Interview with Mihai Sescioreanu – Team Lead: “The question stopped being ‘how do we build this’ and became ‘why does this exist and what happens if we get it wrong.'”

Interview with Mihai Sescioreanu – Team Lead: “The question stopped being ‘how do we build this’ and became ‘why does this exist and what happens if we get it wrong.'”

Mihai Sescioreanu has been at Roweb for over eleven years. He came in as a developer, stayed on the same project the whole time, and somewhere along the way became a Team Lead. He’s based in Pitesti and still works on Tourpaq.

 

How did you end up in IT? Was it a deliberate choice or something you figured out along the way?

Up until high school I didn’t have much contact with the field. Then I discovered I actually liked it, and that was it. I decided this was the career I wanted to pursue. I told myself that if I didn’t get into a university program in IT, I wouldn’t go to university at all. That’s how sure I was.

 

What role did you start with at Roweb, and what do you do now? How different does it look from where you’re standing today?

When I joined, more than eleven years ago, I was a developer focused on building things and delivering technical tasks. I always tried to do that work as well as I could.

Now it’s not just about “how do we implement something.” It’s about scalability, maintainability, user experience, and keeping a project healthy over the long term. That’s the main difference.

 

What was the first project at Roweb that really stuck with you?

The first project was Tourpaq, and I’m still working on it. Having been on it for so long, I’ve had the chance to see new features come in and watch the technology shift to match current requirements. That kind of continuity gives you a perspective you can’t get from jumping between projects.

 

How has the way you work technically changed over ten years? What have you dropped and what have you picked up?

The biggest change is how I approach a new piece of development. At the beginning I was focused on the implementation itself. Now I put more weight on structure, maintainability, and code quality.

New practices came in around automation and CI/CD. One thing I’ve learned is that not every new technology deserves to be adopted just because it’s popular. Experience helps you choose.

 

Was there a moment when you felt something shift — when you understood your work differently?

I think so. It happened when I made the connection between the technical side and the business side. I started understanding why a feature existed, what problem it was solving, and what impact it had for the client. That changed how I looked at everything.

 

When you joined Roweb, the company looked different. What change stands out the most over time?

When I arrived the teams were smaller. Since then the company has grown, processes have become better defined, and projects more complex. What I noticed is that the atmosphere between people and the collaboration between colleagues stayed.

 

You’ve been through difficult stretches, either in projects or in the team. How did you manage those, and what did they teach you?

Being on the same project for a long time, the pressure usually comes from deadlines or changes in direction. What I’ve learned is that patience and communication help enormously.

 

What kept you in the same company for eleven years? One main reason or a gradual accumulation?

Several things: an interesting project, stability, and the constant sense that I could grow. None of those disappeared.

 

How would you describe your relationship with colleagues? Is there someone at Roweb you learned the most from?

I have a good relationship both with my team and with colleagues from other projects. That’s one of the advantages of working with experienced people, there’s a constant exchange. And yes, there is someone I learned from, and still learn from: Gabriel Marinescu. I’m grateful for that.

 

If a junior came to you today and asked for honest advice on how to grow in IT, what would you say?

Focus on understanding the problems you want to solve. Technologies change very fast. The thinking behind them changes much more slowly.

 

What does loyalty to a company mean in 2025?

If you have room to grow professionally, if you feel heard, and if the environment is healthy, then the desire to stay long-term comes on its own.

 

What part of your daily work do you enjoy the most? Not what you’re best at — what you actually do with real interest.

When there are new developments, I like thinking through all the implications, what even a small change could affect. That kind of thinking keeps me engaged.

 

Was there ever a technical problem at Roweb that completely absorbed you?

Over the years there have been problems that kept me entirely focused, yes. The ones where you lose track of time because the problem itself demands all of it.

 

What does a good day at work look like for you?

Making real progress, solving something important, clearing up something that was complicated. Collaboration matters a lot too, when that’s working, the whole team moves better.

 

Where do you find energy when a project gets heavy or repetitive? Do you have a concrete way to reset?

I try to take things step by step. Sometimes I shift focus to a smaller problem until I can come back to the bigger one. Breaks and disconnecting help more than they seem to, even though when something isn’t working, I find it hard to let go.

 

What is there at Roweb that you wouldn’t easily find somewhere else?

After this much time in a company, you come to value environments where there’s genuine collaboration and trust between colleagues. Working on complex projects also makes a real difference.

 

If you had to describe eleven years at Roweb in one sentence?

Eleven years of steady growth, real challenges, and people I always had something to learn from.