Christina Orfanidou

Biography

Christina Orfanidou is Head of Group AI at Columbia Group, where she leads the Group’s artificial intelligence strategy, governance and adoption agenda, supporting the responsible implementation of AI across the organisation.

Earlier in her consulting career, Christina held senior leadership roles in Data and AI, leading the development of AI and data capabilities and the delivery of transformation programmes for private- and public-sector organisations in Cyprus and internationally. She advised organisations across the UK, European Union and Middle East on Data and AI strategy, governance, responsible AI, data management and engineering, with work spanning Generative AI, natural language processing, forecasting, advanced analytics, data warehousing and business intelligence. She also led digital upskilling initiatives and served as an HRDA-certified instructor in Analytics and AI.

Alongside her professional career, Christina has contributed to the wider AI and innovation community. She co-founded the Limassol chapter of Women in Machine Learning and Data Science, is currently a co-lead of the TechIsland TechPro Community and has served on advisory boards for international research and innovation initiatives. She is a frequent speaker and panellist on artificial intelligence and digital transformation and is the author of an academic book published by Springer as well as academic and thought-leadership articles on AI.

Christina holds a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Oxford, where she conducted research within the Machine Learning Research Group in the Department of Engineering Science. She also holds an MSc in Mathematical Modelling and Scientific Computing from the University of Oxford and an MEng in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Imperial College London.