- PROW Conference 2025 gathered over 650 inspired tech and product professionals in Timișoara, Romania
- The event focused on building impactful products, scalable tech, and strengthening regional innovation networks
- The Conference featured workshops, side events, and the PROW on Tour series across CEE cities
- The organizers plan to expand further in 2026 with practical learning formats and cross-border collaboration
PROW Conference 2025, Romania and CEE’s top tech and product event, took place on October 24th at the Timișoara Convention Center, drawing product managers, engineers, marketers, business analysts, and founders from across the region and beyond.
Redefining Product Thinking in Romania and CEE
Guided by the theme ‘Products that matter. Tech that scales. A community that grows’, this year’s edition focused on building products with real impact, developing scalable technologies, and strengthening the regional innovation ecosystem. The event positioned Timișoara as a growing hub for technology and product development, reinforcing its role on Romania’s and CEE’s tech map.
Over the course of the day, participants engaged in expert-led sessions, keynotes, and interactive panels covering the latest trends in product strategy, growth, and innovation. PROW also offered hands-on learning opportunities through workshops, Q&A sessions, and practical case studies shared by industry leaders.
Beyond the conference agenda, attendees explored Startup Alley, networked with emerging founders, and visited expo booths featuring innovative products and technologies. Dedicated coworking and networking zones encouraged collaboration and idea exchange.
ITKeyMedia approached PROW Conference’s co-founder Andrei Cosmin Munteanu and marketing manager Diana Cîrloganu to dive deeper in what made this year’s Conference stand out, what puts Timișoara on the startup map, and how the local and regional tech scene evolves:
PROW Conference 2025 brought together over 650 product & tech professionals. Beyond the numbers, what qualitative shifts in mindset or behaviour might you have observed among attendees?
Andrei Cosmin Munteanu: This year felt different. Beyond the 650+ participants, there was a real shift in how people approached product work, less about frameworks, more about outcomes. Attendees came ready to challenge their own assumptions, to learn from peers, and to be honest about what’s not working. The mindset was clearly more mature: fewer buzzwords, more meaningful discussions about value and sustainability.
Andrei Cosmin Munteanu, Co-Founder of PROW Conference
Side events and the PROW on Tour series appear to play a growing role. How might you assess and summarize their success and impact? What lessons did they bring this year?
Diana Cîrloganu: The Side Events and the PROW on Tour series proved that the community doesn’t live in one place or moment. They helped us reach smaller groups in different cities, bringing the same energy and curiosity we see at the main event. The success came from staying close to the people and letting local contexts shape the topics. The key lesson? When you bring learning to people’s doorsteps, they open up in ways that big stages can’t always achieve.
The theme of this year was ‘Products that matter. Tech that scales. A community that grows.’ Post-event, how do you define ‘products that matter’ in the context of the CEE region? Did the Conference produce any standout examples or case studies?
ACM: In our region, ‘products that matter’ are those that solve everyday problems while managing to grow sustainably. It’s not just about innovation, but about usefulness and longevity. We saw great examples from founders building AI-powered tools for education, sustainability, or productivity, all grounded in real user needs. What stood out most was how teams use constraints as creativity drivers rather than limitations.
With workshops focused on ROI‑driven prioritisation and AI integration, what is the biggest takeaway on how product leaders in the region are adapting to AI and data‑driven decision‑making?
ACM: The biggest shift we noticed in product leaders is that AI is no longer treated as an experiment, but as infrastructure. They’re learning to ask better questions: how does AI support decision-making, how does it improve prioritization, how do we measure impact? There’s a move from ‘trying tools’ to ‘building systems.’ Data and experimentation are becoming part of the everyday rhythm, not a separate phase.
Timișoara gets positioned as a rising tech hub in Romania and the CEE region. From what you observed at this edition, what unique advantages or obstacles does Timișoara and the region more broadly face in the global context?
ACM: Timișoara has a few clear advantages: strong technical universities, a multicultural environment, and a naturally collaborative startup community. The challenge is visibility and capital. The region produces great talent, but still needs more bridges toward global markets and investors. We’re working on the capital, too, as the region is currently developing two VC funds aimed at investing in startups based in Western Romania. What’s encouraging is the optimism and drive; people here genuinely want to build, not just follow trends.
Was there any particular format or interaction—networking, coworking zones, expo booths, and interactive Q&As—that surprised you the most in terms of attendee engagement?
ACM: The coworking zones surprised us the most. They turned out to be spaces where attendees actually worked together on ideas, not just networked. It was spontaneous, informal, and productive, the kind of interaction we hoped for but didn’t fully expect. It showed that people crave genuine connection and co-creation, not just panels and talks.
Overall, how does one balance local relevance with global trends in a regional conference?
DC: Balancing local and global starts with listening. You bring in international expertise, but let local stories give it context. People in the region want to see what’s possible elsewhere, but they also need to feel represented. Our job is to create that bridge, to translate big trends into something that fits our markets and teams.
Looking ahead to PROW 2026 that you’ve already announced, with what innovation or evolution in format, content, or community would you most like to experiment? And what worked so well this year that makes it worth doubling down on?
Diana Cîrloganu, Marketing Manager at PROW Conference
ACM: For PROW 2026, we’re thinking about new formats that make learning even more practical — smaller labs, thematic tracks, and more integrated side events throughout the year. I’d also like to keep experimenting with how we connect cities and communities, not just audiences. We’ve also started building and fostering bridges with neighboring regions like Serbia and Hungary, which adds a new layer to our community and learning. What worked best this year, and we’ll absolutely keep, was the mix of openness, hands-on sessions, and authentic conversations. That’s where the real value happens.
Evidently, PROW Conference has grown into a cornerstone gathering for connecting Romania’s and the CEE region’s product and tech ecosystems. By blending global expertise with local context, it helps emerging founders, professionals, and communities collaborate, learn, and scale meaningful ideas. Its continued evolution signals not only Timișoara’s rise as a region’s tech hub, but also the region’s increasing confidence on the European innovation map.
Kostiantyn is a freelance writer from Crimea but based in Lviv. He loves writing about IT and high tech because those topics are always upbeat and he’s an inherent optimist!
