KPMG Cyprus on Tuesday announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with AI specialists EBO.

EBO is one of the leading companies in the field of customer engagement automation, focusing on assisting organisations in improving customer engagement through AI technology, Big Data and Machine Learning.

“We are proud to engage in this relationship with KPMG in Cyprus,” EBO CEO Gege Gatt said in a statement.

“We believe that this is a perfect fit for our customers that need to increase their operational efficiency in rapidly changing and challenging environments,” he added.

“We are delighted to have this opportunity to work with EBO,” KPMG Board Member and Management Consultant Gerasimos Ntouskas said, explaining that “having its Financial Services Division headquartered in Cyprus, brought further confidence in our decision to strategically collaborate.”

“Truly human interaction, automating workflows and processing information with precision and speed is key to meet and even exceed clients’ needs,” Ntouskas added, noting that the company is looking forward to the collaboration.

KPMG Cyprus said that through this partnership, both organisations will be able to assist companies to deal with the many challenges and opportunities that arise during their digital evolution, and subsequently determine the right technologies and strategic pathways for them to grow.

“Following a holistic approach to technology investment and implementation, the professional teams of KPMG and EBO will assist organisations in enhancing operational efficiencies and drive business value and excellence,” KPMG Cyprus concluded.

Grant Thornton Cyprus head of distributed ledger technology services and Block.co managing director Alexis Nicolaou this week said that blockchain technology can create value for customers through digital content.

“At Block.co we see the value of NFTs for product brands from a different perspective, since NFTs allow for a direct customer relationship,” Nicolaou said during a speech at an advertising, content and communications conference in Nicosia.

“Digital collectables can create value for the owners, because with NFTs, value and content are the same thing,” he added.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are cryptographic assets that exist on a blockchain. These digital assets possess unique identification codes and metadata that distinguish them from each other, enabling each token to be unique.

“NFTs will play a major role in branding when the Metaverse becomes integrated,” Nicolaou stated, adding that “they will add access and content to the product”.

The Block.co managing director explained that marketers need to overcome the confusion surrounding cryptocurrencies, noting that crypto assets are becoming a new area of expertise in the consumer-product relationship.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Tuesday, April 19 with losses.

The main Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 67.75 points at 12:21 during the day, reflecting a drop of 1.02 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 40.75 points, which represents a decrease of 1.09 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €76,705.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main and alternative indexes fell by 1.79 per cent and 0.15 per cent respectively.

The investment firm index also fell by 3.76 per cent, while the hotel index remained stable.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by Vassiliko Cement Works (-1.42 per cent), Atlantic Insurance (+1.53 per cent), the Bank of Cyprus (no change), the Cyprus Cement Company (+0.77 per cent), and Louis (-5 per cent).