Hi there, I'm Catalin 👋
I'm a Director of Engineering, building and running production systems in Ruby on Rails for a little over a decade. Most of my work has been building multi-tenant CRM systems that are complex and permission-heavy.
When I'm not building software, I train for Spartan races. In 2025, I ran a Sprint (5k) and a 12k trail race. In 2026, I ran the Golden Gate Trail (15k), and I'm preparing for a Super (10k).
I also like to play with new technologies, especially when they have to fit into my work. This blog is where I write about that: what I try, what works, and what doesn't.
What I'm working on
Ongoing series about engineering, spartan training, and learning.
Building AI Agents
Notes from adding AI agents to production systems: constraints, trade-offs, and what it actually looks like in a real Rails app.
Training for Spartan Races
How I train, what breaks, what adapts, and how endurance training fits around a full-time engineering role.
Engineering Leadership
Lessons from leading teams, making decisions under uncertainty, and seeing engineers grow over time.