--- title: "Dan Podina, Software Architect" description: "Software architect for GraphQL and Go backends, AI-built codebases, agentic systems and regulated platforms. Dan Podina, GQLTeam SRL, Cluj-Napoca." url: https://gqlteam.com/ markdown: https://gqlteam.com/index.md type: home date: 2025-01-01 lastmod: 2026-08-28 --- # Dan Podina, Software Architect > Software architect for GraphQL and Go backends, AI-built codebases, agentic systems and regulated platforms. Dan Podina, GQLTeam SRL, Cluj-Napoca. I am Dan Podina, a software architect with twenty years in production systems and a specialization in GraphQL and Go. I work independently through GQLTeam SRL in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, with clients across Europe and the United States, mostly in healthcare, fintech, insurance and SaaS. Two things changed in 2026. Teams now build entire products with AI coding tools in weeks, and then need someone to confirm the result can carry hiring, funding and traffic. And teams are putting agents into production, which turns tool boundaries, evaluations and guardrails into architecture problems. Both are the discipline I have practised for two decades, applied to a new situation. I also build and run things: SystemTrails, a productized review practice for AI-built products; Labra, an open-source Go and GraphQL platform; and Sabra, a club management product built on it. This site publishes its content for people and for AI agents alike: every page has a Markdown version, the site has an llms.txt, and a public MCP server exposes the same facts to any agent that asks. Contact: https://gqlteam.com/contact/ | Book: https://cal.com/dan-podina-snqasy/30min | MCP: https://mcp.gqlteam.com/mcp ## Services - [GraphQL Architecture and Federation](https://gqlteam.com/services/graphql-architecture/index.md): GraphQL architecture consulting: schema-first design, Apollo Federation, N+1 elimination and compliance-ready request tracing for teams that need one API over many systems. - [Go Backend Systems](https://gqlteam.com/services/go-development/index.md): Go backend architecture consulting: service boundaries, event-driven design, resilience patterns and operability for high-throughput systems in regulated industries. - [Agentic Systems and MCP Server Architecture](https://gqlteam.com/services/agentic-systems/index.md): Architecture for agentic systems: tool boundaries, MCP server design, RAG and knowledge bases, evaluation suites, guardrails, and cost and latency budgets. For teams putting LLM agents into production. - [Architecture Validation for AI-Built Systems](https://gqlteam.com/services/architecture-validation/index.md): Architecture review for AI-built systems: start with a free 72-hour SystemTrails teardown, then a one to two week deep review of boundaries, data shape, coupling, failure modes and deployability. - [Compliance Architecture: HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SOC 2, GDPR and the EU AI Act](https://gqlteam.com/services/compliance/index.md): Compliance engineering for regulated systems: HIPAA technical safeguards, PCI-DSS Level 1, SOC 2 controls, GDPR and EU AI Act obligations designed into the architecture, with auditor-ready documentation. - [Legacy Modernization and Zero-Downtime Migrations](https://gqlteam.com/services/migrations/index.md): Zero-downtime migration planning: strangler pattern, GraphQL wrappers over legacy systems, parallel runs with automated comparison, gradual traffic shifting and a rollback at every step. - [Team Enablement for AI-Assisted Development](https://gqlteam.com/services/mentoring/index.md): Mentoring and workshops for engineering teams adopting AI-assisted development: context engineering, review discipline, architecture literacy, and GraphQL and Go fundamentals. Sessions, team workshops or a retainer. ## Case studies - [LabraGo: Enterprise-Grade Headless CMS](https://gqlteam.com/showcase/labrago/index.md): LabraGo is an open-source enterprise headless CMS built with Go and GraphQL. Designed for extensibility, multi-tenancy, and developer productivity. - [bass.labrago.eu](https://gqlteam.com/showcase/bass-labrago/index.md): Private Backend-as-a-Service platform built with Go and GraphQL, exploring modern API patterns for self-hosted cloud infrastructure. The project is currently paused. - [Sabra - Fencing Club Management System](https://gqlteam.com/showcase/sabra/index.md): Fencing club management system built on the LabraGo platform. Handles member registration, tournament scheduling, and competition tracking. - [Clinical Trial Management System](https://gqlteam.com/showcase/prisma/index.md): Clinical trial management system for U.S. laboratories built on Go and GraphQL. 21 CFR Part 11 compliant with full audit trail support. ## Writing - [Zero-Downtime PostgreSQL Migration: The Checklist From a 2M-Record Move](https://gqlteam.com/blog/zero-downtime-postgres-migration-checklist/index.md): Logical replication or dual writes, chunked backfill, checksum verification, a reversible cutover and a rollback you have actually tested. The full checklist. - [PCI-DSS Level 1 on a Go Backend: The Architecture Decisions That Survive a QSA](https://gqlteam.com/blog/pci-dss-level-1-go-backend-architecture/index.md): Scope reduction, tokenization and segmentation: the architecture choices that decide a PCI-DSS Level 1 audit, plus the Go-specific ways card data leaks out. - [GraphQL Federation on Go: When a Monolith Schema Should Split](https://gqlteam.com/blog/graphql-federation-go-when-to-split/index.md): Federation is a team-scaling tool, not a performance upgrade. The signals that justify splitting a Go GraphQL schema, what it costs, and the migration order. - [Your AI Context Is Locked to One Tool. Here's How to Fix It.](https://gqlteam.com/blog/tool-agnostic-ai-context/index.md): Cursor rules, Claude instructions, Codex agents: every AI tool wants its own config. A practical guide to writing project context once and generating it for every platform. - [Which OWASP ASVS Level Does Your App Actually Need?](https://gqlteam.com/blog/owasp-asvs-levels/index.md): OWASP ASVS has 3 security levels. Most teams pick wrong: either too little or way too much. A practical guide to choosing the right level. - [Why Cursor Keeps Doing Something Else (And How to Fix It)](https://gqlteam.com/blog/make-cursor-work/index.md): After months of fighting Cursor's 'creative interpretations,' I figured out what actually works. Here's the Cursor 2.4 workflow that stopped the madness. ## About and contact - [About Dan Podina](https://gqlteam.com/about/index.md): Dan Podina is a software architect in Cluj-Napoca, Romania: twenty years in backend systems, GraphQL and Go specialist, founder of SystemTrails, creator of LabraGo and lead architect of Sabra. - [Contact](https://gqlteam.com/contact/index.md): Get in touch with Dan Podina for software architecture consulting. Schedule a free 30-minute architecture review to discuss your project. - Email: info@gqlteam.com - Phone: +40 742 223 433 - Book a free 30-minute review: https://cal.com/dan-podina-snqasy/30min ## Ventures (also built and run by Dan Podina) - [SystemTrails](https://systemtrails.com): Productized architecture reviews for AI-built products. Free 72-hour teardown, then hardening sprints and ongoing oversight. Start here if you built fast with AI. - [Labra](https://github.com/GoLabra/labra): Open-source Go and GraphQL backend platform and headless CMS. MIT licensed. The platform under Sabra and the reference for how I structure Go services. - [Sabra](https://sabra.club): Club management SaaS built on Labra. Multi-tenant fencing and club management, one tenant per club at .sabra.club. - [danpodina.com](https://danpodina.com): Personal site and log. Design notes, the log, and the longer biography. ## Machine-readable - Full text of every page: https://gqlteam.com/llms-full.txt - Site index (JSON): https://gqlteam.com/index.json - Services (JSON): https://gqlteam.com/services/index.json - Case studies (JSON): https://gqlteam.com/showcase/index.json - Articles (JSON): https://gqlteam.com/blog/index.json - Agent discovery: https://gqlteam.com/.well-known/ai-catalog.json - MCP server (Streamable HTTP, read-only): https://mcp.gqlteam.com/mcp - RSS: https://gqlteam.com/blog/index.xml ## Optional - [Privacy policy](https://gqlteam.com/privacy-policy/index.md) - [Terms of service](https://gqlteam.com/terms-of-service/index.md)