IBM to invest more in startups
Highlighting and strengthening innovation and talent is one of the main strategic axes of IBM Greece, in addition to the growth of its activity related to the development and marketing of software.
For this purpose, as the managing director of the Greek subsidiary of the American group, Nikos Maniatis, tells Kathimerini, the company is planning to invest in startups in the form of financing, providing consulting support or free access to digital tools. In this direction, the US group announced last November the creation of an investment fund of half a billion dollars to invest in companies active in the field of artificial intelligence.
“AI and cybersecurity are two areas where businesses are putting a lot of emphasis at the highest level. It is estimated that by 2030, investments in artificial intelligence will lead to additional growth of 16 trillion euros, with companies investing in the sector in question having the competitive advantage. At the same time, shielding against cyberattacks is directly linked to the digitization of processes and infrastructures because the risk is increasing, with the dominant tendency being that of proactively dealing with an attack and not managing it, that is, after it has occurred,” notes Maniatis who completed one year in the position of CEO this year.
As he adds, demand for technological solutions has strengthened due to the large number of digitization projects in the private and public sectors.
“According to a recent study by the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises, Greek businesses have significantly strengthened their digital maturity – i.e. reaching 70% of the European Union average in the period 2019-23. However, even greater investments in technological modernization are required in order for the gap to converge,” says the head of IBM Greece.
Nevertheless the trend is increasing and is also reflected in the company’s figures, which in 2023, on an annual comparison basis, strengthened the growth rate to a marginally double-digit percentage and improved profitability. The figures for the year’s first quarter are also up, compared to the corresponding ones of the same period in 2022, with 75% of IBM’s revenue coming from the software sector.
