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Transport And Storage Sector In Cyprus: A Positive Surge In 2024

The latest data from Cystat highlights a noteworthy 1.6% increase in the Transport and Storage Turnover Value Index for January through December 2024 compared to the previous year. This demonstrates the sector’s resilience and adaptability in Cyprus.

Breakdown Of Economic Activities

In the fourth quarter of 2024, the index achieved 142.4 points (base year 2021=100) with a notable 2.2% year-on-year growth. Several sub-sectors recorded impressive increases:

  • Water Transport: A remarkable rise of 38.6%.
  • Air Transport: Experienced a significant boost of 22.5%.
  • Postal and Courier Activities: Gained 10.8%.
  • Land Transport: Improved by 7.1%.
  • Warehousing and Support for Transportation: Edged up by 0.4%.

To understand the broader economic effect, it’s interesting to compare these trends against Cyprus’ overall economic landscape. For instance, 2024 was also a groundbreaking year for the island’s tourism sector, boasting a €3.2 billion revenue intake.

This growth across different transportation sectors reflects Cyprus’ strategic positioning and its burgeoning economic potential in the European landscape.

Zendesk Acquires Forethought To Strengthen AI Customer Support Tools

Zendesk, a company known for customer support software, has announced the acquisition of artificial intelligence startup Forethought. The deal is expected to close by the end of March and represents another step in the growing use of AI to automate customer service operations.

Strategic Innovation In Customer Service

Forethought has been developing AI tools for customer support automation for several years. The company first gained industry recognition after winning the TechCrunch Battlefield competition in 2018, well before the widespread adoption of generative AI tools.

Since then, Forethought has expanded its customer base to include companies such as Grammarly, Airtable, Upwork and Datadog. By 2025, the platform was processing more than one billion customer interactions each month, highlighting the growing role of automation in support operations.

Pioneering Leadership And Industry Recognition

Deon Nicholas, Forethought’s co-founder and chairman, hailed the acquisition as a milestone in a recent LinkedIn post. According to Nicholas, advances in AI over the past several years have accelerated adoption across multiple industries, particularly in areas that rely heavily on customer communication and service management.

Enhancing Zendesk’s Product Portfolio

The integration of Forethought’s technology is expected to expand Zendesk’s AI capabilities across its product suite. Company executives said the acquisition could accelerate development of several planned features by more than a year. These capabilities include specialized AI agents, systems that improve automatically through usage data and more advanced voice-based customer support tools. Zendesk has previously expanded its platform through acquisitions, including companies such as Zopim and BIME Analytics, which added messaging and analytics functionality to its products.

Implications For The Future

The acquisition reflects a broader shift in the software industry toward AI-driven automation of customer service tasks. Companies are increasingly using AI systems to handle routine inquiries while human agents focus on more complex cases. Zendesk’s move highlights how enterprise software providers are investing in AI technologies to improve efficiency and scale customer support operations as demand for digital service channels continues to grow.

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