Microsoft exec on Southern Europe’s big AI moment: skills — not technology — will determine who leads the region’s AI future

This is a conversation with Fortune Greece CEO Tasos Zachos, reprinted with permission.

The second act of artificial intelligence will not be judged by models alone.

It will be judged by how economies manage to turn technology into real productivity.

After almost two years of impressive demonstrations and incessant discussions around large language models, the global economy is entering a new phase.

The question is no longer who has the most powerful AI tool, but which organizations — and which countries — have the skills, leadership and infrastructure to harness the technology at scale.

That is, to become the region’s Frontier AI leaders.

In Southern Europe, this transition is already underway.

Greece, Portugal, Italy and other markets in the region are trying to move from simply adopting AI tools to creating an ecosystem that combines human capital, universities, startups, the public sector and modern digital infrastructure.

“I see Greece as more than a market; I see it as an innovation hub,” Charles Calestroupat, Microsoft’s Vice President for Southern Europe, told Fortune Greece .

Responsible for 17 markets in the region, he believes that the country now has several of the ingredients needed to evolve into a regional AI hub: an increasingly mature innovation ecosystem, public digital initiatives such as mAigov, growing investments in cloud and data centers and, more importantly, people with the right skills.

If skills are the foundation of this transition, then the role of large organizations becomes decisive.

In this context, Microsoft, through the GR for GRowth initiative, has already contributed to the training of 100,000 people — professionals in the public and private sectors, as well as students and unemployed — in digital skills, in pursuit of a transition that will be essentially inclusive.

The aim, as highlighted by this strategy, is not only to accelerate the digital transformation, but also to ensure that no one is left behind.

“Greece ranks 1 st in terms of the use of AI by Gen Z in Europe,” says Charles Calestroupat, who also points out that everything will be determined by the ability of organizations to redesign the way they work, invest in the skills of their people, and build the required trust for AI to produce measurable business value.