This year’s observation of International Women’s Day marked the perfect opportunity for EY in Greece to host the first “Women (A)dvancing (I)nnovation Hackathon”, which took place on Friday, March 7; an event designed by EYers, for EYers!

With the dynamic and inspiring contribution of our EY Female Leadership Champions, EY organized this hackathon to upskill female EYers on artificial intelligence (AI), while enhancing their confidence on using AI tools for their personal and professional development.

The hosting venue, WHEN Hub, was symbolically selected, being the first co-working space to support women and parents. The day started with a warm welcome to all 42 female participants, from George Papadimitriou, Managing Partner of EY in Greece. A fireside chat followed, with Ioanna Fanarioti, Head of Talent, EY in Greece & CESA South Cluster, and Yanna Andronopoulou, Microsoft General Manager for Greece, Cyprus, and Malta, setting the tone for the day’s great vibe! The journey to the technology industry, as well as insights on upcoming AI and ESG trends and challenges, were some of the key topics covered, captivating the participants’ attention.

The three themes that the EY Hackathon touched upon –content creation, career progression, holistic wellbeing– were tackled by six teams of EYers, fully diverse in function, rank, generation and previous experience with AI tools. The solutions they developed, were assessed with the support of EY mentors and Microsoft facilitators, employing the Design Thinking methodology powered by the EY wavespaceTM Athens hub.

The ideas were impressive, but only one could be the winner! The judging panel, consisting of EY leaders and market professionals, reviewed all proposals and, also taking into consideration the results of a live voting with the participation of all EYers, recognized “SHEvolution” and their “ThrivEY” solution as the winning team. ThrivEY is an AI-powered personalized career advice tool, based on individual skills and market trends, designed to enhance career decision-making.

Many congratulations to all female EYers for their inspirational ideas and creations, and we look forward to more tech initiatives that can help shape the future with confidence!