Growth is different for all people, and it’s defined by the choices we make every day to learn, adapt, and lead. As part of our Growth for Everyone profile series, we’re excited to showcase the career journey of Oana Solyom, a Lead Business Consultant, who truly embodies continuous growth and learning.
Her path, from game testing to leading in anatomical pathology, serves as a reminder that growth often begins with curiosity and a willingness to explore new horizons. Whether guiding development teams in Romania, shaping product features for a global healthcare client, or diving into complex regulatory frameworks, Oana brings passion, precision, and a deep sense of purpose to her work.
READ MORE: Learn About Perficient’s Award-Winning Growth for Everyone Initiative
A Career Sparked by Curiosity and a Drive to Build
Before entering software development, Oana found her passion rooted in the mechanics of technology and the thrill of creation. She began her professional journey immersed in the interactive realm of video games.
“I’ve always been drawn to the more technical side of things, even before I worked in software. I started as a game tester because I play a lot of video games. I wanted to play video games for a living, but I really liked being part of creating something.”
This early role as a game tester ignited a deeper ambition: to build tangible digital experiences. Oana soon combined this drive with a desire to learn more about the field of medical software. The opportunity at a small medical software startup allowed her to create impactful solutions that directly help people. “When I found out about the medical field, I was super excited about being a part of creating medical software and devices. I think this is impactful because all the software really helps people.”
The startup environment provided Oana with the flexibility to explore various roles. During her eight years before joining Perficient, she became a Test Lead and then took on system design and product strategy. Currently, she is a Lead Business Consultant at Perficient supporting our product development teams in Romania and serves as a product owner for her client. Her growth stemmed from hands-on learning and an advanced understanding of the healthcare industry.
“It was just a step-by-step thing. From testing, I found out I could do more. I became a Product Owner, and now I’m on the Product Management team.”
Oana supports three development teams in Romania, collaborating closely with her client in a combined product ownership and product management capacity. She defines features, maintains quality, and aligns releases with business goals. Her journey exemplifies continuous evolution, driven by a passion for building impactful solutions.
“The thing I enjoy the most is the creative side of the process because I have to think about users constantly, including how they would feel about a new feature, how they would handle it, and how they would use it. I also enjoy problem solving, like figuring out how to make most people happy and ensuring that teams succeed when problems arise during development.”
READ MORE: Discover Product Development Insights from Our Colleagues
Powering Innovation in Healthcare: Oana’s Anatomical Pathology Project Work
Oana’s work focuses on improving workflows in anatomical pathology laboratories, which handle the critical steps of specimen processing before diagnosis. Anatomical pathology involves analyzing physical specimens, managing samples, and processing data efficiently.
There are four main areas of focus in anatomical pathology:
- Tracking and maintaining an accurate record of specimen samples
- Improving patient custody by reducing errors and minimizing mislabeling risk
- Providing actionable data and insights into lab operations
- Streamlining processes to increase efficiency
By optimizing the pre-digital (analytical) phase in her project work, Oana ensures a strong foundation for accurate digital diagnostics processing. She works on a specimen tracking system for path lab, an informatics and workflow solution that streamlines specimen tracking, labeling, and case management. The benefits include increased efficiency, reduced errors, better resource management through real-time analytics, and faster turnaround times.
READ MORE: Learn How Perficient Is Powering Digital Pathology Data and Workflows
Understanding the Connection Between Anatomical and Digital Pathology
Digital Pathology is a rapidly evolving area of medical technology that combines imaging, software, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve diagnostic accuracy and efficiency. This builds on anatomical pathology by transforming the tissue samples tracked for diagnosis into high-resolution images for AI-assisted interpretation. The digitized slides are applied to AI algorithms where they are flagged for potential issues and reviewed for diagnostic errors. This evolution makes diagnosis faster and more accurate.
Oana helps shape software that makes complex pathology workflows simple and intuitive for clinical teams. For eight years, Oana has supported a critical project for anatomical pathology labs through product ownership, which includes preparing new features and the next steps for a product release.
Extensive self-study proved to be most beneficial to the project, revealing that every lab operates differently and requires adaptable workflows. Guided by a customer-first mindset, her career reflects a commitment to trust and alignment with user interests and product success.
“At the end of the day, the people who will be using our software are going to be the ones most impacted by the choices we make. I think that mindset has brought me to where I am today. I want my team to succeed because their success means success for both us and the client in delivering great results. I put customers first, and that gives our clients more trust in us.”
EXPLORE MORE: Perficient is Leveraging AI-Driven Product Development to Accelerate Innovation
Driving Impact and Achieving Milestones
Oana and her dog, Sylvie.
Oana is a proactive force in her own career development and a significant contributor to her projects. Each year, she sets personal goals and shares them with her manager, creating a shared understanding of her ambitions. One significant milestone was her rapid advancement to Product Owner. While serving as a Requirements Manager, she set an ambitious five-year goal to become a Product Owner and achieved it in just two years.
Her rapid move into a strategic role – typically reserved for client-side specialists –underscores her commitment to growth. Oana’s accomplishment highlights her dedication, including extensive self-study and learning about areas like histopathology labs and customer visits, even if they are not part of her daily responsibilities. She also took courses with scaled agile training, as well as a course on design thinking, to support the teams that she partners with and meet the requirements for successful delivery. Earning that level of confidence and responsibility marked a major personal achievement.
Beyond her personal milestones, Oana’s impact extends through her dedication to process improvement and deep knowledge:
- Process Implementation: A strong advocate for efficient processes, Oana and her team participated in a transition from waterfall to agile methodology for feature definition, significantly enhancing delivery and flexibility.
- Extensive Knowledge and Support: Oana’s comprehensive product expertise and willingness to offer support across various areas, including regulatory affairs, make her a sought-after resource, greatly contributing to the product’s success.
Growth Through Exploration: Learning, Adapting, and Owning the Journey
Oana’s career growth has been significantly shaped by her willingness to explore new areas and take initiative. What began as a testing role evolved into a deep dive into product development, driven by her curiosity and desire to contribute more meaningfully. As she transitioned into systems design and product ownership, she studied complex medical workflows, regulatory requirements, and agile methodologies.
For those early in their careers or considering a shift, Oana offers valuable advice:
- Keep your options open: Oana emphasizes exploring all opportunities within a project or company as you might discover a passion for something unexpected.
- Explore beyond your first role: She initially planned a career in testing but found her true calling in product development, realizing she wouldn’t have been as happy staying on a purely technical path.
- Approach conflict resolution pragmatically: When problems arise, Oana assesses the impact and determines necessary sacrifices, whether it is time, scope, or the team’s workload. She focuses on measuring the outcome to decide the best approach and accepts that perfect solutions aren’t always possible.
In her experience, growth comes from staying curious, adaptable, and taking ownership of your development.
Finding Balance and Fulfillment Beyond the Screen
Outside of work, Oana finds balance in the simple things—reading, gaming, and spending time with her dog, Sylvie. These moments help her stay grounded and energized.
Oana’s journey, from game tester to a leader in product development, is a powerful reminder that growth doesn’t always follow a straight line. It’s about being open to change, embracing new challenges, and finding fulfillment in both your work and your personal life. Her evolution reflects what’s possible when you lead with curiosity and commit to continuous learning.
Perficient continually looks for ways to champion and challenge our workforce, encourage personal and professional growth, and celebrate the unique culture created by the ambitious, brilliant, people-oriented team we have cultivated. These are their stories.
Learn more about what it’s like to work at Perficient on our Careers page. Connect with us on LinkedIn here.
