# Péter Schmíz

**Director of Technology, VML Hungary** · Budapest, Hungary

Technology- and cloud-agnostic leader with 20+ years in the digital industry — from hands-on front-end engineering to the CTO chair. Péter works where technology, business and strategy meet: turning ambiguous problems into scalable, vendor-neutral architecture, shaping solution vision in pre-sales and client workshops, and growing the teams that build it. His profile is broad by design with several deep spikes — engineering, solution architecture, multi-cloud, composable DXP & commerce, and applied AI — held together by strategy, clear communication and storytelling. Much of that depth now sits in AI: he designs and evaluates agentic, orchestrated workflows, weaves AI tooling into everyday delivery, and stands up fast proofs-of-concept that move ideas to value. Known for realistic thinking, learning fast, and high-quality delivery.

## Contact
- Email: pety7439@gmail.com
- Phone: +36 20 594 6550
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-schmiz/
- GitHub: https://github.com/peterschmiz
- Credly: https://www.credly.com/users/peter-schmiz

## Skills & expertise
- Technical & engineering leadership; people & engineering management
- Solution & enterprise architecture; vendor-neutral / digital-transformation consulting
- Client advisory: client calls, representing technology decisions, workshops
- Pre-sales & new business: RFPs, estimation, bid-process framework, solution definition & pricing
- Applied & agentic AI: orchestrated multi-agent workflows, agent evaluation, AI tooling in delivery, fast PoCs
- Composable / headless DXP & commerce; CMS migrations
- Sitecore (XM Cloud, Personalize, CDP, OrderCloud)
- Modern web: React, Next.js, Node.js, JavaScript/TypeScript, front-end architecture
- Cloud: AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform
- Platforms: Sitecore, Contentful, Contentstack, Shopify
- Search, personalization & integration: Coveo, Bloomreach, Jitterbit, Boxever
- AI / ML, conversational AI, IoT R&D
- Team building, mentoring, talent pipeline, process improvement; CI/CD & code-review practices

## Experience

### Director of Technology — VML Hungary
Oct 2025 — Present · Budapest, Hungary
- Leads the technology team and the regional architecture practice at VML Hungary (part of VML Enterprise Solutions, 'VML ES') — vendor-neutral standards across DXP, composable commerce, multi-cloud and applied AI, aligned to global frameworks.
- Client-facing throughout: represents and explains technology decisions, provides consultancy, and is a key technical advisor to new business (RFPs, workshops, estimation, bid-process framework) across legal, automotive, financial-services, real-estate, energy and FMCG clients.
- Owns agentic-AI initiatives (a 27-agent, 4-orchestrator new-business agent audit; authored agent system prompts) and fast proofs-of-concept; leads and mentors the team and grows the talent pipeline.

### Chief Technology Officer — VML
Jan 2024 — Oct 2025 · Budapest, Hungary
- Set technology direction across multi-cloud (AWS/Azure/GCP) and composable commerce; led DXP/CMS migrations (Sitecore XM Cloud, Contentstack) and built accelerators and proofs-of-concept — including a working PoC inside a winning RFP.
- Began weaving AI tooling into everyday delivery.

### CTO / Deputy CEO — Wunderman Thompson Commerce & Technology
Dec 2020 — Jan 2024 · Budapest, Hungary
- Set the technology direction for the Budapest practice and represented it on the global Tech Council.
- Built and scaled multi-disciplinary teams across .NET/Sitecore, Drupal, React, mobile and QA, and established delivery and quality standards.
- Acted as senior technical authority in pre-sales and client engagements — consulting global brands on digital transformation — while mentoring team leads and delivery managers.

### CTO / Deputy CEO — Mirum Budapest
Mar 2020 — Dec 2020 · Budapest, Hungary
- Supported the Budapest technology organisation through its merger into the Wunderman Thompson network — aligning teams, delivery practices and the technology stack.
- Maintained delivery momentum and client continuity throughout the transition while contributing to the combined technical capability.

### Delivery Director / Technical Director — POSSIBLE (now Mirum)
Nov 2017 — Mar 2020 · Budapest, Hungary
- Owned overall delivery and the technical/strategic direction of the Budapest office, accountable for quality and on-time delivery across the client portfolio.
- Contributed to business development — shaping pitches, estimates and solution approaches.
- Drove early R&D in AI/ML, conversational AI and IoT, prototyping emerging-tech concepts that fed into client innovation.

### Head of Front-End → Lead → Senior FE Developer — POSSIBLE
2011 — 2017 · Budapest, Hungary
- Grew from senior front-end developer to leading the front-end discipline, building and mentoring the team as it scaled.
- Modernised the practice — ES6, SCSS/BEM, Node and WebGL, alongside CI/CD pipelines and strict code-quality reviews.
- Set the front-end architecture and standards that underpinned delivery for major brand clients.

### Web Developer — Freelance
2007 — 2011 · Szeged, Hungary
- Delivered front-end, Flash and PHP projects for a range of clients after starting on data-driven PHP sites.
- Built the Hungarian Subaru website and an interactive car configurator.

### PHP Developer — OnlineWeb
2005 — 2007 · Szeged, Hungary
- Built data-driven websites and applications in PHP.

## Leadership, scope & ways of working
- Team scope — has led teams of roughly 10 to 30 people across Front-End, Engineering and Technology
- Pre-sales impact — in multiple RFPs (e.g. Dublin Airport / daa and A&O Shearman), bringing a tangible, built proof-of-concept into the pitch helped shape the outcome
- Governance & hiring — sat on the internal Architect Review Board and the internal AI Guild; acted as hiring manager across multiple roles
- Thought leadership — hosted meetups plus internal and client workshops; authored occasional articles, including a cloud-connected 'Stranger Things' IoT build
- Ways of working — open to hybrid (2–3 days in office when needed) and remote; happy to travel for work
- Ambition — wants to keep evolving as a CTO / Architect while broadening into a genuinely M-shaped profile

## Applied & agentic AI
- WPP Open New-Business Agent Audit — owner; scope of 27 agents across 4 orchestrators (May 2026); designed and evaluated the agentic, orchestrated workflow end-to-end
- Authored agent system prompts — including a PowerPoint / Pitch-Deck Expert agent and an Architect-persona prompt; agent-refactor and agent-evaluation work
- AI in delivery — weaves AI tooling into day-to-day delivery and stands up fast proofs-of-concept to move ideas to value
- Tooling preference — works mostly with Anthropic models and tools, also Microsoft's, and less with OpenAI

## Domains & capabilities
- Composable commerce & digital-experience architecture — discovery, unified commerce & unified front-end (automotive); booking-journey architecture (real estate)
- DXP / CMS migrations & builds — Sitecore XM Cloud migration (legal); Contentstack maintenance & builds (healthcare); CMS migration responses (mobility/accessibility)
- Pre-sales leadership — RFP responses, pitch decks, client workshops, Q&A, high-level estimation, bid-process framework across legal, automotive, financial-services/leasing, energy, chemicals, real-estate and aviation pursuits
- PoCs & accelerators — an 'Accelerators & Proofs of Concept' capability deck; a built PoC appendix inside a chemicals-sector RFP; a working PoC embedded in a winning RFP
- Applied / generative AI — generative content-creation partnership (consumer products); chatbot build (FMCG/beverage); embedding AI tooling into everyday delivery
- Search & personalization — Sitecore Search proposal (FMCG); evaluation across AEM Search / Elasticsearch / Algolia; Coveo & Boxever experience

## Industries served
Legal · Automotive · Financial services & leasing · Energy · Healthcare / MedTech · FMCG / CPG · Real estate / residential · Telecom · Luxury · Aviation / transport · Chemicals / manufacturing · Holding & marketing groups

## Named brand portfolio
Aston Martin · Mercedes-Benz · Jaguar Land Rover · Adidas · Red Bull · Vodafone · HSBC · Shell · BASF · Nestlé · PepsiCo · S.C. Johnson · GSK · Sonova · A&O Shearman · Essity · Motability · Microsoft · WPP · WWF · GE Healthcare · Montblanc · Dublin Airport

## Notable projects & builds

### Dublin Airport replatform
Replatforming engagement for Dublin Airport (daa) in the aviation / transport sector.
Outcome: Brought a tangible, built proof-of-concept into the pitch that helped shape the outcome.
Tech: Composable DXP, Multi-cloud

### A&O Shearman vendor transition & platform migration
Vendor transition and DXP/platform migration for A&O Shearman (legal sector), including a Sitecore XM Cloud migration.
Outcome: A built proof-of-concept in the pitch helped shape the outcome.
Tech: Sitecore XM Cloud, Migration

### WPP Open new-business agentic solution
Agentic new-business support solution on WPP Open — 27 agents across 4 orchestrators.
Outcome: Owned, designed and evaluated the orchestrated multi-agent workflow end-to-end.
Tech: Agentic AI, Orchestration, Anthropic

## Certifications

### Cloud — Amazon Web Services
- AWS Certified AI Practitioner (Feb 2025; valid to Feb 2028) — incl. Early Adopter badge
- AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (Feb 2025; valid to Feb 2028)
- AWS Certified Developer – Associate (DVA-C02) — in progress
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate — in progress

### Cloud — Microsoft Azure
- Azure Developer Associate (2021)
- Azure Administrator Associate (2021)
- Azure IoT Developer Specialty (2021)
- Azure AI Fundamentals (Mar 2021)
- Azure Data Fundamentals (Mar 2021)
- Azure Fundamentals (Feb 2021)
- Microsoft Copilot for Security (QA Ltd)

### DXP / CMS — Sitecore
- Sitecore XM Cloud Developer (Dec 2023)
- Sitecore Personalize (2022)
- Sitecore CDP (2022)
- Sitecore OrderCloud (Dec 2022)
- Sitecore 10 System Administrator (Jul 2022)
- Sitecore System Administrator Fundamentals 9 (Aug 2021)
- Sitecore JSS Fundamentals 9 (Mar 2020)

### Headless CMS — Contentful
- Contentful Certified Professional (valid to Apr 2027)
- Contentful Certified Content Manager (valid to May 2027)
- Contentful Verified Skill: Personalization (Feb 2025)

### Commerce — Shopify
- Shopify Foundations (2024)
- Liquid Storefronts for Theme Developers (May 2024)
- Foundations modules (May 2024): Product Development, Cross-Border Selling, Marketing, Data & Analytics, Shopify Plus, POS & Retail, Working with Merchants

### Search / Personalization / Integration
- Coveo Platform Developer (Jan 2022)
- Bloomreach Developer / Sales / User Foundations (2023)
- Boxever Advanced (Jun 2021)
- Jitterbit Core / Foundations (2019)

### AI / Data / Analytics
- AI for Business Growth — Strategy & Best Practice
- AI for Behavioral Analysis
- Data Analytics Essentials, Cisco (Jul 2025)
- Coursera: Machine Learning / Google Cloud series (2020)

### Front-End / Design / Legacy
- Adobe Certified Expert — Dreamweaver CS6 (Sep 2012)
- DoubleClick Studio — HTML5 / QA / Engagement Ads (Oct 2014)
- Udemy — UX Design Fundamentals (Nov 2014)

### Process / Professional
- Agile Transformation (WPP, Jan 2024)
- Communication & Collaboration — SUNY #EmTechMOOC (Aug 2020)

## Awards
- Sitefinity Website of the Year 2017 — Aston Martin

## Education
- MSc, Computer Software Engineering, University of Szeged

## Languages
- English (Professional)
- German (Limited)
- Hungarian (Native)

## About
A creative thinker and problem-solver who genuinely loves technology — and cares just as much about building visually appealing solutions. He studied in Szeged and loved the city; his first developer job was there, where he first connected with the company he is part of today (then known as Carnation). He later moved to Budapest for his wife and work, and has lived there for many years.

## Interests
- Happily married; loves to travel with his wife and their four chihuahuas
- Volunteering — rescues dogs (especially chihuahuas) with the Hungary-based Heti Betevő group
- Maker / IoT — building physical and IoT devices (e.g. a cloud-connected 'Stranger Things' LED installation)
- Baking & cooking
- Motorsports — Formula 1, NASCAR, IndyCar, MotoGP
- NFL & American football fan; plays flag football
- Music — Nirvana (hardcore fan), Foo Fighters, System of a Down, Slipknot, Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Sci-fi & space — Asimov, Star Trek, an Apollo-era devotee whose favourite rocket is the Saturn V
- A beer guy with a soft spot for a good IPA