Cyprus firms urged to prepare data, rules and staff before adopting AI

Nicosia, Cyprus. Businesses in Cyprus should put their data in order, set clear rules and train staff before they introduce artificial intelligence (AI), according to Kyriaki Parmakki, co-founder and chief executive of the Limassol-based solutions studio essere.ai. She hosted the first ClickUp event held on the island earlier this month.

The event

The gathering took place on October 8 and brought together business owners, directors and technology specialists. It looked at how companies can build AI into their operations, and included demonstrations of practical uses and discussions of the groundwork needed for the technology to work well.

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ClickUp is an American software company valued at $4 billion, known for project management, task management and AI capabilities. It organised the event together with essere.ai, its official and certified partner in Cyprus. According to the source, essere.ai is the only partner ClickUp works with directly on the island.

The programme included a presentation by ClickUp guest speaker Mary Bornaghi, who described the platform’s approach to combining work management with AI. Parmakki spoke on the fundamentals that companies need before they bring in AI.

A gap between people and companies

Parmakki told the Cyprus Mail that the event pointed to a widening gap between how willing individuals are to use AI and how far businesses have built it into their work.

She said that in 2025, 44 per cent of people in Cyprus used generative AI, compared with an EU average of 33 per cent. Only 9 per cent of Cypriot companies used AI, less than half the EU rate of 20 per cent. She summed up the situation by saying: “People in Cyprus are ahead of their companies.”

Interest in practical steps

Parmakki said the turnout and the participants’ questions suggested that businesses are increasingly focused on putting AI into practice, rather than debating whether to adopt it. In her view, willingness is not the obstacle. She noted that the room was full on a Thursday evening with owners and directors, and that their questions concerned the method of adoption rather than the decision itself.

She also commented on ClickUp’s choice of venue, saying: “ClickUp choosing Cyprus for its first event here means international platforms now see this market too.”