PHAROS AI Factory, Greece’s national ecosystem for accelerating Artificial Intelligence innovation, participated in the “AI Enables Cybersecurity Meetup”, held on 14 January 2026 in Athens.
Organised by the OTE Group of Companies (HTO) and supported by the Big Data Value Association (BDVA) and the Digital Europe projects VIGILANCE and CyberAID, the event focused on the application of Artificial Intelligence to collaborative cyber defence in an increasingly complex digital landscape.
Representing PHAROS, D. Kanellopoulou, Researcher of the Institute of Informatics & Telecommunications at NCSR “DEMOKRITOS” and V. Katsouros, Director of the Institute for Language and Speech at Athena Research Center, participated in the panel discussion “Collaborative Cyber Defense in the AI Era”, moderated by John Soldatos, alongside BDVA representative Savvas Rogotis, addressing key challenges and opportunities for deploying AI in cybersecurity across organisations.
During the discussion, the PHAROS representatives highlighted the project’s role as both an enabler and a safeguard, providing advanced infrastructure, tools, and skills development to support organisations, including SMEs, in innovating with AI-driven cybersecurity solutions, while ensuring the protection of critical assets and infrastructure from malicious threats. The panel emphasised the importance of EU Data Spaces as trusted mechanisms for sharing cybersecurity data, enabling collective intelligence and coordinated responses to cyber risks.
Further key points included the need for cyber-resilient-by-design LLMs, the role of the AI-on-Demand platform as a marketplace for responsible and sovereign AI solutions, and the importance of encouraging the onboarding and adoption of cybersecurity applications. The discussion also underlined the human-in-the-loop principle as a core aspect of trustworthy AI development, particularly in critical cybersecurity applications, ensuring human oversight and accountability. In addition, the role of EU regulatory frameworks in supporting innovation while fostering trust and security was highlighted.
Through its participation, PHAROS reaffirmed its commitment to advancing AI-driven cybersecurity solutions and strengthening collaboration across research and industry in support of trustworthy and resilient digital ecosystems.
