Generation Y’s CEO, Evi Boukorou-Georgouda, participated in an exclusive live session at the Fortune Greece Network alongside Dr. Tasos Gaitanis, then serving as Secretary General for Research and Innovation. Titled “Catalyzing Hellenic Innovation: A Fresh Compass,” the conversation explored the intersection of innovation policy, B2B digital transformation, and practical strategies for strengthening Greek entrepreneurship.
The Context: Innovation Policy Meets Business Reality
The session was framed by a broader discussion on Greece’s innovation landscape. Dr. Gaitanis outlined the government’s R&D tax incentive framework, currently offering deductions of up to 200% for companies that invest in research and development, the most generous in the European Union. He also emphasized that innovation is fundamentally a matter of culture and mindset, not simply the adoption of new technology. Using a tool like AI, he noted, does not mean a company is innovating. Innovation happens when businesses apply knowledge to create something that did not exist before, whether a product, a service, or a process.
This set the stage for Mrs. Boukorou-Georgouda to bring the conversation into practical territory: what does innovation look like when applied to real business challenges, and how can Greek companies leverage B2B digital transformation to grow and compete.
25 Years in the Digital Ecosystem
Mrs. Boukorou-Georgouda introduced Generation Y’s work across two core pillars: digital transformation of businesses, with a specialization in wholesale and retail eCommerce solutions, and the full spectrum of digital marketing, from strategy to execution. With 25 years in the Greek market and a significant footprint across Southeast Europe, Generation Y brings deep experience in understanding how businesses operate and how their commercial processes can be translated into digital ecosystems.
As she explained, the foundation of digital transformation lies in understanding the business itself. When Generation Y undertakes a B2B project, the team needs to go deep into the company’s commercial operations, not just its technology stack.
What a B2B Platform Actually Means
One of the most valuable parts of the session was Mrs. Boukorou-Georgouda’s practical explanation of what a B2B platform is and how it works. She described it as a digital infrastructure, a new channel through which a company’s B2B clients can access a personalized environment to browse products, view their specific pricing and commercial terms, check credit limits, review account history, and place orders at any time, without needing to contact a sales representative for routine transactions.
These are closed systems. Each client logs in and sees only the pricing, product availability, and commercial policies specific to their agreement. If one client has a 10% discount and another has 15%, each sees their own price list. Orders can be placed on a Sunday evening if needed. The platform can integrate with communication tools for personalized notifications, and it connects directly to the company’s ERP and CRM systems to pull real-time data.
The solution applies to companies with a product-based offering: manufacturers, importers, distributors, and wholesalers that sell to B2B clients.
Three Factors That Determine Success
Drawing from two decades of experience, Mrs. Boukorou-Georgouda outlined three critical factors for a successful B2B implementation.
First, leadership commitment. B2B platforms are commercial infrastructure projects, not IT projects. The initiative must come from the company’s leadership and commercial team, with a clear understanding of client needs, business challenges, and commercial strategy. Delegating this to the IT department alone is not the right approach.
Second, data readiness. B2B platforms are fed by information from ERP systems, CRM tools, and other business systems. The more organized the underlying data, the smoother the transition. Mrs. Boukorou-Georgouda shared a telling example: when one of Generation Y’s large clients sat down to implement their B2B platform, they discovered 385 different pricing policies in their system, with roughly half of them applying to just a single client each. This kind of accumulated complexity is common across businesses of all sizes and needs to be addressed before going digital.
Third, the right partner. Companies should not try to envision the entire solution on their own. A B2B implementation requires a partner with both commercial understanding and technical expertise to guide the process from strategy through execution.
The New Generation of B2B Buyers
Mrs. Boukorou-Georgouda also addressed a shift that makes B2B digitalization increasingly urgent. The next generation of decision-makers in B2B will expect the same speed, convenience, and user experience they are accustomed to as consumers. Just as nobody calls a restaurant anymore to place a delivery order, B2B buyers will increasingly expect to interact with their suppliers through digital platforms rather than phone calls and manual processes. Companies that fail to meet these expectations risk falling behind.
Exporting Greek Technology
The session highlighted Generation Y’s decade-long strategy of exporting technology to Southeast European markets. Mrs. Boukorou-Georgouda described this as a bet the company made ten years ago: a Greek company exporting technology was neither obvious nor common at the time.
Generation Y chose to focus on Southeast Europe, which she described as a market with lower digital maturity than Greece but significantly greater appetite for growth. While the entry was not easy and took time, the results have been clear. Today, the company has a strong digital footprint across the region, with major infrastructure projects for large companies and groups across the Balkans. The strategy going forward includes expanding that footprint further over the next three years.
This trajectory aligns with Dr. Gaitanis’s broader point during the session about Greece’s potential to become an exporter of innovation, demonstrating that Greek companies can compete internationally when they combine deep expertise with strategic ambition.
Bridging Innovation and Execution
The “Catalyzing Hellenic Innovation” session offered a valuable combination of policy perspective and practical business insight. While Dr. Gaitanis outlined the government support mechanisms available to innovative companies, Mrs. Boukorou-Georgouda demonstrated what innovation-driven business transformation looks like on the ground: understanding the client’s commercial reality, organizing data, building the right digital infrastructure, and delivering measurable results.
For businesses considering B2B digital transformation, the path forward is clear: it starts with leadership commitment, requires honest assessment of data readiness, and benefits from a partner who understands both the commercial and technical dimensions of the challenge. The tools, incentives, and expertise exist. What remains is the decision to act.
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