Making Science Group (MAKS) Global Markets Forum Conference summary

Business profile and model

• Global digital acceleration platform with 800+ employees, 200+ engineers, 850+ clients and operations in 18 countries; 2025 revenue €374M and recurrent EBITDA €14M.

• Capabilities span digital marketing, AdTech, MarTech, AI, measurement, analytics and software development, supported by technology partnerships and an AI-native engine.

• Go-to-market combines technology partnerships in multinational accounts, full-service agency-of-record roles for national champions, and software licensing through ad-machina and RAISING.

• Business mix was 75% media and 25% technology; management targets a 40% technology mix and 30%-40% EBITDA gross margin, citing 30%+ in mature Spain.

Market opportunity and expansion

• Global ad spend is forecast at $1.05tn in 2026, with the US accounting for 40%; mid-market agency fees are estimated at $30–45bn, with European markets described as open for competition.

• Germany is the largest open European pool, with 2025 media spend of €27.9bn and estimated mid-market fees of €0.9–1.4bn; US media spend is ~$420bn.

• Completed 12 acquisitions in 11 years; after three years without acquisitions and organic growth, plans to resume incremental M&A to strengthen its market position.

• The US is identified as the fastest-growing market; H2 2026 plans target stronger EMEA, LATAM and US presence, with initial operations in Asia.

AI strategy and operating efficiency

• AI development dates to 2017, advancing from predictive ML and Gauss AI to ad-machina, governed enterprise GenAI and agentic AI; RAISING launched in 2025 and HELIOS AI Factory in 2026.

• More than 200 engineers and data scientists are building AI-native products; H2 plans cite 20+ agentic solutions, including ad-machina, Siever, Geotrace and Optiphi.

• More than 100 proprietary AI solutions are used internally; AI applications include reporting, insights, back-office automation, new products and analytics for image and video data.

• Annual R&D investment is €5M, supporting nearly 100 full-time engineers in Georgia, with engineering talent also sourced in Thailand, Colombia and Spain.

• Management expects AI to improve overall efficiency by 30%-40%; 40% of tracked work time is task-based, with those tasks expected to be optimized by 75%, supporting growth with broadly stable headcount.