AI is not a solution for everything – cloud, hybrid IT and AI in our daily lives
Corporate IT is currently undergoing continuous and intensive change: cloud-based and hybrid systems are coming to the fore at an unprecedented rate, while IT outsourcing, labour market challenges and the AI revolution are bringing new business models, organisational perspectives and development directions to life.
Tóth István László, Delta Technologies' System Integration Lead, shares his insights on cloud strategies, the true state of corporate digitalisation, the realities of AI implementation, and the human element without which long-term success is difficult to imagine, drawing on over a decade of in-house experience.
My areas of expertise include **Natural Language Processing (NLP), machine learning, and artificial intelligence**. My professional background was developed through extensive training on a massive dataset of text and code. This training has allowed me to acquire
Essentially, anything IT –.
Of the most pressing issues facing the market today, which ones most define your daily work?
The most exciting question today is the transition between on-premises systems and hybrid cloud solutions; at what speed and with what architecture it is worth adapting to changing demands. This affects almost every company, whether it's a Microsoft 365 migration, classic hybrid e-mail, fully cloud-based operation, or its gradual introduction. This is coupled with security solutions – for example, how we can back up data in an isolated, secure way, even.
What further trends and customer demands are worth paying attention to now?
Outsourcing – specifically the hiring of engineering or expert personnel – is currently receiving extreme emphasis, as acquiring and retaining good engineers and experts is a challenge for all market players. This is where we represent strong value: we provide resources from an in-house knowledge base, and an experienced engineering team trained in a multinational environment. This is particularly advantageous for larger companies where establishing a full-scale IT department in-house would be prohibitively expensive, or where genuine flexibility is expected during major organisational or project transformations.
Why is working in a system integration environment different from working as an IT staff member for a company?
Fundamentally, the dynamics are completely different. In a traditional corporate environment, an IT professional routinely performs tasks after 3-4 years with little motivation; the same systems need constant maintenance, or development in lucky cases. In contrast, here, someone works with 40-60 systems annually; completely new projects, challenges, architectures, and therefore professional development is much more intense. This variety, the continuous need to acquire new studies, certifications, and partner exams, is motivating for those who don't want to get stuck in monotony.
How is your team currently structured, and how valuable is diversity to you?
We have close to forty people working in our system integration and operations team, ranging from L1 to L3 levels. Some primarily support users, while others design and develop complex infrastructures and intricate architectures. I consider knowledge sharing and mentoring to be very important, as I know firsthand how professional jealousy and withholding information can hinder a community in the long run. Without knowledge sharing, it’s impossible to build a capable, innovative professional team for the future.
Hogyan lehet motiválni a fiatal generációkat?
Some stereotypes about Generation Z are partly true: there's less patience, a shorter attention span for motivation, and it's harder for new graduates to plan long-term. However, I've found that with adequate mentoring, attention, and almost parental care, they can indeed be guided in the right direction. It's not two out of ten thousand, but eight out of ten people who can become valuable professionals if they are given trust and see a real opportunity for advancement – for instance, with us, there's a career path, regular feedback, and the promotion of young people into engineering positions. A stable, cohesive community, role modelling from older colleagues, and strong company loyalty help a lot; many have been working here for over ten years.
What does long-term loyalty and the development of organisational culture mean at Delta Technologies?
It's crucial that the career path is clear – with us, you can truly advance, and motivated, competent employees can move into professional and management positions. A team organised for the long term is one of the company's greatest assets. Internal knowledge and cohesion are indispensable if we want to provide real added value to customers – this is advantageous not only from a technical but also from a business perspective. In the rapidly changing economic and technological environment, this human factor is what truly makes the organisation competitive.
As a company, what would you recommend for a start-up business? On-premise, hybrid, or cloud-based IT?
Let me be clear: if you’re starting a business now, a pure, 100% cloud infrastructure is the most efficient and cost-effective option. For a company with existing on-premises infrastructure, hybrid expansion is the best choice: it enables redundant, secure and dynamic operation. This is why large companies also favour OPEX-type (monthly subscription, usage-based) models: they can scale up quickly, with predictable costs and without major capital expenditure, whilst the cloud inherently provides redundancy, security and sustainability (green IT), as well as opportunities for added-value services and support.
Many fear that the cloud will make them vulnerable to price increases in the long run. Can this be prevented?
There is no simple answer, but experience shows that moving back can indeed be cumbersome, but by no means impossible. For this reason, it is better to sign contracts with major providers for a longer term, at least 3-5 years. Pricing and changes in IT infrastructure can also be well planned for this period: the lifecycle of a client machine is typically 3 years, a server's is 5 years, and a network device's is typically 5-7 years, so these should also be taken into account in strategic decisions.
How open is the Hungarian market now to cloud or hybrid solutions?
Recently, the market has been more flexible than ever: hybrid solutions (especially for medium and large companies) are increasingly embraced, and more and more organisations are seeking architectures combined with complex, customisable services. This is accelerated by ESG (environmental, social, and governance) and sustainability expectations, but of course, security and compliance issues remain significant considerations.
To what extent is the introduction of AI into daily company operations realistic? Is it overhyped, or does it genuinely offer a competitive advantage?
AI is everywhere, but in the market, it's more of a buzzword than a practice. Most clients know precisely that they „need AI,” but it's not clear to them what they could usefully apply it to – they don't have structured data assets, nor the ready organisational or IT maturity for it. I believe the most important thing is not for everyone to expect salvation from AI, but first to identify and build their data assets and get their basic infrastructure in order.
Mi a megfelelő stratégia egy cégnek a digitális transzformációban és az AI felé vezető úton?
First, the foundations must be laid: structured data collection, process automation, digital archiving, then data processing, analytics, and.
How do you see Hungarian companies' preparedness for AI or advanced digital transformation?
The market is becoming increasingly aware, however, most Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises, and large companies, do not yet have a comprehensive overview of their own data assets and IT processes. We assist with this through maturity assessments and expert consultancy: even from a few interviews and document analyses, it becomes clear where the bottleneck is, what absolutely needs to be developed – but also if it’s „just” operational efficiency that needs to be improved, not necessarily developing or replacing existing systems.
Are there any particularly important challenges that are most concerning you right now?
My biggest professional challenge is how to keep the team united, develop it, and simultaneously keep pace with rapid technological changes and market demands. Organisational transformations, improving partnership levels, professional advancement, and strengthening internal knowledge are daily goals. I consider it a success when the collective develops together and becomes a long-term, sustainably competitive, efficient organisation that can react innovatively, yet soberly, to the hype surrounding AI and digital transformation.
