Marinos Angelides, General Manager of Isystems Cyprus, explains how local businesses can move from reacting to AI to actually harnessing and profiting from it.
Mr. Angelides, artificial intelligence is everywhere today. From your perspective, what has fundamentally changed over the past year?
The biggest shift is that AI has moved beyond experimentation and into everyday business operations. Until recently, companies were asking whether AI was mature enough for business. Today, the question is no longer if they should adopt it, but where it can create measurable value.
What's particularly interesting is that AI is becoming part of the business applications employees already use every day. Whether it's finance, customer service, ERP or CRM, AI is helping organizations make faster decisions, automate routine work, and respond to change more quickly.
In today's business environment, speed has become a competitive advantage, and AI is enabling companies to operate at a completely different pace.
Why do you believe AI has become a business priority rather than simply another technology trend?
Because AI is changing how businesses compete.
For many years, competitive advantage came from offering better products or better prices. Nowadays, it's increasingly determined by how efficiently a company operates, how quickly it can respond to customers, and how effectively it can turn data into decisions.
AI supports exactly these areas. It enables organizations to reduce manual work, improve forecasting, optimize operations, and empower employees with the information they need at the right moment.
That's why I see AI less as a technology initiative and more as a business capability.
Which business functions are already seeing the biggest operational gains from AI?
The strongest results are coming from areas where employees spend significant time processing information rather than creating value.
Finance teams are automating invoice processing, reconciliations, and reporting. Customer service departments resolve requests faster with AI-assisted responses. Sales teams receive intelligent recommendations, while operations managers benefit from improved forecasting and inventory planning.
The important point is that AI isn't replacing expertise but removing repetitive work so people can focus on higher-value activities that require judgement, creativity and customer engagement.
These incremental improvements across multiple departments often translate into a significant operational advantage for the business as a whole.
Many organizations are eager to adopt AI quickly. Where should business leaders be careful?
One of the biggest mistakes is trying to apply AI to inefficient processes or in a dirty data environment without improving them first.
Artificial intelligence can accelerate productivity, but it cannot compensate for fragmented data, disconnected systems, or unclear workflows. In fact, it often exposes those weaknesses even more clearly and can make things worse.
That's why successful AI adoption begins with strong business foundations. When finance, operations, sales, and customer data are connected through an integrated platform, AI can generate reliable insights and automate processes with confidence and mitigated risk of hallucinations.
If a business in Cyprus wants to start benefiting from AI today, where should it begin?
My advice is simple: don't start with AI - start with your business priorities.
Ask yourself where your team loses the most time. Which decisions rely on manual reporting? Which repetitive tasks slow productivity? Where are delays affecting customers or internal operations?
Those questions usually identify the first opportunities where AI can deliver quick and measurable results.
At Isystems Group, this is the approach we've followed for more than 20 years. With hundreds of successful projects across multiple industries and as a leading Microsoft partner, we've learned that successful digital transformation is about applying the right technology to solve the right business challenge.
Looking ahead, how do you see AI reshaping the competitive landscape for businesses in Cyprus?
I believe AI will redefine competitiveness over the next few years.
The companies that succeed won't necessarily be those investing the most in AI. They'll be the ones using it to make better decisions, adapt faster, and continuously improve the way they operate.
Ultimately, AI is shortening the distance between information and action. Businesses that can respond faster to customers, market changes and operational challenges will gain a lasting competitive advantage.
After everything we've discussed, what gives you the greatest optimism about the future of business in Cyprus?
What gives me confidence is the mindset I'm seeing in the market.
Cypriot businesses have always demonstrated resilience and an entrepreneurial spirit. Today, they're also becoming increasingly open to innovation and willing to rethink the way they operate.
When you combine that ambition with modern technologies and the right strategic partners, you create the conditions not only to keep pace with change, but to turn it into a long-term competitive advantage.
