Former BCG Project Leader, Mihai sat down with us to talk about his path from consulting to leading the strategic division of an IT company that started out as a small startup focusing on robotic process automation and became the first ‘unicorn’ in Central Europe with over USD 1bn in market capitalization.
Balázs Kotnyek: For those who don’t know you, Mihai, you were the first Romanian colleague in the Budapest office, working as a Project Leader out of Bucharest, in a remote setup. How did you manage this work model?
Mihai Bucur: For six months I was working almost entirely from my kitchen, and I visited client sites once or twice. I also tried to visit the Budapest office once every month, just to get that sense of community. It was a difficult time, but it prepared me for the pandemic.
BK: After leaving BCG, you joined UiPath, an IT company, as a Senior Director for Strategic Projects. What do you do there?
MB: With my team, we do various internal consulting projects – from operations to strategy, sometimes even trainings. I work on all types of market and sales topics, for example, classical forecasts, operational or back-office sales issues, platform ecosystems, marketplaces, etc. The firm operates globally, so ours is a global strategy team, working remotely 24/7.
BK: UiPath is a global company, founded and headquartered in Bucharest. Is it challenging to operate globally out of Romania? How do you manage this situation?
MB: I don’t think there is a drawback. The company grew extremely fast, so we have our teams distributed across the different regions we operate in. We have a policy in place which ensures that everyone should have the opportunity to go to any of our offices around the globe, work there for a week or two, engage with colleagues, and get accustomed to one another. This practice has helped improve collaboration across the whole firm.
BK: UiPath used to be a small startup focusing on robotic process automation, and it became the first ‘unicorn’ in Central Europe with over USD 1bn capitalization. In 2021 you also had an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange. How does it feel inside to be part of such a successful company?
MB: Yes, the IPO took place in April, with a capitalization of nearly $40 billion, which is an amazing first-time record as a Central and Eastern Europe-based IT company. We grew tremendously, six years ago the company consisted of 10 people, working out of a small apartment. It was a humble start for the company, which laid out a good foundation, an open-minded mentality, and a caring culture. Sticking to these core values, being humble, and staying approachable have led us to where we are now.
BK: Is UiPath different from BCG in that sense?
MB: It is definitely different. At BCG, there is a certain type of hierarchy – who is a consultant, a principal, or a senior partner. We don’t have that at UiPath, we focus more on what an individual can give to the company, how they can help us all to head in the right direction. The relationships between colleagues are way more informal. Also, you need to establish yourself – it is not enough if you are a director of something. In my team, I am surrounded by super smart people, with great analytical skills and often I am the one who needs to adapt, not the other way around.
BK: And what are the similarities? What are the learnings from BCG that you find useful in your current position?
MB: Definitely problem-solving. And structured thinking and communication. I think that being able to communicate in a structured manner is the main difference for me coming from a consulting background. I don’t think that I am even in the top 10% of our analytical team, but I can express myself better than some of my colleagues who can think in a super structured way but cannot express themselves that well. I don’t think of myself as a great presenter, but being able to deal with short attention spans, and to focus on the most important things have helped me even more than problem-solving. Keeping it short and simple is a key element of running efficient meetings, which people truly appreciate. By being able to communicate efficiently, you can align people quicker to solve the problem. For me, that is the most valuable takeaway: to be able to capture their attention.
BK: You have quite some experience with consulting, you have worked at other consulting companies before joining BCG. Are there any specific skills you learned at BCG?
MB: Not a particular skill, but the higher standards. Some other companies may do things similarly, but BCG has way higher standards. I had to learn that because I was able to do my work well, but that’s not always considered good enough.
BK: Some experience that after leaving BCG they must scale back, because many companies don’t have the same high expectations. Is being able to work with higher standards something that your company looks for as well?
MB: I agree. I think you always need to apply your highest standards, but in the meantime, you must be cautious because you are not on the top of your colleagues’ minds, you don’t always have that sponsorship from your CEO, you don’t always have the power to push things as a consultant can. Higher standards can be hard to impose because people define their standards differently, so you must be flexible. At BCG, everybody was judged by the same bar, but when you work at a startup, or scaleup that brings so many different people together, it’s better to not impose the same standards on everyone. I think that being open and humble are the most important values and standards that you can have.
BK: What is ahead for you and for UiPath?
MB: We are just scratching the surface; we have a lot of room to grow still. The automation potential of the market is huge, and not only in the IT sector. For me, working at a global IT company that’s headed in Bucharest and not having the pressure to move to somewhere else is a great opportunity. Making the decision to leave BCG and consulting was challenging for me, it took me a long time, but I decided to move on at the right time – the company matured enough to accommodate me in this position – and that makes me glad.
BK: What would you advise the younger generation? Is gaining experience in consulting worth it before going to work in another industry?
MB: Definitely. After graduating people still need to mature and learn how the business world operates. BCG and some other consulting companies can help you reach this, and they also give you a career path, which is not necessarily the case when you work in the given industry. Consulting is a people’s business and a problem-solving business that will give you some much-needed skills to reach your potential and there is no better place to learn that than at BCG.
Starting February 1st Mihai will change roles from the Strategy department to the Partner team of UiPath and will relocate to New York. In that position, he will help manage the company’s global partner ecosystem, a vital part of the go-to-market organization.
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