Shaping Europe’s AI Talent: Literacy, Training and Future Skills

David Timis

Global Communications & Public Affairs Manager at Generation.org and Senior Fellow in AI Governance at the Global Governance Institute and Co-Founder, Brussels AGI Collective
David Timis is a Global Communications & Public Affairs Manager at Generation, one of the largest skilling and employment nonprofits in the world, where he oversees the organisation’s storytelling globally and advocacy work at a EU level.
He writes and speaks regularly about AI and the risks and opportunities it presents for people, businesses and society, as a Senior Fellow in AI Governance at the Global Governance Institute in Brussels, International Strategy Forum Fellow at the SCSP in D.C., and AI Energy Impact Fellow at the the World Economic Forum in Geneva.
He is also the Community Champion for the BeNeLux & France region, Co-Lead for the 2025 edition of SHAPE Europe & Eurasia, and Longevity Economy Taskforce Member within the Global Shapers Community (a young leaders initiative of the World Economic Forum).
He previously led the EU Civics Outreach efforts at Google during both the 2019 and 2024 EU Elections, and before that he was a UN Youth Delegate representing Romania. His career spans a range of public, private and third sector organisations including L’Oreal, Mars Inc., Burson (formerly known as BCW), Chatham House, and the Council of Europe.
With a career at the crossroads of technology, workforce development, and policy, David has been deeply involved in shaping conversations on skilling, education, AI governance, and digital transformation. His work spans from advising companies on their AI strategy to navigating the complexities of AI training for some of the world’s most influential brands.
Whether discussing the ethical implications of machine learning, the future of work in an AI-driven economy, or the regulatory challenges facing big tech companies, David brings a unique perspective grounded in both leading research and real-world implementation.

Ștefan Trăușan-Matu (UPB)

Professor, National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest
Stefan Trausan-Matu is Professor of Natural Language Processing, and Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence at the Computer Science Department of the National Science and Technology University POLITEHNICA Bucharest, Head of Natural Language Processing Team of the Romanian Hub for Artificial Intelligence (HRIA), and Scientific Researcher I at the Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence of the Romanian Academy. He was Fulbright post-doc at Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA and visiting professor at Universities of Nantes, Lyon, Toulouse, and Grenoble in France. He authored or edited 24 books, 61 book chapters and more than 530 peer-reviewed papers, including prestigious conferences (e.g., IJCAI, AAAI, EMNLP, AIED, CSCL, ITS) and journals (e.g., Computers in Human Behavior, International Journal of Computer Supported Collaborative Language, Behavior Research Methods). He chaired international conferences (including rated A) and participated in the program or organizing committee of many others. He was the director or participant in many research projects, including EU and USA, and was awarded the Romanian Academy Award for the Polyphonic Model of Discourse.

Thérésa Elhage

Advocacy and Communication Manager at All Digital, Digital.org
Thérésa Elhage leads advocacy and communication activities at All Digital, a European network promoting digital inclusion and skills across 120+ member organisations. She engages with policymakers, civil society, and educators to advance digital literacy, inclusion, and responsible AI use, while representing All Digital at EU and international events. Thérésa’s work bridges grassroots practice and policy, highlighting effective approaches to digital education and human-centred technology adoption.

Kristina Vassiljeva

Associate Professor, TalTech
Kristina Vassiljeva is an Associate Professor at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech), where she teaches and conducts research in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and intelligent systems. For more than two decades, she has been involved in educating future engineers and AI specialists, supervising numerous master’s and doctoral students in topics ranging from machine learning and computer vision to industrial automation and data-driven systems.

Her research focuses on the application of AI and data-driven methods in engineering, energy systems, and cyber-physical environments. Combining expertise in computational intelligence, control engineering, and data analytics, she develops methods for modeling, monitoring, and optimizing the performance of complex technical systems.  Alongside her research activities, she is actively engaged in developing AI-related competencies and interdisciplinary skills that help bridge the gap between academic education and industry needs. Her interests include AI literacy, practical AI education, lifelong learning, and the future skills required for responsible and effective adoption of AI technologies across sectors.

Prof. Dr. Adina Magda Florea

Director of AI Center, National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest
Adina Magda Florea is Professor at the Department of Computer Science of the National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest and Director of the Center of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence of the university. She coordinates the national strategic project “Romanian Hub for Artificial Intelligence” (HRIA) developed under the framework of the Smart Growth, Digitalization and Financial Instruments Programme 2021–2027, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, aiming to develop a national ecosystem of excellence in Artificial Intelligence in Romania in terms of research, development, and innovation activities, as well as its tangible economic impact. Her research interests are in multi-agent systems, machine learning, ambient intelligence, social robots, and human-robot interaction. She was the Director of over 30 national and international research grants and coordinated the project “PRECIS: Research infrastructure for the development of intelligent, innovative products and processes in ICT”, which lead to the development of the PRECIS Research Center in POLITEHNICA Bucharest.
She is Senior Member of IEEE, Senior Member of ACM, founding member and President of Romanian Association for Artificial Intelligence (ARIA), and Chair of IEEE Romanian Section Chapter of Computational Intelligence Society. She is also President of the “Réseau de Recherche Francophone sur l’Intelligence Artificielle” (RéFIA). Professor Florea is Corresponding Member of the Academy of Romanian Scientists and of the Technical Sciences Academy of Romania.