Bringing Greek businesses together to explore the impact of digital transformation and foster synergy between fledgling startups and established businesses, Business Transformation Stories is an initiative of the AmCham Greece Education, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship (EIE) Committee that aims to leverage the unique strengths of companies at drastically different stages of their development to support business growth and success.
Despite important strides toward digitalization made by EU member states during the pandemic, many still struggle to close the gaps in digital skills and the digital transformation of SMEs. The Recovery and Resilience Facility, with about €127 billion earmarked for reforms and investments in the area of digital, offers an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate digital transformation—an invaluable opportunity given that the adoption of key digital technologies such as AI and big data by businesses remains low across the EU.
Business Transformation Stories was created to address this need: to touch on digital and workplace transformation and how these affect companies and to bring together startups and well established companies so that they may mutually benefit from sharing their experiences. Led and executed by former and present EIE Committee members Barbara Mergou, attorney at law, Katerina Triviza, business consultant and mentor, and Nelly Tzakou, entrepreneur, the initiative brought together 16 Greek companies—eight in Athens and eight in Thessaloniki—that are at different stages of their journeys.
On one hand, startups can play a key role in helping well established companies step up their digital and workplace transformation efforts. By sharing their knowhow in key areas such as technology expertise, agile methodology, culture of innovation, and talent acquisition, they can help larger companies remain relevant and competitive in today’s fast-paced environment. On the other hand, well established companies can share their expertise in areas such as scalability, regulatory compliance, brand building, customer acquisition, and operational efficiency—best practices that can benefit startups in longterm success and growth.
Both digital and workplace transformation help today’s businesses remain relevant, grow, and innovate. Digital transformation refers to the adoption and integration of digital technologies—including AI, machine learning, cloud computing, and IoT—by organizations to fundamentally change how they operate, interact, and deliver value to their customers. Workplace transformation refers to the changes organizations make to the physical and cultural aspects of their workplaces to improve collaboration, productivity, and employee engagement. This can include changes to office design, flexible work arrangements, and the adoption of new communication and collaboration technologies. A comprehensive workplace transformation strategy builds on human-centered design and starts by understanding the modern workforce’s needs. Some examples are flexible workspaces that allow employees to focus without distractions and collaborate in creative teams and BYOD (bring your own device) policies that offer employees choice and control over how they work, enabling them to bring and use their own devices within the company infrastructure.
