About us

Our international team is building on decades of experience to support you in reaching your goals.

 

We gained professional experience mainly in Central Eastern European markets at Tier 1 and Big4 consultancies and other multinational and fintech companies. We know that the deep understanding of local specificities and personal relationships is especially important in these markets. This is the reason our team has offices in Budapest and Belgrade covering the entire region.

Our values

Co-creation.

Long term success can only be achieved through working together. We cooperate closely with our clients during all of our projects through workshops and discussions to reach the desired end goals. Everything we do should be a result of joint efforts, this is a top priority for us.

Digitization.

Digitalization is not only a matter of products or services but a decisive factor throughout the entire organization and its operations. We believe that we can only support our clients in navigating the challenges and opportunities of digitization if we ourselves live and breathe this field. We are constantly researching the newest technologies and the most impactful ways of implementing them at our clients’ businesses.

Sustainability.

No business that disregards their environment can sustain its success in the long run. Environmental, social and sustainability aspects are all important factors in today’s decision making. During our projects we aim at delivering solutions to our clients that take social, governance and environmental factors into consideration in order to achieve sustainable results.

Efficiency.

Time is the most precious and scarce resource, efficient and timely work is therefore a must for us. We are aware that our environment changes at a rapid pace and it is important for our clients to react quickly and stay ahead of the trends.

Feasibility.

As consultants we have seen numerous deliverables end up on the shelves without ever being implemented. For us however, the true measure of our success is seeing our recommendations come to life at our clients’ businesses. We always keep practicability and implementation in mind during our engagements to make sure our recommendations, action plans and roadmaps are supporting our clients in reaching their goals in real life

Measurability.

To make sure that our work is helping our clients reach their objectives, the results of our work need to be measurable. During our engagements we make sure not only to deliver recommendations that contribute to reaching the goals of our clients, but also to hand over KPI systems that can support the measurement of project’s results in an effective and transparent manner. We believe having measurable recommendations and results is the key to long term partnerships.

Our industry expertise

Banks, financial institutions & fintech

Building on 10+ years of leadership experience in the payments industry, we provide expert support to our clients in all areas of daily banking and beyond. In our work, we face the challenges of digitization, efficiency, regulation and international players in the banking and financial sector on a daily basis, and we take these into account in all our work, providing our clients with tailored solutions

    • Full banking digitization strategy and implementation project management

    • Development of digital payment and acceptance strategies

    • Digital payment portfolio optimization (cardholders and acquiring portfolio)

    • Development of value propositions for daily banking, product and service development, go-to-market strategy and lifecycle management

    • Mobile application concept design, Apple Pay, Google Play, issuer wallet launch, go-to-market strategy and lifecycle management

    • Branch efficiency improvement, branch digitization, virtual branch implementation, remote identification and digital onboarding solutions

    • Cost reduction related to digital payment systems and infrastructure, procurement process, RfI, RfP management, migration management

    • Debit and credit card usage, and profitability improvement

    • Credit card lifecycle management, revolving rate improvement

    • Sales efficiency improvement, incentive scheme development, sales academy

    • New market entry strategy and implementation support

    • Support for obtaining licenses, permits, ensuring regulatory compliance

    • Strong customer authentication (SCA) - analysis of current solutions, exception handling strategy and authentication policies, TRA implementation

    • Conceptual design of card acceptance solutions, product and service development, go-to-market strategy and lifecycle management

    • Payment infrastructure provider selection process, RfI, RfP management, migration support for CEE banking group (2022)

    • Business plan preparation and support in obtaining regulatory authorization as payment service provider for activities subject to authorization (2022)

    • Supporting the development of a business concept and operating model for an international payment service provider (2021)

    • Development of concept, functionalities and business plan for a mobile application supporting daily banking for a specific segment, support for the development of an MVP product (2021)

    • Conceptual design and business plan for an end-to-end digital solution supporting appraisal processes, product development (2021)

    • Preparation of a 3-5 year full banking digitization strategy for a leading CEE bank (2020)

    • Development of mobile marketplace strategy and go-to-market strategy for SEE banking group for 6 countries (2020)

IT

We are passionate about technology and digitization - not only do we address the IT-related challenges of our clients working in various industries, but we also help the service providers of leading IT companies in Hungary and the region address their strategic challenges.

    • Digitization strategy and digital transformation

    • Digital customer experience, product and service development, digital customer process design and lifecycle management

    • Conceptualisation of digital organisational and innovation units, process development

    • Full IT due diligence

    • IT strategy development and implementation management, development of vendor selection frameworks for service procurement, RfI and RfP process management

    • Process audit and process automation

    • Concept development of an innovation-focused internal organizational unit for a 500+ people organization (2022)

    • Acquisition-related IT due diligence for a sales-focused private company generating 3+ billion HUF yearly turnover (2022)

    • Management of IT infrastructure supplier selection, RfI and RfP processes for a regional banking group (2022)

    • Development of an E2E digital customer process and client-side application concept, as well as go-to-market plan (2021)

Real estate

The real estate sector is one of the segments most exposed to changes in the macro environment. Building years of experience, we support our construction and real estate clients in addressing their strategic, growth, new market entry, operational excellence, recruitment and communication challenges, helping them cope with the particularly turbulent market conditions of recent years.

    • Sales strategy development by market segment

    • Preparation of international expansion strategies, playbooks and and market research

    • Optimization of facility management processes

    • Digitization of business processes

    • Automation of vregulated appraisal processes

    • Employer branding and recruitment support

    • Development of a 3-5 year international expansion strategy and identification of target markets for a leading CEE real estate broker (2021)

    • Market research and iBuying product development support for CEE proptech scale-up (2022)

    • Full-scale preparation for new market entry, setting up a local entity and providing interim management for a leading CEE real estate player (2022)

    • Development of a strategic proposal package to strengthen recruitment, employee engagement and organizational integration for a top 3 Hungarian design firm (2022)

    • B2B communication strategy and action plan for a top 3 Hungarian design firm (2022)

Private equity & venture capital

Leveraging our extensive experience in facilitating various transactions, we stand by our partners throughout the entire process, offering guidance to both buyers and investors as well as clients. From validating business concepts to overseeing fundraising activities, our team is prepared to assist at every step. On the investor side, we deliver specialized support in due dilligence and optimization post-fundraising, ensuring a comprehensive and seamless experience for all parties.

    • Validation of business concepts, development of MVP and use cases, product and service strategy, definition of a supportive organizational framework, and formulation of market entry and communication plans

    • Creation of an investment strategy, preparation of documentation required for investment proposals, fundraising, and investment project management

    • Comprehensive business and IT audit

    • Organizational and process optimization following fundraising and mergers

    • Business audit of an IT scale-up, compilation of documentation required for investment proposals (2020)

    • Compilation of documentation required for investment proposals for a Proptech scale-up (2022)

Non-profit

For our foundation-supported and non-profit clients, we provide a wide range of personalized consulting services, taking into account the specific characteristics of their organization, regulatory and budgetary constraints, as well as their public benefit goals. Leveraging our structured methodology, we have assisted several clients in improving their operational efficiency.

    • Operational and organizational audit

    • Process mapping, process optimization

    • Identification of cost-cutting opportunities, action plan development, and implementation

    • Project management support for key projects

    • Back-office organization and process audit, development of a proposal package aiming at efficiency improvement, and support for the implementation for a foundation with 500+ employees (2022).

    • Preparation and management of the supplier selection process for a key supplier in the supporting operational area, and preparation for the integration of the new supplier and the conditions for operation for a top 3 foundation-supported international school (2022)

Energy

We support the retail sectors of players in the energy industry in optimizing their financial and payment services, including billing, collection, and customer profiling processes.

    • Improvement of payment experience and efficiency

    • Big data-based profiling of customer portfolios

    • Optimization of billing processes

    • Definition of customer profiles and personas

    • Assisted the retail segment of the leading energy company in the CEE region by data-driven determination of customer profiles. In alignment with attributes assigned to each profile, we facilitated the improvement of customer payment habits (2022)

Public sector & regulated entities

We support players in regulated and highly licensed industries, primarily in addressing the challenges related to the gradual liberalization of markets and ongoing digitalization. We assist in formulating and implementing new business models, processes, and the necessary organizational changes.

    • Business planning and business model updates

    • Innovation management

    • Digital transformation

    • Preparation for the implementation of a 5-year strategic plan in a regulated organization (2022)

    • Development of the concept for an "Internal Innovation Unit" (Digital Factory) in a regulated organization with 500+ employees (2022)

    • Preparation of the open banking strategy for a central bank in a Middle Eastern country (2019)

LEADERSHIP

Maklári István
MANAGING PARTNER

István has been involved in management consulting for over 15 years, offering his expertise to assist top executives in strategic projects across various industries. His work has gained recognition globally, leading to long-term collaborations on every continent. His specialized knowledge extends to sectors including banking, telecommunications, IT, and transportation, with a primary focus on applying his functional expertise in digitization, operational optimization, and international expansions. Presently, he holds the position of co-founder and Managing Partner at Techtone Group.

He earned his degrees from Corvinus University and completed an MBA program at the Wharton School, with a specialization in corporate finance and marketing.

In addition to his corporate roles, István is an active member of several non-profit organizations' supervisory boards, with a particular emphasis on education and talent development.