How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

Having experienced a multitude of crises, both international and national, throughout my legal career, one of the biggest challenges I always faced was ensuring that I was part of my employer’s crisis management processes. Being involved in these processes helped me stay informed of business strategy and decisions, calibrate my legal thinking, prioritise matters, and provide tailored advice. Additionally, staying informed of the views of political and business leaders and experts, both inside and outside my organisation, helps me filter certain business assumptions, potentially bringing a fresh perspective to a crisis.

There have also been times when I had to step outside my comfort zone to handle pressure situations that demanded immediate advice, and other occasions where I had to act with relatively limited information. Facing these challenges, rather than shying away from them, helped me build personal resilience over time, gaining confidence and becoming more comfortable with uncertainty. This, in turn, fostered trust and effective communication with different stakeholders, which are critical success factors for my employer in crisis response.

What emerging technologies do you see as having the most significant impact on the legal profession in the near future, and how do you stay updated on these developments?

Most impactful technological advances, such as generative artificial intelligence (genAI) and cloud computing, are already transforming and challenging the legal profession, yet their full impact has not been entirely understood or assessed. While these new technologies are elevating productivity to new levels, organisations are inevitably exposed to new risks, such as data privacy breaches, heightened regulatory scrutiny, cyber security threats, and reputational damage. I stay abreast of these technological developments and associated risks by joining relevant initiatives within my organisation, attending industry fora and training sessions, interacting with other professionals and experts in my community, and scanning online legal research tools provided by my organisation, as well as external sources of information such as the web and the press.

How do you prioritise diversity and inclusion within your legal department, and what initiatives have you implemented to foster a more inclusive and equitable work environment?

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) are among the core foundations on which Deutsche Bank’s values are built, and as such, they are embedded across all business and people activities every day, including those of the legal department. Within the EMEA Legal team, I lead the DEI Council, which aims to bring together colleagues from different countries, and thus diverse cultural backgrounds and experiences, while coordinating with other regional councils on global-led DEI projects. Recent initiatives include mentorship programmes and organising internal and external speaker sessions for the entire team. Such initiatives elevate awareness but also bring people closer by fostering a sense of belonging and community.

In your opinion, what are the main trends that are salient in your country currently (these can be legal, political, economy or business-based)?

Greece is experiencing an unprecedented recovery phase, driven by a bold reform programme from the government and accompanied by a series of investment-led initiatives to reinvigorate domestic investment and attract foreign direct investment. This is extremely important, as the country went through a decade-long, unprecedented crisis, which led to the loss of over one-fourth of its GDP and extremely high unemployment rates. Greece is now catching up in its technology infrastructure, as well as addressing the remaining needs in terms of resilience required in light of the climate crisis (e.g., large investments in photovoltaic parks and, increasingly, in wind turbines). This requires continued vigilance in terms of monitoring risk and compliance in view of changing legislation and regulations, to ensure that the speed of infrastructure investments and reforms not only creates new opportunities but also mitigates potential risks.