Brief Biography
Igor Palkin is a digital transformation executive with 20+ years of experience in IT strategy, project management, and enterprise consulting. He has led large-scale digitalization programs for government institutions including Moscow’s Department of Information Technology (147 processes across 7 agencies, 80% service time reduction) and Higher School of Economics (PMO with $33M portfolio, 4x project delivery acceleration). He held senior roles at T1 Consulting and COO at Conteq KZ (40% revenue growth in one year). Since 2024 he leads ISP Consulting (Almaty), serving clients in telecom, logistics, government, and financial sectors, including the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan. He is also founder of Agesta AI — an AI-native project management SaaS platform. Accredited innovation expert at Moscow Innovation Agency with 34+ IT solution assessments.
Achievements
1. Recipient of the QAZAQSTAN Project Management Awards 2023 (national competition, Kazakhstan). Expert and jury roles: Assessor QazPMA 2023; jury member Skolkovo 2022; jury and tracker HSE Inc (startup accelerator) 2021; expert advisor to the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan on industrial development projects (2024); expert at AstanaHub accelerator (2024).
2. Appointed as independent expert by the Moscow Innovation Agency (2022–present). Completed 34 assessments of IT innovation solutions, 33 pilot testing methodologies, and 12 pilot test result reviews, as confirmed in the official agency certificate.
3. Led Project Management Office at HSE (Higher School of Economics, Moscow): developed and implemented full PM methodology covering timelines, budgets, milestones, and risks across a $33M digital transformation portfolio. Result: 4x acceleration in project delivery timelines; full IT budget compliance maintained across 3 years (2019–2022).
4. Led business process transformation at Moscow’s Department of Information Technology (2017–2019): mapped 147 processes across DIT and 6 subordinate institutions, automated internal services, developed BPMN-based process modelling methodology. Result: 80% reduction in public service delivery time; cross-functional process duration cut across HR, contracts, and IT lifecycle.
5. AI project results (ISP Consulting, 2024–2025): HBK Aksaynan (largest bakery in Kazakhstan, 90–120 t/day, 2000+ delivery points) — AI logistics implementation: -20% transport costs, -90% returns. IPSOS Kazakhstan pharmaceutical portal (1,350 physicians): -71% annual cost (T71M to T20.6M), -80% operator headcount, 1.7-month payback on T7M investment.
Competencies
1. IT strategy and digital transformation: 20+ years designing and implementing enterprise IT strategies across telecom, government, logistics, and financial sectors in Russia and Kazakhstan, including full-cycle PMO buildouts and digital transformation programs.
2. AI implementation and public education: founder of Agesta AI (AI-native SaaS). Delivered 10 public speaking events in 2024–2025: PMI KZ Chapter (masterclass, 38 participants; lecture, 12 participants); Antal recruiting agency (masterclass, 30+ participants); Promise (3 webinars on MS Copilot M365 for sales, HR, PM); AstanaHub startup lecture; 2 Agesta AI webinars on AI agents (17+ and 30+ participants). Topics: AI Copilot M365, AI agents for PM, digital transformation.
3. Project management, PMO, and IT consulting: 15+ completed enterprise engagements across Food & Beverage, Healthcare/Pharma, Financial Services, Retail, Manufacturing, and Government. Typical results: 20–70% cost reduction, 80–90% error reduction, 3–12 month payback, 100% on-time delivery. PMO buildout and methodology, MS Project implementation, structured IT audit, BPMN process modeling. PMI member, national PM award recipient (Kazakhstan, 2023).