As the UK and Europe grapple with how to reduce dependence on US tech, founders and policymakers gathering in Brussels today believe an overlooked part of the answer may lie in Central and Eastern Europe.
Business and technology leaders say Romania and the wider region is fast becoming a major centre for AI deployment, engineering talent and deep-tech growth in Europe.
European policymakers, startup founders, enterprise leaders and innovation experts have gathered to discuss how digital innovation is being translated into real-world deployment across Europe.
Among the speakers will be DesignVerse co-founder Andrei Manolache, whose company – with offices across the UK and Europe – has helped to modernise mission-critical aviation software used across the continent, upgrading systems run by air traffic organisation EUROCONTROL.
Speakers at the event will argue that Romania’s technology sector has evolved beyond outsourcing and support functions, with startups and engineering teams increasingly building products and platforms deployed internationally.
Andrei Manolache, CEO of DesignVerse, said: “We believe Romania is evolving into one of Europe’s emerging engineering and AI innovation hubs.
“We see an opportunity to build a connected European AI and engineering ecosystem across Central and Eastern Europe, linking talent, research institutions, startups and enterprise technology expertise.
“Europe already has exceptional technical capability. The challenge now is creating stronger pathways that turn talent into deployable AI systems, scalable businesses and globally competitive technologies.”
The European Parliament event will focus heavily on how Europe can accelerate digital competitiveness through practical deployment of AI and digital technologies across businesses, SMEs and critical infrastructure.
Manolache adds: “Europe’s competitiveness will not be built through strategy papers and policy discussions alone. It will depend, firstly, on the appropriate funding being available and the ability to compete with other AI hubs across the world; and on where advanced technologies are designed, deployed and scaled in the real economy.”
Romania’s ecosystem of founders, engineers, research institutions, and innovation hubs is already driving tangible digital transformation across Europe – from AI and fintech to cybersecurity and enterprise software.
Radu Postolache, General Manager at Qualysoft Romania and President of ANIS, the Employers’ Association of the Software and Services Industry, points out: “Romania’s tech industry brings not just strong talent, but years of experience delivering complex, large-scale international projects across industries, this is what now positions it to play a much bigger role in Europe’s AI and engineering landscape.”
Bogdan Iordache, General Partner, at Underline Ventures, a VC firm that backs technology startups and which focuses on investing in early-stage companies with global ambitions, said:“Every day, I work with emerging startups across Romania and Eastern Europe and I see the region entering a new phase of maturity.
“We are seeing founders combine deep engineering expertise with genuine product ambition, building technologies that are not only innovative, but capable of competing and scaling internationally.
“What Europe still tends to overlook is the speed and quality of execution that exists within Romania’s technology ecosystem. The combination of highly skilled technical talent, entrepreneurial drive and growing ecosystem collaboration is creating companies with the potential to deliver real impact across global markets.”
DesignVerse says Romania’s growing role in enterprise AI and software engineering is being driven by a combination of strong technical universities, highly experienced engineering talent, competitive delivery capability, and increasingly mature startup and innovation ecosystems.
Manolache and his counterparts believe Romania is emerging as a trusted execution hub for highly technical and regulated industries, combining strong engineering talent with speed and operational reliability.
DesignVerse itself recently demonstrated that capability through a project which has helped to modernise legacy aviation software used within Europe’s air traffic management ecosystem, rebuilding a 15-year-old enterprise application in just over a month.
Romania has already produced globally recognised technology companies in automation, cybersecurity and fintech, including UiPath, Bitdefender and FintechOS. Founded in Bucharest, UiPath became Romania’s first technology unicorn before going on to become one of the largest software IPOs of its kind.
Today is the third Romania Digital Day and features representatives from the European Commission, European Parliament, innovation hubs, enterprise technology companies and startup founders from across the region.
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About DesignVerse: DesignVerse is an AI-based platform that builds and delivers complex enterprise software using an organisation’s own documentation and internal rules, ensuring every system is built consistently across teams. Our software integrates directly with the design systems, architecture patterns, and business logic enterprise that your teams rely on, eliminating drift, fragmentation, and repeated implementation effort. The DesignVerse platform bridges the gap between design and development by creating a context layer, unique for each large-scale organisation, enabling teams to build and modernise complex software far faster than traditional workflows. Headquartered in Bucharest, Romania, DesignVerse works with enterprises across multiple sectors, including aviation, banking, cybersecurity, and public infrastructure. designverse.ai