Questions and answers

I am Aurel Drăgan, a digital transformation specialist with more than 15 years in IT, digital marketing and operations. As a Forward Deployed Engineer, I work alongside a company’s team, with the data and processes it already has, and build things with real impact. For 13 years I worked only with companies outside Moldova. Since 2025 I have led the digital transformation at Medpark International Hospital. Drăgan Digital is the name I work under with other companies. I am based in Chișinău, Moldova.

A Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) is an engineer who works inside a company, alongside its team, with the data and processes it already has. That is how I work. First I see the real process, with the people who do the work. Then I build software or bring in AI where the work becomes more efficient at a low cost, together with the people who will use it. At the end I train them and adjust the software once it starts working.

Digital transformation applied to business processes means I take one concrete process in the company, for example orders, deliveries or reports, and rebuild it so it needs less manual work. The software takes over the repetitive, tedious work. People are left with time for work that adds value.

Unlike an agency or a software vendor, I am responsible for the whole process, from the idea to the figure in the report. A vendor usually sees only its own part: the website, the ads or the software. At NeoComputer, four vendors worked separately. I took over the whole flow, and external costs fell about threefold, my fee included. I don’t come with a template. I start from what already works in the company.

Working together starts with a message on WhatsApp, Viber or Telegram. I reply personally. Then we work in four steps:

1. We talk for an hour, at no cost, online or in person: what you want to achieve and where time or money is lost.
2. I come back with an idea, an implementation plan and an estimate. If I need more information, I ask.
3. I build, adapt or optimize the software inside the company, together with the people who will use it.
4. I train the people and make adjustments. Maintenance, if needed, comes under a separate contract.

I work with companies of any size, in Moldova, Romania or other countries. Someone caught inside a problem often does not even see it. That is why it takes someone from outside. Among the companies I have worked with: an IT retailer, a private hospital, a US law firm and a concrete manufacturer. I work in Romanian, Russian and English. The first conversation can be online, and I do the analysis on site.

How soon the first results come depends on the process. I work as fast as possible: some things take a few days, others a few brainstorming sessions with the owners and the people who will use them. At Radial Plus, the project took two months, and clicks from Google grew by 80% in about six months. I joined Medpark in September 2025, and in March 2026 the average wait at the Call Center was 3 seconds, compared with 16 seconds in 2025.

“I don’t digitize chaos” means I don’t automate a messy process as it is. First I see it on the ground, with the person or team who does the work day to day. Some processes also need changes to the workflow, and only then comes the software. I respect what exists: if a process looks wrong from the outside, there is usually a reason, and the company grew with it. A solution that is good in general can harm a specific company. That is why I build on what already works.

I use AI only where it speeds up the work and costs little. At NeoComputer, purpose-built software with AI and rules adds products to the website and generates the content for SEO, GEO and AEO: 200 products in 30 minutes of work. At the US law firm, back before ChatGPT, I used AI and classic data processing to build a system that joins more than 40 data sources. The report for a new case comes out in under a minute.

The price of a project depends on the process, and we discuss it face to face, once I understand the problem. The first conversation, one hour long, costs nothing. After it I come back with an idea, an implementation plan and an estimate. You weigh the estimate against what the company saves: lower running costs or people’s time, freed for work that adds value. We sign a contract and an NDA from the start. Payments are transparent.

Your company’s data stays confidential. We sign a contract and an NDA before I start work, and what I learn at one client never reaches another. I work with one client per niche: your direct competitor is turned down right away. It is an ethical rule, and I say it from the start. On the website I publish only percentages about clients, with no amounts and no internal information. A client’s name does not appear if the contract says so.

The software belongs to your company. The code, the data and the documentation stay with the company. What I build for one client never goes to another, not even if I am offered money for it. I can also sign exclusivity. I train the people who use the software and adjust it once it starts working. Maintenance, if needed, comes under a separate contract, short or long term.