Our Team
At Tools of Tech, we are proud to bring together a multidisciplinary team of experts who share a common vision: to deliver cutting-edge solutions in cybersecurity, defense strategy, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation.
Our team combines deep technical expertise with policy insight and international experience, enabling us to support clients across the public and private sectors with integrity, precision, and innovation.
From former senior officials and defense advisors to researchers, engineers, and consultants, each member of our team contributes unique value and a shared commitment to excellence.
Explore the profiles of the professionals who power our mission.
Athanasios Staveris-Polykalas
Founder & CEO
Dr. Athanasios Staveris-Polykalas is a cybersecurity and digital transformation expert with extensive experience in policy design, AI governance, and critical infrastructure protection. He has served as Secretary General of Telecommunications and Post of the Hellenic Republic, where he led national initiatives on 5G, emergency communications (112), ultra-fast broadband, and space technologies.
He is a strategic advisor to critical entities on cybersecurity, post-quantum cryptography, and regulatory compliance (NIS2, CRA, DORA). His work bridges high-level policymaking with technical implementation across sectors such as defense, healthcare, finance, and public administration.
Dr. Staveris-Polykalas is the founder of Tools of Tech, through which he leads innovative projects in AI, cybersecurity maturity assessments, secure communications, and data governance. He regularly speaks at international conferences and contributes to national and European cybersecurity strategies.
Taxiarchis Sardellis
Strategy & Defence Advisor
Major General (ret.) Taxiarchis Sardellis is a senior strategic defense expert with over 30 years of distinguished service in the Hellenic Armed Forces and international military diplomacy. He has held critical command and staff roles in elite infantry and special operations units and served as Director of International Relations at the Hellenic Ministry of National Defense.
He represented Greece as Defense and Military Attaché in Washington, D.C., and was the first Greek Liaison Officer to the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). He is a graduate of the NATO Defense College in Rome and holds postgraduate degrees in Defense and Strategic Studies.
After retirement, General Sardellis continued to contribute to international defense innovation, advising governments and leading firms in the EU and Gulf regions. He has served as Senior Defense Expert for the transformation of the KSA MoD at Arthur D. Little and Vice President of the Board of ALTUS LSA, focusing on unmanned systems and technological transformation in defense.
Honors and Recognitions among others
- NATO non-article 5 Operations Medal
- U.S.A Army Meritorious Service Medal
- USA DoD Legion of Merit Medal
- Knight Gold Cross of the Order of Phoenix
- Gold Cross of the Order of Phoenix
- Gold Cross of the Order of Merit
- Medal for Military Valor
- Medal for Meritorious Command
- Staff Officer Service Commendation Medal
- Peace Support Operations Commendation Medal
Professor Vaios Lappas
Aerospace & Defence Advisor
Professor V. Lappas graduated with a B. Eng in Aerospace Engineering at Ryerson University (Toronto, Canada), his MSc in Space Technology at NASA (Goddard Space Flight Centre) through the International Space University (France) and his PhD in Space Vehicle Control at the University of Surrey (UK). He has led various significant research grants on satellite technology, space missions, space debris, funded by the United States Air Force, NASA, Airbus, European Space Agency, European Commission. He has managed substantial research grants including the EU funded QB50, RemoveDEBRIS space missions and the European Defence Agency EuroSWARM project which is one of Europe’s first Defence R&D pilot projects. He is currently Professor of Aerospace Systems and Department Head at the Department of Aerospace Science & Technology of the University of Athens (Greece) and a Consulting Professor in Aerospace Systems at Cranfield University (UK). His current research includes development of unmanned vehicles for defence applications, satellite/space systems, launch vehicle design, small satellites funded by the EU, United States Air Force and European Space Agency. He also teaches Flight Controls, Dynamics and Satellite Communications at Cranfield University and supervises MSc student projects and PhD researchers for the MSc in Astronautics/Space and Autonomous systems (AVDC). He currently is the PI of the ERMIS nanosatellite constellation, a constellation of 3 small cubesats to be launched in January 2026 focused on hyperspectral imaging, laser optical links and IoT communications funded by the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance and the European Space Agency. He is a world authority in small satellites, UAVs, autonomous systems and is in “Stanford’s World’s Top 2% Scientists List” for the subject of Aerospace.