Jan Cifra
Operator · Strategist · Investor
Operator, strategist, and investor based in Bratislava. I work with founders and boards across Central Europe on strategy, leadership transitions, and scaling technology businesses through inflection points.
What I'm reading
All notes →Claude Opus 4 blackmailing engineers in test scenarios is the kind of concrete safety failure that cuts through alignment theory — Anthropic is showing its work, which is more than most labs do, but also confirming the risks of agentic models are already here, not hypothetical.
Thailand's national AI flagship allegedly running a chip-smuggling pipeline to China is exactly the export control enforcement nightmare the skeptics predicted — no amount of entity-list additions plugs a route where the transit country itself is the vector.
Four days after talks collapsed on delaying the AI Act, Brussels reversed course and clinched the deal anyway — first significant rollback of EU digital rules under US pressure, and a signal that the AI Act's bite may be softer than its drafters intended.
About
I take on executive leadership roles, independent board seats, and senior advisory work across Slovakia and the wider Central Europe and DACH region. My focus is technology, SaaS, and e-commerce businesses at inflection points — scaling, leadership transitions, restructuring, or preparing for an exit.
Earlier I spent six years scaling a CEE web hosting group — WebSupport, Active24, and Webonic — from a single brand into a multi-country operation, before becoming CEO of Dedoles, one of Central Europe's fastest-growing e-commerce brands. MBA from Vlerick Business School; Executive Program in Strategy and Organization at Stanford GSB. Independent board member at Vacuumlabs and SAPIE, the Slovak alliance for innovation.
Based in Bratislava. I work in Slovak, English, German, and Czech.
Investments
Alongside operational and strategic work, I invest in early-stage and growth-stage companies in Central Europe — primarily technology, SaaS, e-commerce, and digital infrastructure. I look for founders who want more than capital: a hands-on partner who has run a P&L, scaled a multi-country operation, and sat on both sides of the table.
Services
I work with founders, boards, and investors who need senior strategic and operational experience — not just advice.
Experience
20 years across software, cloud services, e-commerce, and consulting in Central Europe — from service desk to CEO. Currently leading Dedoles, with board roles at Vacuumlabs and SAPIE.
View full experience →Contact
Founders, boards, investors, and partners — happy to hear from you.