BBJ: What professional path led you to your new role?

Dorottya Ágnes Prokaj: I spent seven years at one of the Big Four consultancies, where most of my work involved contracts for using tax incentives and grants. I participated in the successful completion of large complex projects, working for clients in various industries from the planning phase to implementation. I acquired quite a bit of experience and gained extensive insights. Although the opportunity to lead the Andersen division was unexpected, I said “Yes” because I felt the complexity of the task was a professional challenge while also providing new prospects.

BBJ: What are your impressions after these first months? How was the division doing when you took over?

DÁP: This is a relatively new service area for Andersen, and it has been operating for just a few years. Nevertheless, my experience is that the foundation is stable, the client portfolio is diversified, the workflows function well, and the quality of the professional material is excellent. I can also say that the team consists of highly qualified experts from various fields. As a result, we have experience from ministries, background institutions, and the Big Four, which is a great value. Overall, we don’t have to start rebuilding the foundations; this allows us to concentrate on development and progress.

BBJ: What are the most important goals you set when you accepted the position?

DÁP: I want to maintain the division’s stability despite the unfavorable external environment and negative economic processes. I would like to establish a successful and reputable professional workshop that can react flexibly to client requirements to make Andersen a fundamental player in the market segment. Regarding business objectives, I aim to substantially expand the current clientele and increase Andersen’s market share in the consultancy field.

BBJ: What challenges do you face in this area of services?

DÁP: We are on a difficult path. The retention of EU funds and the curbing of investments has led to a great deal of uncertainty in the domestic market, and the regulatory environment is less predictable due to changes in economic policy. International events and conflicts compound this. At the moment, the Hungarian economy is being artificially boosted. However, we must be aware that the start of any positive processes largely depends on the decisions and risk-taking of market players. A supplier will not carry out an investment only because it receives support. If it sees that the coming period will not bring the orders that justify developing a substantial infrastructure, purchasing expensive assets, or increasing staff numbers, it will not make that decision.

BBJ: Which of the division’s three service areas holds the most significant possibility for medium-term growth?

DÁP: We are considering different possibilities for EKD- (individual government decisions) based support for significant investments in the coming period. The focus will shift from traditional investments to investments with greater added value and R&D projects.

We used to concentrate on just one or two tax incentive types, though they are much broader than that, and the number of available clients is much greater than the amount we had reached. Since we have the expertise, all we lacked was the initiative.

The near future is expected to bring more business opportunities involving grants. The government is trying to provide more support to SMEs through various measures. A good example is the recently announced Sándor Demján Program, which assists these companies in capital financing.

This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of November 4, 2024.