyber Defense Directorate of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff. He is married and has two daughters, aged 28 and 25.