Recommended expert

Lajos Simon

Senior IT Advisor

Lajos Simon
Budapest, Hungary

Experience

Feb 2025 - Present
1 year

Senior IT Advisor

Self-Employed / IFUA Horváth & Partners

  • Senior advisor on a group-wide efficiency and cost optimization program, identifying up to €13m in potential savings over three years.
  • Delivered executive-level analysis of IT cost structures and operating model, supporting consolidation, optimization, and strategic resource allocation.
  • Advised CIO and leadership on IT service management, vendor optimization, and transformation priorities.
  • Led IDM readiness and risk assessment, identity governance, access control, and audit readiness.
  • Identified ISO/IEC 27001 and NIS2 compliance gaps and defined target-state IDM principles and roadmap to support future IAM implementation.
  • Designed a Group-level IT KPI framework for the OPUS Group CIO, enabling executive oversight of operations, costs, delivery, and compliance.
Apr 2024 - Feb 2025
11 months

Chief Technology Officer

Innopay Zrt

  • Led the final implementation phases of the QR code-based payment system, seamlessly integrating with the national instant payment network to ensure operational readiness and uninterrupted service.
  • Directed and oversaw development, business analyst, test, and DevOps teams to ensure the timely and successful delivery of critical projects, maintaining secure, high-availability (24/7) services.
  • Guided the full product lifecycle from ideation to market launch, ensuring scalability, innovation, and competitiveness in a fast-evolving fintech landscape.
  • Successfully launched Qvik Instant Payment Solution with full operational readiness in 2 months.
  • Designed a scalable infrastructure and microservices-based roadmap for future digital payment evolution.
  • Developed the compliance blueprint for NIS2 and DORA alignment, enhancing cyber resilience and regulatory preparedness.
Sep 2019 - Jan 2024
4 years 5 months

Chief Information Officer

Richter Gedeon Pharmaceutical Plc

  • Led a global IT, OT, SAP, manufacturing automation, cybersecurity operations and data analytics organization of 250 FTE.
  • Defined forward-thinking technology roadmaps by leveraging emerging solutions to streamline operations, enhance efficiency, and deliver a sustainable competitive edge.
  • Led data and analytics initiatives by enhancing data governance, security, and compliance while driving actionable insights that empower strategic decision-making and operational excellence.
  • Provided global IT services, ensuring SLA achievement, high-quality support, and 20% faster incident resolution.
  • Strengthened service level, incident, and change management processes, achieving measurable improvement in CSAT and service reliability.
  • Controlled and optimized a €35 million IT budget, ensuring investments are aligned with business objectives.
  • Ensured full adherence to legal and regulatory frameworks (GxP, FDA, HIPPA), industry best practices, and corporate governance policies, mitigating risks and safeguarding business continuity.
  • Led the consolidation of the platform portfolio through an enterprise-wide platform strategy, resulting in 12% reduction in IT expenditures.
  • Directed the implementation of MES, QMS, and LIMS programs, leveraging advanced technologies to enhance manufacturing efficiency, standardize operations, and ensure regulatory compliance.
  • Developed a complete SAP S/4HANA migration preparation plan.
  • Strengthened the organization's cybersecurity posture by modernizing defenses and achieving a 74% Microsoft Secure Score, ensuring resilience against evolving cyber threats.
  • Spearheaded the development of a centralized data lake infrastructure, enabling real-time analytics, deep drill-down capabilities, and improved KPI tracking to support strategic and operational decision-making.
Aug 2018 - Sep 2019
1 year 2 months

IT Director

Takarékinfo Zrt

  • Led IT operations and service delivery, overseeing mission-critical banking applications, data center operations, and IT support functions to ensure seamless banking operations and regulatory compliance.
  • Directed enterprise-wide IT project management, aligning technology initiatives with business goals and regulatory requirements, while managing a 180-member IT team.
  • Led enterprise-wide incident and problem management, ensuring rapid resolution of IT disruptions, minimizing downtime, and improving the end-user experience.
  • Successfully delivered real-time payments, modernizing banking digital capabilities.
  • Implemented virtual product teams and application-level monitoring solutions, accelerating system changes and development timelines, achieving zero operational outages, and enhancing IT service efficiency.
Sep 2015 - Apr 2018
2 years 8 months

EMEA IT Director

Systemax

  • Led regional IT operations across six EMEA countries, managing end-user computing, incident and change processes, and ensuring KPI-driven service excellence.
  • Delivered customer-centric IT shared services, ensuring seamless support tailored to regional business needs.
  • Managed multiple country base cost centers with full P&L responsibility, driving strategic cost optimization initiatives that enhanced financial performance and delivered operational efficiencies.
  • Ensured IT operations adhered to regulatory frameworks, industry standards (ISO 27001, SOX), and corporate policies, mitigating risks and enhancing business continuity and data security.
  • Achieved a 38% reduction in IT expenditures through vendor contract renegotiations and service optimization.
  • Successfully re-engineered ERP systems by implementing enhanced change and release management processes.
  • Provided critical IT support during European business liquidation, ensuring minimal disruption and compliance with regulatory requirements.
Feb 2015 - Sep 2015
8 months

Regional Design Manager

British Telecom

  • Led Europe network design teams across Italy, France, Benelux, and Spain, collaborating closely with client design and delivery heads to ensure the successful execution of projects aligned with business objectives.
  • Partnered with key stakeholders to identify and capitalize on opportunities for enhancing business growth and market expansion.
  • Played a pivotal role in the World’s Best Design Team global transformation program, heading the Environment team to drive strategic initiatives and enhance operational excellence.
  • Led the execution of a company-wide video conferencing system, significantly improving cross-regional communication efficiency and collaboration among different locations.
Mar 2008 - Feb 2015
7 years

Global Head of Network Architect and Engineering Vice President

MSCI

  • Built and led high-performing global network and infrastructure architecture and engineering teams, driving strategic IT initiatives across multiple regions including the US, EMEA, and Asia.
  • Managed the worldwide design, implementation, and maintenance of IT infrastructure, ensuring high availability, scalability, and security to support business growth.
  • Coordinated international suppliers and partners, optimizing contracts and aligning technology strategies with business objectives.
  • Controlled and coordinated international and intercontinental infrastructure projects, ensuring alignment with corporate goals and successful project delivery within scope, time, and budget.
  • Successfully designed and deployed a global IT infrastructure within seven months post-separation from Morgan Stanley, establishing six data centers and 30 offices across the US, EMEA, and Asia.
  • Led the post-acquisition infrastructure integration of MSCI and RiskMetrics, achieving a 25% reduction in IT complexity and ensuring seamless employee transition with no disruptions.
  • Redesigned and implemented a next-generation data center infrastructure, introducing virtualization and private cloud services, resulting in hardware cost reductions and improved resource utilization.
  • Ensured uninterrupted operations of data centers and offices, maintaining robust infrastructure support to facilitate business continuity and minimize risks.

Group Chief Information Officer

Magyar Vagon Group

  • Led group-wide IT strategy and governance across a multi-company organization.
  • Oversaw IT cost, ERP, infrastructure, cybersecurity, and digital transformation initiatives at group level.
  • Directed NIS2 audit preparation and regulatory alignment, strengthening risk management and audit readiness.

Summary

Visionary and results-oriented Chief Information Officer (CIO) with over 15 years of proven leadership in the pharmaceutical, finance and banking, sectors, achieving 20% efficiency improvements and 12% cost reductions through strategic IT transformations. Specializing in driving digital transformation, I leverage innovative IT solutions to optimize business operations, enhance customer experiences, and deliver measurable results. Proficient in aligning IT strategy with business objectives, fostering collaboration across cross-functional teams, and implementing scalable, customer-centric solutions, such as introducing Business Intelligence tools that enhanced real-time executive decision-making and streamlined operations. Expertise includes cloud-native architectures, cybersecurity, data analytics, and modern delivery systems. Adept at managing enterprise-wide technology initiatives while fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

Skills

  • Digital Transformation
  • Strategic Planning And Execution
  • It Service Consolidation & Optimization
  • Enterprise Architecture
  • Customer-centric Solutions
  • Vendor And Stakeholder Management
  • It Governance And Risk Management (Itil And Cobit)
  • Cybersecurity And Compliance
  • Change Management
  • Business Accume And Acquisition
  • Budgeting & Cost Optimization
  • Talent Development & Team Building
  • Cloud Computing And Microservices
  • Agile Methodologies & Sdlc
  • Data Analytics And Business Intelligence
  • Erp And Crm
  • Iot & Edge Computing
  • Devops

Languages

Hungarian
Native
English
Advanced

Education

Oct 1996 - Jun 2000

Budapest Polytechnic University

Bachelor of Sciences · Electrical Engineer specialist information technology Communication · Budapest, Hungary

Oct 1992 - Jun 1995

Kandó Kálmán University

Computer Technology technician · Budapest, Hungary

Certifications & licenses

Artificial Intelligence Foundations

Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)

Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)

ICF ACC coach

ITIL Foundations

Lean Six-Sigma Black belt

Manager as Coach

PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)

PRINCE2

Scrum Master

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