Our blog series "Coffee Break: 5 min. with..." is an opportunity to get to know our team members better.
We're back with another interview, this time with our programmer Donatas Valiulis, who joined the Via laurea IT team back in 2019. One of Donatas' main responsibilities is the development and continuous improvement of our Lithuanian accounting and payroll modules.
A fun question to start with – coffee or tea?
I don't really have one preference. If I'm working from home, I usually have tea with honey. If I'm working from the office, it's black coffee, no sugar.
What does a great workday look like for you?
One where there are clear tasks to get done and, by the end of the day, you can actually see the results of your work. After a day like that, you don’t really feel tired or drained.
You’ve been at Via laurea for over 7 years now – what do you like most about working here?
It’s a very friendly team. Both the company and the whole team are always looking for ways to improve and adapt to new things. There’s no stagnation.
As long as you have the motivation and the right attitude, everyone has the same opportunities to grow and move up the career ladder.
Donatas with Gailius Sr. and Gailius Jr., 2020
Why did you choose a career in IT specifically?
It happened quite naturally. I’ve always been drawn to science, technology, and creative things. When I was a kid, it started with simple electronics and radio technology, and later I got into programming games. I was never the type of person who could just sit still and study, so I focused on things I enjoyed and could pick up easily.
If it hadn’t been programming, I definitely had other options – I could have become a mechanic, an electrician, or done something in sports... But, at the time, I knew less about those other fields, so in the end, programming won me over because you can work from pretty much anywhere, it came naturally to me, and, of course, the salary was competitive.
What personal quality do you think helps you the most in your work as a programmer?
I’m a very structured person. I don’t start working on something if there are things I don’t understand. I always take the time to fully understand the problem first, and I like to make sure things run smoothly, without unecessary obstacles.
What do you find more interesting – creating new functionality or figuring out why something isn't working? And why?
Creating new functionality is always more interesting to me because you’re constantly learning something new, and you don’t have to deal with someone else’s old code. You get the opportunity to build things the way you want, instead of having to work around existing functionality.
In your opinion, what sets Via laurea apart from other Odoo partners?
In development, we have clear structures and standards – we don’t just do things randomly or however we feel like it. The code is some of the cleanest I’ve seen, whether compared to other partners or individual developers.
Via laurea team, 2026 Summer
What’s the most common misconception clients have about implementing or customising Odoo?
That once you install Odoo, the system will simply adapt to you and we’ll make everything work exactly the way the client wants. Clients should understand that if their processes are completely different from Odoo’s logic, it might be better not to implement Odoo at all – or be prepared to change their processes and learn to adapt.
I like the comparison of ERP systems to cars. When you buy a car, you don’t try to rebuild it from scratch. You don’t try to change the layout of the buttons, the way it starts, how the gears shift, and so on. So we shouldn’t try to do that with ERP systems either.
Which Odoo news do you find the most interesting?
Every year, after a new version of Odoo is released, I like seeing what they’re going to surprise us with this time – whether it’s AI integration or some major changes to the system itself.
Finally – what achievement are you most proud of?
My biggest professional achievement would be adapting the Odoo payroll system to the Lithuanian market. Because Lithuanian legislation changes so often, and companies have quite a lot of flexibility in how they calculate payroll, the system is constantly being improved and new features are continuously being added. But I can confidently say that, among Odoo partners in Lithuania, we have one of the most advanced payroll systems specifically adapted to Lithuania.
As for personal achievements — I started kitesurfing. 😄 And, once again, that probably wouldn’t have happened if the company hadn’t given me the opportunity to do it and, when needed, allowed me to take half-days off when the weather was perfect for kitesurfing.
