About Marius Mihail Russo-Got

A short biography

I am Marius Mihail Russo-Got — also published and known as Marius Russo. Romanian, based in Bucharest, with an engineering degree in Computer Science and Information Technology from the Polytechnic University of Bucharest. Over more than 25 years I have moved through the full arc of mission-critical IT delivery: hands-on systems engineering and IT direction at Helinick (1996–2002), large-scale secure-network programme delivery at Alcatel (2002–2006), distributed-team programme management at Motorola (2006–2008), regulated-client architecture and programme advisory at IBM (2008–2011), security and IT governance at Groupe Société Générale BRD (2011–2013), advisory at the European Central Bank and the UNDP / EU Advisory Group in Armenia (2014–2015), enterprise platform transformation at the United Nations HQ — UNFCU and OICT (2016–2019), Section Head for Digital and AI at the Innovation Center (2019–2022), Senior Project Manager for Cloud Security and Architecture at the EEAS (2022–2023), Section Head for Content Collaboration at NATO / NCIA / NDW in The Hague (2023–2024), and currently Chief Innovation Officer / CTO at PIR2-IT, serving top-tier banking and defence clients across Europe and the United States.

The shape of the work has been consistent: institutions bring me in when transformation has to land cleanly under regulatory, security or institutional pressure, and they need a single named architect who personally signs off on the architecture, the governance posture and the delivery plan. The portfolio runs across top-tier banking and financial services, defence and intelligence, digital public infrastructure and government modernisation, and international organisations. Engagement details and confidential metrics are available on request under the appropriate terms; selected outcomes from the public record are summarised below.

Two strands of the work are worth surfacing explicitly. First, on national-scale digital public infrastructure, I have held architecture authority on Romania's flagship sovereign digital services — ePassport, eVignette, eHealth, eCadastre and eNotar — and have provided architecture advisory for complex DPI programmes across 39 countries in Europe and worldwide, covering identity, trust, interoperability, payments and citizen-facing service delivery at country scale. Second, on quantum strategy, I currently advise sovereign and regulated institutions in the Middle East on quantum-safe migration planning, cryptographic agility and post-quantum architecture posture for environments that already need a defensible plan.

Career timeline

Click any role to see the named projects delivered there.

2024–Present · PIR2-IT — Chief Innovation Officer / CTO (B2B). Top-tier banks and defence clients in regulated, mission-critical environments; large-scale application migration and transformation; AI-enabled delivery and integration where applicable. See projects →

2023–2024 · NATO / NCIA / NDW, The Hague — Section Head, Content Collaboration. 12 + 24 matrix reports; OPEX up to US$41M / CAPEX up to US$24M; 821 components → 115 consolidated, 369 retired; US$3.9M value; 99.999% availability. See projects →

2022–2023 · EEAS, Brussels — Senior PM, Cloud Security & Architecture. 6 + 32 matrix reports; OPEX up to US$29M+ / CAPEX up to US$14M+; +27% releases / -36% MTTR / -52% incidents; US$1.4M savings. See projects →

2019–2022 · Innovation Center, Worldwide / Bucharest — Section Head, Digital & AI. 39 experts directed; defence, banking and oil & gas clients; CyberPro AI-driven threat correlation; US$2.6M savings. See projects →

2016–2019 · UN HQ — UNFCU / OICT, New York — Senior IT Officer (Staff Member). 15 + 25 matrix reports; OPEX up to US$56M / CAPEX up to US$12M; active-active 99.98% with RTO <4h / RPO 15 min; -35% audit findings within 1 year. See projects →

2015–2016 · NATO HQ / NCIA / CSU BRX, Brussels — Principal NNHQ IT Services Coordinator. Coordination of personnel and equipment migration into new NATO HQ; 67M+ USD budget executed. See projects →

2011–2015 · Freelance — eight framework contracts: ECB, INTERPOL Singapore, UN Tbilisi, UNDP/EU Armenia, UNOPS Kabul, ENISA, Société Générale (BRD), eIDAS / SSEDIC. 848-component portfolio at SocGen; 39% year-1 savings sustained 3 years. See projects →

2008–2011 · IBM, Worldwide / Bucharest — EMEA Centre of Excellence for Defence & Security + EMEA CoE for eGovernment. ePassport, eID, eHealth, Cadastre, eJustice, National PKI across multiple countries; 1,000+ apps. See projects →

2006–2008 · Motorola, Austin TX / Bucharest — Programme Manager. 286 programmes & projects; military-sector PMO; 96 PoCs. See projects →

2002–2006 · Alcatel, Paris / Bucharest / Timişoara — Senior Architect / CoE Manager. Defence, security & intelligence CoE; Regional CoE for eGovernment (ePassport, eID, DigiNotar, civil registration, EURODAC); 21+ client digital backbone unification. See projects →

1996–2002 · Helinick, Bucharest — Systems Engineering / IT Director. 14-person team; biometric access control; US$200K+ Y1 OPEX savings. See projects →

How I think about the work

Credibility is documented, not claimed. In mission-critical environments, every architecture decision must be traceable, every control must be evidenced, every outcome must be measurable, and the institution must be able to defend every choice under audit, oversight or political scrutiny. The career portfolio above is structured around that conviction — engagements that cannot be backed by KPIs, control evidence and post-implementation review do not belong in the record.

End-to-end ownership is the differentiator. The work runs the full lifecycle — strategy & target architecture → roadmap & business case → delivery → cutover & go-live → operate & optimise → rationalise & retire — with KPI governance across intake → prioritisation → deliver → run → retire. Programmes do not stop at design; the same hand that authors the architecture stays accountable through stabilisation and optimisation. That continuity is the largest single lever for reducing drift across multi-year transformations under high political and regulatory volatility.

The digital backbone is where reliability lives. Most public-facing failures of regulated institutions are backbone failures — network, identity, integration, data, observability, security. Consolidating and optimising the backbone is the single most effective intervention for stabilising run, accelerating delivery, and reducing operational risk. The measured outcomes across UN, EEAS, Innovation Center and NATO portfolios — 99.999% availability, +27% to +74% faster releases, -23% to -52% incidents, multi-million-USD rationalisation savings — are all backbone work.

Frequently asked questions

Why an independent named architect rather than a Big 4 consultancy? When a programme runs for three to seven years across multiple political cycles, what fails first is decision continuity. A single accountable architect maintains the architectural memory of the institution — what was decided, why, on what evidence, and what changed. That continuity is the largest single lever for reducing drift.

What does "end-to-end ownership" mean in practice? Engagements are not delegated to a rotating staff pool. The same hand that authors the architecture stays accountable through cutover, stabilisation and run. Deliverables are evidence-led — target architecture, decision logs, control matrices, delivery KPIs, transition states — not slide decks.

Why is "digital backbone consolidation" the most consistent theme of the career? Most public-facing failures of regulated institutions are backbone failures — network, identity, integration, data, observability, security. Consolidating and optimising the backbone is the single most effective intervention for stabilising run, accelerating delivery and reducing operational risk. The measured outcomes across UN, EEAS, Innovation Center and NATO portfolios are all backbone work.

What's the smallest engagement you'll take? Intensive multi-week interventions where architecture authority, governance design, or audit-readiness must be set up cleanly under pressure. Below that, the answer is usually a referral.

Will you sign an NDA before discussing engagement specifics? Yes — engagement-confidential metrics, named clients beyond what's published, and case-study detail are available only under NDA. Comparable, anonymised evidence can be shared in advance of any commercial commitment.

How do I get in touch? Email marius@russogot.com, call +40 752 624 444, LinkedIn /in/mariusrusso. The contact page has the full direct details.