The Future Makers Podcast: Women Building Cyprus
The Future Media
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The Future Makers Podcast is a series of in-depth conversations about how future-makers are made, in Cyprus and beyond. Host Annetta Benzar speaks with people who are shaping our shared future, looking beyond their titles. Guests share the people and moments that shaped them, the choices and challenges they face now, and the futures they hope to build. The show is produced by The Future Media and connected to Forbes Cyprus.
Episodes
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The Legal Brief: You Moved Abroad. Your Taxes Might Not Have I Alina Kulikovska, RELOC8 ONLINE 05.11.2026 51mYou moved abroad. You have a new address, a new tax number, and perhaps even a company in another country. But have you actually left your old tax system behind?What happens when your family, property, or business remains in the country you left? Can you be considered a tax resident in two countries at once? And who is responsible for taxes when you live in one country but work for a company in another?In this episode of The Future Makers: The Legal Brief, host Annetta Benzar speaks with Alina Kulikovska, co-founder and CEO of RELOC8 ONLINE, a Cyprus-based legal technology company specialising in international tax planning and relocation.**Disclaimer:** The views, opinions, and claims expressed in this episode are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect those of The Future Media. This discussion is for general information and does not constitute legal or tax advice.A production of The Future Media.The Future Media: https://thefuturemedia.eu/ https://www.instagram.com/thefuturemedia.eu/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefuturemediaAnnetta Benzar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetta-benzar-13645710a/Alina Kulikovska: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alina-kulikovska-law/#TheFutureMakers #taxrules esidency #relocation -
The Investor Playbook: VC Is Not For Every Founder I Linda Brunner 27.10.2026 36mIn this episode of The Future Makers Podcast: The Investor Playbook, Annetta Benzar speaks with Linda Brunner, Founding Partner at Imagine You Know, an early-stage fund investing in cybersecurity and digital infrastructure across Europe.Linda reflects on her move from operator to investor, her experience scaling cybersecurity businesses, and why Europe needs more sector-specific funds led by people who understand the founders they back. The conversation covers technical founders, ambition, timing, AI hype, cybersecurity, trust, regulation, founder-investor relationships, and why VC is not the right path for every startup.For founders, Linda is direct: taking venture capital means choosing speed, scale, sacrifice and the ambition to become a category leader. She explains what she looks for in the first meeting, why she does not back founders treating the company as a side project, why AI should be an enabler rather than the selling point, and why European founders need to think bigger if they want to build global companies.A production of The Future Media.Links:The Future Media: https://thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.youtube.com/@thefuture-mediahttps://www.instagram.com/thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefuturemediahttps://www.tiktok.com/@the.future.mediaAnnetta Benzar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetta-benzar-13645710a/Linda Brunner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-brunner/ -
The Investor Playbook: The Best Teams Can Always Figure It Out I Jeremy Brown 27.10.2026 52mIn this episode of The Future Makers Podcast: The Investor Playbook, Annetta Benzar speaks with Jeremy Brown, Investment Principal at Anthemis, about what investors look for in early-stage founders, how technical talent moves from academia into startups, why team dynamics matter, and how AI companies building for regulated industries need to think about trust, compliance, data and customer adoption.Jeremy reflects on his path from geophysics and Stanford to venture investing in Silicon Valley, Berlin and London, before turning to founder-market fit, the difference between impressive technology and technology customers will actually use, Europe’s startup ecosystems, female founders, fundraising conversations, and why entrepreneurial talent should be able to access capital wherever it is based.A production of The Future Media.Links:The Future Media: https://thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.youtube.com/@thefuture-mediahttps://www.instagram.com/thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefuturemediahttps://www.tiktok.com/@the.future.mediaAnnetta Benzar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetta-benzar-13645710a/Jeremy Brown: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-brown-stanford/ -
The Investor Playbook: AI makes tech cheaper. But it makes people more important I Andreas Panayi 27.10.2026 47mIn this episode, Annetta Benzar speaks with Andreas Panayi (Kinisis Ventures) about why early-stage investing is ultimately a bet on people, why Europe stays risk-averse compared to the US, and what founders get wrong when they walk into a first meeting.The Future Makers Podcast: The Investor Playbook is a series of in-depth conversations with investors about the experiences, instincts, and decisions that shape how they back founders and ideas. Host Annetta Benzar looks beyond the deals to understand how investors think, what influences their judgment, and what founders can learn from the way they see the world.A production of The Future Media.Links:The Future Media: https://thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.youtube.com/@thefuture-mediahttps://www.instagram.com/thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefuturemediahttps://www.tiktok.com/@the.future.mediaAnnetta: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetta-benzar-13645710a/Andreas Panayi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apanayi/ -
The CMO Sessions: The FMCG Playbook That Changed iGaming Marketing I Valentina Bagniya 27.10.2026 50mWhat does it take to build a marketing function from scratch in one of the world's fastest-moving industries with no playbook, no team, and no prior experience in the sector?In this episode of The Future Makers: The CMO Sessions, host Annetta Benzar speaks with Valentina Bagniya, Chief Marketing Officer at SOFTSWISS, about why she brought an FMCG mindset to iGaming, how brand strategy became SOFTSWISS's biggest competitive advantage, and what most B2B marketers get dangerously wrong in their first year.The CMO Sessions is a Future Makers series of in-depth conversations with CMOs and marketing leaders from global companies, unpacking the strategies behind breakout growth. Host Annetta Benzar sits down with the people making the decisions — on brand, performance, org design, measurement, and what it actually takes to build marketing that moves a business.A production of The Future Media.Links:The Future Media: https://thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.youtube.com/@thefuture-mediahttps://www.instagram.com/thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefuturemedia https://www.tiktok.com/@the.future.mediaAnnetta: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetta-benzar-13645710a/Valentina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valentina-kukut/ -
Real Estate: The Legal Mistake Buyers Keep Making In Cyprus Real Estate I Viktoria Iatsiuta 23.10.2026 13mIn this episode, host Annetta Benzar speaks with Viktoria Iatsiuta, CEO of MySpace Real Estate and Vidigroup, about what serious buyers ask for today, why clarity around legal aspects can make or break a transaction, and how demand is changing as Cyprus becomes a “safe haven” market for new regions.Future Makers: Real Estate Series follows Cyprus real estate from the inside. The conversations cover demand, pricing, negotiations, and the legal details that decide whether a deal holds or falls into the cracks.Links:The Future Media: https://thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.youtube.com/@thefuture-mediahttps://www.instagram.com/thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefuturemediahttps://www.tiktok.com/@the.future.mediaAnnetta Benzar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetta-benzar-13645710a/Viktoria Iatsiuta: https://www.linkedin.com/in/viktoria-iatsiuta-01800a206/ -
HR Leaders: Stop Saying “We’re A Family” At Work I Jolita Strasunskaite 23.10.2026 34mIn this episode of Future Makers: HR Leaders, Annetta Benzar speaks with Jolita Strasunskaite, Group Chief People Officer at payabl., about what HR really means inside a fast-growing company.Jolita challenges some of the biggest assumptions about people leadership: that HR works only for employees, that culture belongs to HR, that AI will replace people teams, and that companies should describe themselves as “a family.”From scaling payabl. from around 30 people to almost 300, to building a people strategy across diverse teams, Jolita explains why HR needs to be both deeply human and commercially grounded.HR Leaders is a series of conversations with people leaders on hiring, culture, leadership, workforce change, talent strategy, learning, performance and building the workplace of tomorrow. A production of The Future Media.Links:The Future Media: https://thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.youtube.com/@thefuture-mediahttps://www.instagram.com/thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefuturemediahttps://www.tiktok.com/@the.future.mediaAnnetta Benzar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetta-benzar-13645710a/Jolita Strasunskaite: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jolita-strasunskaite-879396225/ -
HR Leaders: If You Lie To People, They Know I Elena Dolya 23.10.2026 33mIn this episode of Future Makers: HR Leaders, Annetta Benzar speaks with Elena Dolya, Chief Administrative Officer at AdTech Holding, about the role HR plays when companies are navigating change, uncertainty, and fast-moving expectations at work.Elena explains why HR should not be seen as a “psychological helper” or the department responsible for fun, but as a business function that connects leadership with employees and helps both sides work better together.HR Leaders is a series of conversations with people leaders on hiring, culture, leadership, workforce change, talent strategy, learning, performance and building the workplace of tomorrow. A production of The Future Media.Links:The Future Media: https://thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.youtube.com/@thefuture-mediahttps://www.instagram.com/thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefuturemediahttps://www.tiktok.com/@the.future.mediaAnnetta Benzar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetta-benzar-13645710a/Elena Dolya: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elena-dolya-04a72640/ -
HR Leaders: “Resilience Isn’t Endurance” in Modern HR I Natale Mastoroudes 23.10.2026 35mResilience isn’t endurance. Endurance is “push, push, push” until something breaks.In this episode of HR Leaders, Annetta Benzar speaks with Natale Mastoroudes, People & Culture Leader, about what HR really is, why “commercially aligned” HR can still be human, and how leaders can hit targets without burning people out. They also discuss what AI is already changing inside companies, and what HR should never outsource.A production of The Future Media.Links:The Future Media: https://thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.youtube.com/@thefuture-mediahttps://www.instagram.com/thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefuturemediahttps://www.tiktok.com/@the.future.mediaAnnetta Benzar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetta-benzar-13645710a/Natale Mastoroudes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalemastoroudes/ -
HR Leaders: You Read the Room, Not the Screen I Marina Sevastidou 23.10.2026 49mIs HR there for the business, or for the people?In this episode of HR Leaders, Annetta Benzar speaks with Marina Sevastidou, Senior HR Business Partner at Wargaming, about what HR is really meant to do, how to spot culture shifts before they show up in metrics, why hybrid work still matters, and why technology should support HR rather than replace it.HR Leaders is a series of conversations with people leaders on hiring, culture, leadership, workforce change, talent strategy, learning, performance and building the workplace of tomorrow. A production of The Future Media.Links:The Future Media: https://thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.youtube.com/@thefuture-mediahttps://www.instagram.com/thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefuturemediahttps://www.tiktok.com/@the.future.mediaAnnetta: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetta-benzar-13645710a/Marina Sevastidou: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marina-sevastidou/ -
Beyond AI: You Are Responsible for What AI Does I Denis Romanovsky 22.10.2026 49mIn this episode of Future Makers: Beyond AI, Annetta Benzar sits down with Denis Romanovsky, Chief AI Officer at SOFTSWISS, to discuss how AI moves from experiment to everyday work. They cover company-wide adoption, AI literacy, guardrails, security, cost, iGaming, human oversight, digital memory, cognitive freedom, regulation, and the skills people will need as intelligent systems become part of daily work.Beyond AI is a Future Makers series exploring the reality and hype of AI, how intelligent systems are changing work, culture, creativity, institutions and everyday life, and what people need to understand about this evolving technology.A production of The Future Media.Links:The Future Media: https://thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.youtube.com/@thefuture-mediahttps://www.instagram.com/thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefuturemedia https://www.tiktok.com/@the.future.mediaAnnetta Benzar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetta-benzar-13645710a/Denis Romanovsky: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dionique/ -
The Legal Brief: AI Is Coming for the Lawyers Who Only Know the Books I Yiannos Georgiades 22.10.2026 51mAI will not replace every lawyer. But it may expose the ones who only know how to retrieve information.In this episode of The Legal Brief, Annetta Benzar speaks with Yiannos Georgiades, founding partner of Y. Georgiades & Associates LLC, co-founder of Kinisis Ventures, and president of the Cyprus chapter of the European Court of Arbitration, about how AI is changing legal practice.A production of The Future Media.Links:The Future Media: https://thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.youtube.com/@thefuture-mediahttps://www.instagram.com/thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefuturemedia https://www.tiktok.com/@the.future.mediaAnnetta Benzar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetta-benzar-13645710a/Yiannos Georgiades: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yiannosgeorgiades/ -
The Legal Brief: If You Don’t Have a Way to Sell It, Your Company Will Die I Violetta Skittidi 22.10.2026 37mA legal tech startup can have the right problem, the right product, and the right timing — and still fail if it cannot reach the market.In this episode of The Legal Brief, Annetta Benzar speaks with Violetta Skittidi, a lawyer and co-founder of Formulaw, about why her legal tech startup shut down, what she learned about distribution, and why selling innovation into the legal sector is harder than building the product itself. They also discuss AI, access to justice, law firm resistance, founder-lawyer communication, and why legal professionals may soon have no choice but to adapt.A production of The Future Media.Links:The Future Media: https://thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.youtube.com/@thefuture-mediahttps://www.instagram.com/thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefuturemedia https://www.tiktok.com/@the.future.mediaAnnetta Benzar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetta-benzar-13645710a/Violetta Skittidi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vskittidi/ -
The Crypto Economy: Crypto Used To Be Trading. Now It’s Business Infrastructure I Max Krupyshev 22.10.2026 21mMax Krupyshev entered crypto in 2013, when Bitcoin, trading, and mining dominated the market. More than a decade later, much of his work is focused on something very different: stablecoins and the infrastructure businesses need to use them for payments.In this episode of The Future Makers: The Crypto Economy, Max Krupyshev, Executive Leader of CryptoProcessing, joins Annetta Benzar to discuss how stablecoins moved from cryptocurrency exchanges into B2B payments, why the language around crypto is changing, and what wider adoption may look like.They explore why stablecoins became useful to traders in the first place, how businesses began using them to pay suppliers and freelancers, what banks and card networks are doing in response, and where Cyprus fits into the growing crypto payments economy. Max also explains why he does not see crypto replacing cards entirely, and what he considers a more valuable measure of adoption.The Future Makers: The Crypto Economy is a series of conversations on crypto as a new financial and internet economy, covering exchanges, digital assets, stablecoins, wallets, token models, infrastructure, regulation and what adoption really looks like.A production of The Future Media.Links:The Future Media: https://thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.instagram.com/thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefuturemediahttps://www.tiktok.com/@the.future.mediahttps://www.youtube.com/@thefuture-mediaAnnetta Benzar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetta-benzar-13645710a/Max Krupyshev: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkrupyshev/ -
C-Suite Rebuild: Build From Cyprus, Not Just For Cyprus | Filippos Kyprianou 22.10.2026 37mCyprus is climbing the global startup rankings. Filippos Kyprianou says the stronger measure of progress is whether founders based on the island can win customers abroad, grow their revenue and attract international investors.The Director of Plug and Play Cyprus joins host Annetta Benzar for the first episode of The Future Makers: C-Suite Rebuild.Guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/filipposkyprianou/Host: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetta-benzar-13645710a/Produced by: The Future Mediahttps://thefuturemedia.eu/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefuturemediahttps://www.instagram.com/thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.youtube.com/@thefuture-media -
Women Building Cyprus: What Cyprus’s Last Fiddlers Wanted Us to Remember I Dr. Nicoletta Demetriou 21.10.2026 54mEvery time Dr. Nicoletta Demetriou returned to Cyprus, fewer of the elderly musicians she was interviewing were still alive. Funding applications went unanswered or were rejected. Their stories could not wait.The ethnomusicologist, writer and performer joins Annetta Benzar on The Future Makers: Women Building Cyprus to discuss the work behind The Cypriot Fiddler, which won the 2026 European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Grand Prix in Research.Links:The Future Media: https://thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.youtube.com/@thefuture-mediahttps://www.instagram.com/thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefuturemedia https://www.tiktok.com/@the.future.mediaAnnetta Benzar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetta-benzar-13645710a/ -
Women Building Cyprus: She Was Told There Was A “Right” Path For Women. She Chose Her Own I Marianna Hadjiandoniou 14.10.2026 53mMarianna Hadjiandoniou grew up in Cyprus at a time when, as she remembers it, there was a “right pathway” for women: finish studying, return home, find a good man, marry and have children.She chose differently.In this episode of The Future Makers: Women Building Cyprus, Annetta Benzar sits down with Marianna, an HR leader with more than 20 years of experience, to talk about the choices that shaped her career and the workplace battles she encountered along the way.The Future Makers Podcast is a series of in-depth conversations about how future-makers are made, in Cyprus and beyond. Host Annetta Benzar sits down with people who are a leading force in our shared future and looks past the titles. Together, they travel back to the people and moments that shaped them, walk through the choices and challenges they are living through now, and look ahead to the futures they are trying to build.Women Building Cyprus follows women whose lives and decisions are changing what this island can be.A production of The Future Media.Links: The Future Media: https://thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.instagram.com/thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefuturemediahttps://www.youtube.com/@thefuture-mediahttps://www.tiktok.com/@the.future.mediaAnnetta Benzar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetta-benzar-13645710a/Marianna Hadjiandoniou: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bizandlove/ -
Women Building Cyprus: Why Work-Life Balance Is a Fairy Tale for Women I Katya Solov 14.10.2026 51mWomen are told they can balance everything. Katya Solov thinks balance is a fairy tale.In this episode of Future Makers: Women Building Cyprus, Annetta Benzar sits down with Katya Solov, Founder and CEO of Miranna, to talk about growing up at the end of the Soviet Union, entering Russia’s male-dominated venture capital industry, motherhood, startup failure and why she built the support system she could not find for herself.They also discuss why women have been expected to carry so much without calling it extraordinary, the pressure to raise investment before a company is ready, and why managing work and family is less about balance than deciding what must come first today.The Future Makers Podcast is a series of in-depth conversations about how future-makers are made, in Cyprus and beyond. Host Annetta Benzar sits down with people who are a leading force in our shared future and looks past the titles. Together, they travel back to the people and moments that shaped them, walk through the choices and challenges they are living through now, and look ahead to the futures they are trying to build.Women Building Cyprus follows women whose lives and decisions are changing what this island can be.A production of The Future Media.Links:The Future Media: https://thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.instagram.com/thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefuturemedia https://www.tiktok.com/@the.future.mediaAnnetta Benzar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetta-benzar-13645710a/Katya Solov: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katya-solov-26506821/ -
Women Building Cyprus: Failure Is Not An Option For Women In Cybersecurity | Georgia Solomou 13.10.2026 41mIn this episode of Future Makers: Women Building Cyprus, Annetta Benzar speaks with Georgia Solomou, Managing Partner at OSPHERA and Founder & President of Women4Cyber Cyprus.Georgia has spent more than 20 years in technology and security, working across Cyprus, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In this conversation, she reflects on what it meant to build a career and business in IT and cybersecurity at a time when she was often the only woman in the room.The Future Makers Podcast is a series of in-depth conversations about how future-makers are made, in Cyprus and beyond. Host Annetta Benzar sits down with people who are a leading force in our shared future and looks past the titles. Together, they travel back to the people and moments that shaped them, walk through the choices and challenges they are living through now, and look ahead to the futures they are trying to build.The first season, Women Building Cyprus, follows women whose lives and decisions are changing what this island can be.A production of The Future Media.Links: The Future Media: https://thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.instagram.com/thefuturemedia.eu/https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefuturemediahttps://www.tiktok.com/@the.future.mediaAnnetta Benzar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetta-benzar-13645710a/ -
Women Building Cyprus: Act First. Confidence Comes Later | Ekaterina Miroshnichenko & Marina Stasevich 13.10.2026 51mIn this episode of Future Makers: Women Building Cyprus, Annetta Benzar speaks with Ekaterina Miroshnichenko and Marina Stasevich, co-founders of SOTA, about leaving senior corporate HR roles, building a company together, moving across countries, working with founders and tech teams, and why confidence is often built after the first step, not before it. They discuss co-founder alignment, people strategy, women in male-dominated rooms, motherhood, self-doubt, Cyprus as an international business base, and the kind of future they want to help shape.The Future Makers Podcast is a series of in-depth conversations about how future-makers are made, in Cyprus and beyond. Host Annetta Benzar speaks with people who are a leading force in our shared future and looks past the titles. Together, they travel back to the people and moments that shaped them, walk through the choices and challenges they are living through now, and look ahead to the futures they are trying to build.This series, Women Building Cyprus, follows women whose lives and decisions are changing what this island can be. A production of The Future Media.Links: The Future Media: https://thefuturemedia.eu/ https://www.instagram.com/thefuturemedia.eu/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefuturemediahttps://www.tiktok.com/@the.future.media Annetta Benzar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetta-benzar-13645710a/Sara Gunnervik: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-gunnervik-186a4b2/
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