Éva Hegedüs was born in Eger. After graduating with honours from the Budapest University of Economics, she started her first job in 1979 as a research associate at the Institute of Industrial Economics and Operations Management. From 1981 to 1996 she worked in government offices, from 1993 as Deputy State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance. From 1997 she was involved in the creation of the Land Loan and Mortgage Bank and was Deputy General Manager of the Risk Management and Securities Division of the Bank. Between 2000 and 2002, as Deputy State Secretary for Strategy and Energy at the Ministry of Economy, she was responsible for the harmonisation of the Hungarian energy sector with EU rules and for the regulation of housing loans. From 2002 to 2006, she was Head of the Retail Business Unit of OTP Bank and Chairman of the Board of Directors of OTP Lakástakarékpénztár Zrt.

Éva Hegedüs is co-founder and CEO of Gránit Bank. Under her leadership, the Bank has grown from a greenfield financial institution to Hungary's fastest growing and most cost-efficient bank since 2010. She is credited with the development of the digital business model that Gránit Bank pioneered in the Hungarian banking market.

Éva Hegedüs has been a member of the Board of the Hungarian Banking Association since 2013 and Secretary General of the Hungarian Economic Association since 2014. Her work has been recognised with numerous national and international awards. In 2015, she was voted Banker of the Year by Hungarian bank executives at the MasterCard Bank of the Year Awards.In 2017, she received the Hungarian Economy Award for her outstanding work in the financial and banking sector over several decades. In 2024, for the sixth consecutive year, she was named the most influential Hungarian businesswoman by Forbes Magazine.