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Interview with Damianos Oikonomidis, CEO of Synthetica

Synthetica

Damianos is the co-founder and CEO of Synthetica. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, and began his career working in large infrastructure projects in the Middle East, spending time in Abu Dhabi, Qatar, and Kuwait. Upon his return to Greece, and before Synthetica, he embarked on his entrepreneurial journey by founding an engineering company that utilizes UAV technology to provide inspection services in the maritime and construction fields, which was successfully sold to a multinational logistics group. We met with Damianos to discuss his work and his journey. Here's what he told us:

Tell us a few things about Synthetica. How did it all start and how did you discover the market opportunity for your solution?

Synthetica is a Data science company offering machinery monitoring and predictive maintenance software solutions for clients in the industrial and infrastructure verticals. Using a customer-centric approach to complex problem-solving, it offers decision-making software tools that measurably improve Asset Efficiency and Profitability. By leveraging the potential provided by A.I. technologies, Synthetica develops tools for asset monitoring, process automation, and workflow optimization, enhancing the capabilities of engineering and commercial teams and improving operational performance.

Synthetica was established in 2019 by Alexandros Karvouniaris and myself, with the aim to exploit A.I. to support clients in the industrial vertical in digitizing their operations. We identified the problem of low productivity and inefficiencies in legacy asset bases due to largely non-digitalized processes and non-efficient data information mining and realized that A.I can address these competitive disadvantages by upgrading existing workflows and processes.

How do you differentiate from other similar offers in the market? What value does Synthetica bring to the customers and partners?

While most technology companies have focused on vessel performance (providing routing instructions for saving fuel), Synthetica has taken a different path as it exploits the capabilities supplied by A.I. technologies to develop tools that are focused exclusively on processing machinery data, to enhance the monitoring capabilities of engineering teams and allow them to timely identify issues before they become damages.

What would you consider to have been (or are) your biggest challenge so far?

Our biggest challenge so far has been to develop solutions that bring tangible value to the end user in a way that doesn't disrupt their existing workflows. The reality is that while A.I. can do a multitude of things, there is a key challenge in ensuring that these innovations translate into significant, measurable value without causing major disruptions to the way people are used to working. This is especially tricky in the traditional sectors we are addressing, which rely on time-tested processes, and any disruption, even one with clear long-term benefits, can be met with resistance.

A.I. solutions, when not properly tailored, can create complexity instead of solving problems. Our mission has been to find the sweet spot where our solutions seamlessly integrate into existing systems and routines, enhancing operations rather than disrupting them. As such, our focus has been on creating tools that integrate smoothly into these environments, providing real value without forcing drastic changes to how things are done. We've had to carefully consider how to introduce advanced AI-driven tools in a way that feels natural and easy to adopt.

What are the biggest learnings from your journey so far?

One of the most important lessons we've learned throughout this journey is just how crucial it is to enable people—our engineers, scientists, and developers—to fully unleash their talent in ways that connect directly with the industrial realities our clients face. The biggest breakthroughs we've seen have come not just from the technology itself, but rather from empowering our team to apply their creativity and expertise to real-world challenges.

At Synthetica, we’ve worked hard to create an environment where our engineers and scientists can thrive, and it’s been inspiring to watch how, when given the opportunity, people are capable of doing truly incredible things. They’re not just building software; they’re developing systems that integrate cutting-edge A.I. with practical, hands-on knowledge of the industries we serve.

By bringing together the understanding of emerging technologies with the practical needs of traditional industries, we’re trying to deliver tangible value creation and improve industrial performance.

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