Kostas works at the European Commission, leading the unit in charge of Open Science in the directorate general for Research & Innovation. Prior to this he held various management positions related to STI policy and R&D funding programmes, including international relations, research infrastructures, cyber-physical systems, future and emerging technologies and big research data. In the academic year 2017-2018 he was a Fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.

Before joining the Commission in 1992 Kostas worked in the chemical industry in the USA and Belgium, lectured at the University and carried out research. He holds a PhD in engineering from the University of Massachusetts and an Advanced Professional Certificate in investment management from Drexel University.