IPAP Consulting was founded by Andrei Popov after thirty years operating — sitting in the same chairs we now help other people sit in. CEO, CTO, CIO, General Partner, board member at banks, payments businesses and one of Eastern Europe’s largest e-commerce platforms. The firm exists for one reason: most consulting fails because the people doing it have never done the work. IPAP was built to be the opposite of that.
Where I’ve been
- General Partner at a venture fund
- Managing Director and CTO at a major cross-border payments business
- CEO at one of Eastern Europe’s largest e-commerce platforms
- Chairman of the Supervisory Board at a non-banking financial institution
- Independent director roles at banks and clearing houses
- CIO and Management Board member at a leading regional bank
Several of those roles ran in parallel. Most of them came with a board, a P&L, a regulator, and the late-night phone calls that come attached.
When an engagement calls for it, I bring in a small network of operator-collaborators — people who’ve actually been the CFO, the head of engineering, the regional MD in the kind of company you’re running. The firm staffs to fit each engagement, never more.
What we care about
High-performance teams. Not “high-performing” in an HR-deck sense — actually delivering under pressure, holding their nerve in transitions, and getting better at the work over time. Most of what we do is unlock teams that are already capable of this and have been getting in their own way.
Change that holds up. Anyone can deliver a programme that looks good in the closing meeting. The real test is what’s still running 18 months later. We design for the 18-month test.
Agile, but quietly. We use the practices that actually move work — clear roadmaps, short feedback loops, transparent metrics. We don’t sell certifications.
Corporate accelerators that work. Most internal innovation programmes are theatre. The ones that produce real product and business outcomes follow a pattern. We know the pattern.
How to read this site
- What we do — the three situations we step into and what changes.
- How we work — the twelve-week engagement model.
- Why us — operator credentials and what we’d never compromise on.
- Contact — start the conversation.
Want to talk to a person? Email me directly.