Business leaders, engineers, and innovators gathered at Brillio’s office in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, to explore what it takes to turn data into impact with a human-centered blueprint.
Human-centered innovation
At our recent event in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, tech leaders and professionals came together to explore how companies can unlock real value from data—not through tools alone but by building stronger bridges between people, business understanding, and technical knowledge. Despite the exponential growth of data, organizations worldwide continue to face a persistent challenge: turning information into action. Sophisticated analytics tools, cloud-scale architectures, and AI models can only take us so far if they operate in silos, disconnected from the people who interpret them, the problems they aim to solve, and the business realities they’re meant to impact.
What’s missing isn’t more data. It’s translation and shared context. It’s the ability to connect systems, strategy, and skillsets in truly human-centered ways. At Brillio, we believe that future-ready enterprises are not just digitally transformed—they are data-fluent, business-aligned, and people-driven. In Cluj, we found a compelling example of how these bridges can be built. “Between engineering communities in specific technical domains and the broader world of technology, there needs to be greater awareness and, ultimately, a solution that’s built. Many of us have solved technical problems. But the reality is, most products don’t solve technical problems, they solve business problems. Technology only enables the solution”, said Bogdan Mureșan, VP of Technology, JWP Connatix.
A different kind of ecosystem
The community here thrives on interaction across domains—academia, entrepreneurship, technology, and public institutions—fueled by a collective curiosity and drive to experiment. “What helps innovation here in Cluj is the presence of different communities,” said Natalia Ciobanu, Sustainability Expert, Brillio. “People are genuinely interested in what’s happening around them. You see it in hackathons, in cafés, in discussions about global trends, it’s a fertile ground where ideas and experimentation naturally emerge.” “I think the academic space is a key factor,” added Ioan Posa, CEO GambIT Group. “The universities in Cluj produce strong talent. The communities play a big role as well. There are also various VC funding initiatives that support young people just starting out.”
In Cluj, collaboration is a lived value, not a buzzword. Conversations happen across functions and generations. There’s an active desire to challenge assumptions, learn from others, and move from observation to solution. It’s an environment where talent doesn’t just execute, it thinks, experiments, and leads.
Translating data into value
“Working in this field, I’m actively pushing for the introduction of data literacy and data analytics courses,” shared Mădălina Budeanu, Senior Analytics Manager at Brillio. “We’re already doing this at Brillio.” To bridge the gap between education and real-world experience, Brillio launched a structured data academy in Romania, delivering instructor-led training in analytics, engineering, and science, followed by direct access to internships and employment. “We’ve established an analytics academy,” Mădălina continued. “For four weeks, we deliver training that leads directly into internships or jobs.”
This kind of investment isn’t just about talent supply, but rather about ensuring that people understand how to work with data, why it matters, and where it leads.
Building cross-functional fluency
Yet, even with the right tools and training, technological innovation can fail if ideas remain locked inside one domain. “Over time, I realized that the ability to communicate clearly, to build a common language, is more important than deep technical experience,” reflected Bogdan. “Many strong technical ideas fail simply because people don’t know how to explain what they have, or how it creates value.” When engineers, product managers, and business leaders can’t understand each other, alignment breaks down. Bridging these divides requires more than a few shared KPIs. It requires intentional investment in communication, co-creation, and context sharing.
And it’s not just about deploying AI. AI initiatives must be guided by real-world insight, regulatory awareness, and a clear sense of user and business outcomes. “Last week, Steven Bartlett (a famous British entrepreneur and podcaster) was asked how he uses AI,” shared Ștefan Ionescu, VP Shared Ops, Orange. “He said he pulled a team out of production and gave them a mission: create a podcast using AI that’s better than the original. It’s a way to challenge your team to outdo your own product.” That mindset, encouraging experimentation and internal disruption, requires more than just tools. It requires curiosity, adaptability, and the freedom to reimagine what’s possible.
From local mindset to global relevance
And that makes it scalable. “Things are starting to happen. We need to encourage people to think outside the box. It’s hard at first to push them out of the production zone. And it’s even harder to give them the time and space to create. The concept of fixed working hours would just vanish”, added Ioan. This is the real shift organizations everywhere need: not just faster pipelines but more connected pipelines. Not just more advanced models but more relevant outcomes. Not just smarter data, but more empowered people. Bridging data, business, and people is not an optional layer in transformation, but the very foundation. That’s why we continue to invest in ecosystem partnerships, real-world training, and human-centric AI strategies.
Whether we’re enabling clients to scale next-gen platforms, modernize analytics, or operationalize AI, our focus is always the same: create clarity, build connections, and drive outcomes that matter. Cluj and Romania reminded us that great innovation isn’t just a function of infrastructure or tools—it’s the result of shared purpose, dialog, and the courage to build bridges where others see gaps. And that’s the future we’re helping our clients design—one insight, one partnership, one connection at a time.
