McKinsey announced on Tuesday that broader adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) could increase Hungary's productivity by approximately €15 billion (US$17.42 billion) by 2030. The consultancy noted that AI could help Hungary reduce its productivity gap with European neighbors, but warned that the country could fall further behind if adoption lags.
Corporate leaders express mixed views
At a roundtable discussion about the McKinsey report, executives from several major Hungarian companies shared their experiences and concerns.
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András Becsei, Deputy CEO of OTP Bank, said AI has a dual effect: it can lower personnel costs but may increase operational and capital expenditures. He characterized the net effect as a transformation of costs rather than an outright reduction.
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Péter Nagy, Deputy CEO of Magyar Telekom, reported concrete impacts: AI-driven agents currently handle about 20 percent of customer calls, and that share is expected to grow. According to the company, AI shortened time-to-market for new services from 90 days to roughly 30 days and allowed half of the network monitoring staff to be redeployed to more complex tasks.
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Gábor Orbán, CEO of Richter, advocated caution: he said more time is needed to determine whether the hype around AI is justified and whether productivity gains can be fully realized. He pointed out that the pharmaceutical industry has undergone multiple transformations in recent decades — for example in genomics and digitization — not all of which fulfilled their initial promises.
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Gergely Bacsó, CEO of Allianz Hungary, emphasized the global competition angle: labor cost is only part of the issue, and cost savings available to a U.S. firm from AI may be multiple times what a Hungarian company can achieve. He warned that competition will intensify, and if Hungary does not act, it risks falling behind foreign players for whom AI adoption is more profitable.
Why this matters
The €15 billion productivity upside McKinsey identifies could materially affect Hungary's economic competitiveness, but the roundtable comments highlight that benefits are not automatic. The risks raised by the executives — rising investment and operational costs, uncertainty over AI's true effectiveness, and the danger of lagging in global competition — are all factors that will influence whether the anticipated gains materialize.
Participants suggested that realizing AI's potential will require targeted investments, reskilling and upskilling of the workforce, and attention to competitiveness, so that Hungary can truly benefit from the technological transition.
