On May 30th, 2025, 100 HR professionals, leaders and founders gathered at the Parklane Hotel, Limassol for the 3rd edition of Emerald Zebra’s HR Power Breakfast. With full capacity reached and a waiting list in place, the event is popular and one not to miss! Plans are already underway for a larger-scale edition in October 2025.
Powered by the Emerald Zebra team and backed by our event sponsor SportBenefit—who generously offered a free one-month Platinum Sports Membership to each attendee and our creative partner FishyDesigns, the event earned a 4.5-star attendee rating, blending strategic insight, lively discussion, and valuable networking.
🎙️ Keynote Address – Paris Thomas
Paris Thomas – Executive Advisor on AI & Strategy, CEO at Talent Hacks, and Co-Founder of Rapid Visual AI – delivered a compelling keynote on:
“Future-Fit Leadership: Rethinking Talent, Reinvention & Relevance in the Age of AI.”
Designed for HR professionals, Talent Managers, founders, and C-level executives, the session challenged attendees to consider:
- How to future-proof teams in an evolving landscape
- What organizational reinvention truly requires
- How AI can enhance—not replace—human intelligence and decision-making
Featuring live AI demonstrations and hands-on insights, Paris’s talk was widely praised:
“Paris Thomas was excellent – fantastic insights on AI. Wonderful presentation!”
“His delivery went above and beyond what I anticipated—truly thought-provoking.”
🎙️ Panel 1: Beyond Salary – How Well-being Drives Talent Engagement and Retention
Moderated by Gala Grigoreva, Co-founder & Trainer at Integrated Professional Growth (IPG), this session explored how organizations can prioritize culture, mental health, and inclusion to retain top talent, especially in challenging times.
Panel Speakers:
- George Savva, Global ESG Practice Lead, Amdocs
- Eleni Ploutarchou, Lead, Diversity Charter Cyprus
- Sandra Da Silva, Co-founder, IPG
- Dzmitry Pipko, Partner Director of Business Development, SportBenefit
🎁 One lucky attendee won a team mindfulness session sponsored by IPG.
🎙️ Panel 2: Talent Acquisition & Retention Strategies
A forward-looking discussion on modern approaches to recruitment marketing, employer branding, career development, HEX methodology, and the role of HR technology in attracting and retaining top talent.
Moderator:
Donna Stephenson, Founder, Emerald Zebra
Panel Speakers:
- Jolita Strasunskaite, Chief People Officer, payabl.
- Eleni Aslani, Founder, Growth People Pro & HEX Practitioner
- Nikoletta Tillyrou, Head of TA & Employer Branding, Welltech
- Tatsiana Malinouskaya, Director of TA, BrainRocket
💬 What Attendees Said
Feedback from the community was overwhelmingly positive, with both first-time guests and repeat attendees calling this the best HR PowerBreakfast yet.
“Very well organised, nice place, nice talk from HR professionals.”
“Exceeded my expectations, especially Paris Thomas’s AI keynote.”
“Topics were insightful, and the energy was fantastic!”
“A truly outstanding event. You consistently deliver value and inspiration.”
“The event was very well organized and the EZ personnel attentive and lovely. The AI content was an eye opener even for the tech oriented people among the guests, Mr. Paris was an excellent choice. The second part was inspiring and informative as well. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to stay up to date in our field and to meet like minded individuals.”
“I had attended all 3 events you have hosted so far. It is absolutely a pleasure to see how good you are in coordinating this so it has nothing to do with similar events in CY. This one was my favorite one.”
“This Powerbreakfast was the best one yet - informative, thought provoking with amazing speaker Paris. Congratulations and thank you so much to you and your team for ensuring we stay connected and informed."
Suggestions for improvement such as attendee name tags and networking enhancements have been noted for future planning.
📅 Save the Date: October 2025 – Limassol
The next HR Power Breakfast will return to Limassol in October 2025, with expanded capacity to accommodate high demand. If you’re interested in participating as a sponsor, keynote speaker, panelist, or moderator, we’d love to hear from you.
📩 Contact: donna.stephenson@emeraldzebra.cy
At Emerald Zebra, we believe in building platforms that spark fresh ideas, real connections and lasting change in the world of work. Thank you to all who made this edition a standout success.
Donna Stephenson
Founder, Emerald Zebra Talent Solutions.
