Akis serves as Legal Counsel at Sea Pioneer, combining deep maritime expertise with strategic in-house legal stewardship. Admitted to the Athens Bar Association, he holds an LL.B., an LL.M. in Commercial and Maritime Law, and an MBA from the University of Wales, having also lectured at the University of Piraeus (MSc in Shipping Management). Beyond steering complex shipping matters, ranging from P&I, FD&D, and H&M to S&P and major contractual disputes, he acts as a trusted legal adviser across the group’s broader corporate portfolio, investments, and the principals’ private and family affairs.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure organisational resilience?

In shipping, instability is routine. My approach is based on setting clear, everyday criteria to evaluate risk on two fronts: operational impact and direct financial exposure. The law touches every aspect of maritime business, even when people across the company do not consciously see it in their daily routine.

To build genuine resilience, the focus should be on colleagues. I firmly believe that personal professional growth comes from supporting and elevating the people you work with. My role is to help team members understand these risk criteria so they can spot warning signs early. By investing time in each other, we build an everyday internal culture of prevention. Resilience does not come from reacting aggressively when a crisis arrives; it comes from having an aligned, well-prepared team that knows how to protect the business before problems emerge.

How do you see AI and automation reshaping the legal profession, and how are you leveraging technology in your own legal team?

Technology and AI are very practical tools for saving time. In our day-to-day work, they help us organise files, create clear summaries and deliver detailed, structured presentations with far less administrative friction.

More importantly, AI allows me as a lawyer to grasp Technical, operational and commercial subjects outside my pure legal domain much faster and in far greater depth. This deepens my understanding of the entire business, expanding how and where I can intervene. It let me apply legal thinking to non-legal challenges, and in turn, share that broader knowledge across the company. Technology does not replace human insight, rather, it creates the space and the resources to spread deeper understanding and foster an ethical, well-informed culture throughout the entire team.

If you could change one thing about how businesses engage with their legal teams, what would it be and why?

I would change the tendency of leadership to view legal counsel as a weapon for fighting or as emergency crew called in only after a problem explodes.

In shipping, arbitration and litigation are massive drains on financial capital, valuable time and commercial trust. Even worse, businesses often push for battles that they might lose, simply out of pride. If I could change one thing, it would be getting business owners and management to see that the greatest value of legal science is risk assessment and dispute prevention. Investing time, money, and culture into avoiding a fight is far more profitable than funding one in court. Engaging legal early allows us to set clear boundaries and make the rational choice to step away from unnecessary conflict.