Twenty-five years of international corporate project management experience, a hybrid methodology, and the conscious alignment of technology and human factors – according to Krisztián Naményi, the key to successful projects lies not merely in tools, but in shared understanding and well-structured knowledge. We spoke with the founder and CEO of Navicula about how the system was created, the most common reasons projects fail, and why AI is not the answer in itself, but rather the quality of data and asking the right questions.
– Let’s start with a more personal question: how did you get to the point where project management and technology play such a central role in your career?
– As an engineer, I have been managing international large-corporate projects for twenty-five years now. Throughout my work, I have always preferred a hybrid approach: combining thorough, waterfall-based planning with an agile mindset that flexibly follows change. Based on my experience, technological planning alone is not enough. The real key to success lies in the human factor. That is why creating effective communication between decision-makers and team members is a primary goal for me. Project scope, timing, and budget can only be kept in balance if everyone on the team understands the objectives in the same way and clearly sees how their own activities contribute to the project as a whole.
– Do you remember the first project that was already managed using Navicula? What was the situation that most clearly showed the need for such a system?
– The first project was a domestic greenfield investment by a biotechnology company, where we had to comprehensively manage the design, construction, and permitting processes of a laboratory. This required close cooperation between a management team of nearly twenty people and international supplier partners. The project had a significant budget but an extremely tight schedule, meaning that several hundred parallel processes and resources had to be handled simultaneously. For me, the beauty of the task lay precisely in this complexity: when thousands of variables must be overseen and kept under control at the same time. However, this is unimaginable without a proper project management methodology and an application that supports it.
– Many project management tools are available on the market. Where do you see Navicula’s real differentiation, and for which companies does it provide the greatest value?
– It clearly provides the greatest advantage to companies for which time can demonstrably be equated with money, and which are therefore willing to act accordingly. They value careful, professionally grounded planning, precision, team cohesion, proper administration, and critical thinking. Together, these elements enable a mode of project operation in which the advantages of the Navicula system can truly emerge. The greatest value lies in the structured and aggregated information generated during continuous operation. Past events and experiences support present-day planning and provide a basis for predicting certain future project outcomes. Artificial intelligence technology is now tangible, and of course we also apply it. However, on its own it is worth nothing. The real question is what kind of corporate knowledge and data are available to which this technology can be applied. Our advantage lies in handling data in a way that allows us to provide actual answers to business questions.
– As a CEO, what has been the greatest leadership lesson for you in recent years? Was there a decision or period that fundamentally shaped your thinking?
– As a technology company, we offer innovative solutions to our clients, but these are tools that must be applied properly. This is only possible if company leadership supports their use across all areas: preparing employees, providing appropriate training, and regulating operations so that the tool not only fits into daily work but also functions within controlled frameworks. It is important that it becomes part of common awareness how each user contributes to success, and that the tool appears not as an administrative burden but as a demonstrable value. Alongside technological innovation, the human being and the team using the system are at least as important. That is why we position ourselves not merely as a technology provider, but as a solution provider in the market. We work closely with client leadership and support them through training, consulting, process analysis, and project management methodological support in the interest of success.
– It is often seen that as companies grow, their projects “fall apart.” What are the most typical mistakes, and how can they be addressed in time?
– Perhaps the most important factor is that the project management office and project managers maintain an appropriate relationship with the project sponsor. This is the person who can create conditions for the project organization that resolve internal conflicts of interest within the company.
Stakeholders naturally represent their own business units, while projects in many cases define cross-organizational objectives that are not clear to everyone. In large organizations, project managers often find themselves in political and communication labyrinths that are extremely difficult to navigate. The other critical area is the professional side: thorough planning and quality assurance. Many projects derail because something is delivered at inadequate quality, a small detail is omitted, or the scope changes but there is no longer sufficient budget to accommodate it. I am convinced that a costly plan is still cheaper than a failed project. Good communication, tailoring processes to the company, precise definition of responsibilities and authorities, and proper administration are all essential.
– How do you see changes in office and corporate operations as a result of digitalization, and which trends has Navicula had to adapt to?
– Digitalization is extremely spectacular for individual users; the real question is how much companies and organizations can actually capitalize on it. Often it is not the tools that are missing, but the ability to articulate what the demonstrable business benefit is. More than twenty years ago, a bank introduced an innovative data-mining tool that was almost handed to top management like a “crystal ball.” The problem then was the same as it is today: they could not articulate what to ask. Today we call this “introducing AI.” But what will we use it for? This remains the key question.
Even in the age of artificial intelligence and automation, the most important thing is to be able to define a real business problem and objective. Only after that does it make sense to examine how existing tools can solve it and what the path toward that solution is.
– Many people fear that artificial intelligence will take away our jobs. How do you see this?
– My position is that artificial intelligence does not take away our jobs, but significantly transforms them. In fact, overall we will have even more work, as new, inspiring business opportunities will emerge that must be realized. And these will require even more human resources.
– Finally, what are Navicula’s most important goals for the next two to three years?
– We are focusing on providing our users with a building block that has so far been missing from technological project management solutions. We consider it essential that data generated during operations be collected properly, as this will form the basis of future business advantage. Our goal is to provide immediate answers to management questions, make risks foreseeable in advance, and eliminate the need for post-hoc damage control. We are preparing our system not only to address general project management methodological questions, but also to answer professional and business questions. In addition, we are expanding it with predictive analytical functions that can examine countless possible project outcomes, thereby providing even stronger decision support for investors.
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