Get to know Petar Ljubić - Mobile Development Engineering Lead at Trivago

The Mobile Stage at DevTalks Romania welcomes Petar Ljubić to energize everyone with a dynamic content session on "The art of choosing the right architecture for your project". Read this interview with him and find out what motivated him to join our tech conference.

1. What was your first job in tech, and how did it shape your career?

My first job was at a mobile development company in Serbia that built mobile games and tooling apps like video and photo editors. It was a hands-on experience that taught me so much about performance, optimization, and the limits of devices. That’s also when I realized - and still say today - that mobile development is not just frontend development. Everything I built had to execute directly on the device, not in the cloud, which shaped my understanding of what it means to build truly efficient, user-focused software.

2. In your view, what do you think is the biggest change that shaped the tech industry of today?
Unfortunately, I’d say Scrum and Pull Requests - at least the way they are often misunderstood and implemented. While they were meant to improve collaboration and quality, in many teams they’ve led to rigid processes, unnecessary delays, and siloed work. Instead of fostering agility, they often slow down feedback loops and hinder true collaboration. We need to focus more on practices that actually support flow, trust, and rapid delivery - like Pair Programming and Trunk-Based Development.

3. If you had to sum up the industry in one sentence, what would you say?

Tech is a fast-evolving puzzle where curiosity, adaptability, and collaboration are more important than knowing all the answers.

4. How important do you think tech communities and conferences are for professionals?

They're essential. Tech communities and conferences like DevTalks are not just places to share knowledge - they're where mentorships start, collaborations form, and new ideas emerge. The energy and inspiration you get from connecting with others can't be replicated online.

5. If you could invent any piece of technology that doesn't currently exist, what would it be and why?

A universal digital assistant that understands your intentions across languages, devices, and contexts - something that could truly bridge communication gaps in multicultural teams and simplify day-to-day tasks without constant input.

6. What is something you’re looking forward to at DevTalks 2025?

Meeting fellow engineers who care about clean practices like Pair Programming and Trunk-Based Development, and exchanging ideas about how to keep teams aligned as they scale.

7. If you had to predict one major technological breakthrough that will revolutionize the world in the next decade, what would it be?

Personalized AI copilots integrated into daily life - beyond coding assistants. Tools that help us manage time, learning, health, and relationships with real context-awareness and trustworthiness.

8. If you could time-travel to any point in history with a piece of modern technology, where would you go and what would you bring?

I'd go to Nikola Tesla’s lab in the late 1800s and bring him a solar-powered smartphone. Not just to blow his mind, but to see what he’d build if he understood our current capabilities.

9. If you could switch lives with anyone for a day, who would it be and why?

Elon Musk - just to understand how he makes decisions across multiple industries in a single day. Also to maybe sneak in a little nudge toward ethical tech development.

10. What message do you have for our Romanian IT community?

Keep building, keep sharing, and don’t underestimate the power of local collaboration. Great software doesn't need to come from Silicon Valley - it can come from a small, passionate team anywhere in the world. 

Join Petar on June 4th on the Mobile Stage at DevTalks Romania.