Chief Scientist Demetris Skourides hosts Tenstorrent COO Keith Witek during company’s third visit to Cyprus

The Chief Scientist of the Republic of Cyprus, Demetris Skourides, hosted Tenstorrent’s Chief Operating Officer, Keith Witek, and Senior Director of Corporate Development, Isaac Salameh, during the company’s third visit to Cyprus.

The visit underscores Tenstorrent’s strong interest in establishing a local office, reinforcing its commitment to contributing to the growth of Cyprus’s digital economy. The company also aims to leverage Cyprus as a strategic gateway to the European and Middle Eastern markets.

During their visit, Tenstorrent executives held productive discussions with the Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Nicodemos Damianou, and the Deputy Minister to the President, Irene Piki, as well as with Chief Scientist Demetris Skourides. These meetings built upon previous discussions outlining the intention to open an office in Cyprus within 2025.

As highlighted during H.E. President Nicos Christodoulides’ recent visit to Silicon Valley, Cyprus envisions the creation of sovereign cloud and AI capabilities. Tenstorrent’s intention to establish a presence on the island is seen as a significant step toward this goal. This move opens new opportunities in research and development (R&D), enhancing Cyprus’s ability to attract EU funding in EU chips, defence, and AI. It also enables the creation of substantial value in Cyprus’s journey toward the development of both hardware and software skills, as well as the development of competitive products within the emerging global chip industry; an industry in which Cyprus does not currently participate. Additionally, it creates opportunities for promoting technology commercialisation and fostering high-value job creation on the island.

Chief Scientist Skourides, who also chairs Cyprus’s National AI Taskforce, has played a key role in facilitating Tenstorrent’s discussions with the government, public sector, academia and local industry. His efforts are focused on unlocking untapped value for Cyprus’s digital economy; particularly in building sovereign AI capabilities for Cyprus with specific focus in maritime, digital twins, and critical infrastructure.

In this context, Tenstorrent COO Keith Witek, met with Professor Marios Polycarpou, Director of the KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence at the University of Cyprus, and his team. KIOS is the largest research centre in Cyprus focused on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

These efforts aim to drive AI adoption at scale and position Cyprus as a regional innovation leader. Strategic discussions with Tenstorrent are also seen as instrumental in attracting Cypriot talent back to the island and in fostering collaboration on AI-driven solutions with both local, and global, commercialisation potential.

Chief Scientist Skourides reiterated the President’s focus on innovation commercialisation, emphasizing the importance of building a bridge that can accelerate the transfer of innovation from lab to market. Building on the intention to act as industry accelerators, Tenstorrent representatives met with major industry figures, including Prabhat Kumar Jha, Group Managing Director and CEO of MSC Shipmanagement Ltd Cyprus, to discuss challenges in the maritime and supply chain sectors. This aligns with Tenstorrent’s ambition to expand its presence in maritime autonomy.

In addition, Tenstorrent held an exploratory meeting with the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute (CMMI) to gain insight into its research portfolio and explore potential synergies that could lead to commercial applications in autonomous maritime vessels.

The company also held successful introductory meetings with senior executives from ASBIS and CL8, as well as the General Manager of TechIsland, strengthening its engagement with Cyprus’s tech ecosystem.

During the visit, Tenstorrent signed a letter of intent with Invest Cyprus CEO Marios Tannousis, regarding its plan to open an office on the island. In the coming weeks, Tenstorrent executives will return to evaluate potential office locations. The company remains committed to establishing its Cyprus presence before the end of the year.