Romania has developed a substantial cybersecurity talent pool and hosts major research, development and service delivery centers for global cybersecurity players, but the absence of a robust domestic market continues to limit the growth of the local ecosystem, according to Catalina Dodu, Partner and EMEIA Cybersecurity Defense Sector Leader at EY.
Speaking at the Innovation Forum 2026, organized by The Diplomat-Bucharest, Dodu said Romania has become an important hub for cybersecurity expertise, serving international markets through both services and product development.
“We have a very large number of cybersecurity professionals in Romania. While it is difficult to quantify exactly because there is no standardized way to count them, we are talking about many thousands of people working in cybersecurity across services, product development and R&D centers for major global cybersecurity companies,” she said.
According to Dodu, Romania’s challenge is not talent, but demand from the domestic market.
“When we talk about ecosystems, they can only function if they have a local market. We do not really have that local market today. Romanian companies do not purchase solutions from local cybersecurity providers at a meaningful scale. As a result, most of our cybersecurity services are exported,” she said.
She noted that much of what is currently measured as cybersecurity spending in Romania consists of purchases of international software licenses rather than locally developed technologies.
“What we count as cybersecurity consumption in Romania is often the acquisition of licenses from international vendors. There is significant spending on cybersecurity products, but much of it goes toward global solutions rather than domestic innovation,” Dodu said.
Drawing on her experience working across both international and Romanian markets, she observed that cybersecurity budgets have improved considerably in recent years.
“One positive surprise I have seen over the past few years is that organizations are increasingly investing in cybersecurity. There are budgets available today that simply did not exist several years ago,” she said.
However, she argued that many organizations still fail to maximize the value of the technologies they purchase.
“These tools are often not used to their full potential, and organizations are still not buying solutions from startups. That remains a major challenge,” she said.
Dodu described cybersecurity entrepreneurship as particularly difficult due to the trust and credibility required to enter the market.
“It is extremely difficult to build a cybersecurity startup. Beyond technical expertise, you need customers who are willing to trust your product and deploy it in production environments. That is where companies mature and grow,” she said.
She pointed out that in many countries, governments play a crucial role in supporting innovation by acting as early adopters of emerging technologies.
“In many countries around us, the first customers for innovative cybersecurity solutions are government institutions. The public sector helps validate new technologies and creates opportunities for companies to scale,” she said.
According to Dodu, the Romanian cybersecurity ecosystem will struggle to reach its full potential unless public institutions become more active buyers of locally developed innovation.
“As long as the government does not purchase research and development from companies operating in Romania, whether Romanian-owned or international companies present locally, it will be difficult to build a thriving cybersecurity ecosystem,” she said.
While innovation will continue to emerge despite these challenges, she believes the pace of development will remain below its potential.
“The ecosystem will probably continue to grow despite the environment, but it will not grow at the pace or scale that could fully benefit the Romanian business community,” Dodu said.
She also highlighted the growing number of Romanian cybersecurity entrepreneurs who are relocating abroad in search of larger markets and easier access to capital.
“There is a community of Romanian entrepreneurs in New York building cybersecurity companies and products. Many of these startups relocated because they could not find a sufficient market at home. The U.S. market is larger, more attractive and offers easier access to funding,” she concluded.