AI & TECHNOLOGY TRANSFORMATION ADVISOR
FRACTIONAL EXECUTIVE · TECHNOLOGY DUE DILIGENCE
Turning AI ambition into
operational results
Technology executive, entrepreneur and advisor with 25+ years of international experience building data platforms, digital products and technology businesses across the UAE, Europe, Asia and emerging markets.
I help leadership teams, investors and consulting firms make better AI and technology decisions—from enterprise AI strategy and frontier LLM adoption to agentic automation, RAG-based knowledge systems, technology due diligence and transformation execution.
// ADVISORY SERVICES
From strategic decisions
to execution
Flexible support for organizations, investors and consulting firms—from focused assessments and executive workshops to transformation programmes and interim leadership.
AI Transformation & Roadmaps
Move from scattered experiments to an executable enterprise AI agenda.
I help leadership teams identify high-value use cases and define the capabilities required to implement them—from AI automation and RAG-based knowledge systems to agentic workflows and LLM-powered products.
Engagements cover organizational readiness, frontier and open-source model selection, data requirements, target architecture, build–buy–partner decisions, governance, evaluation, cost controls and implementation roadmaps.
Fractional & Interim Leadership
Senior technology and transformation leadership without a permanent executive hire.
I work with executive stakeholders, internal teams and external vendors to lead critical AI, data, product and technology programmes—from several days per month to dedicated interim assignments.
This may include establishing an AI operating model, shaping a GenAI product portfolio, coordinating agentic AI initiatives and governing delivery across internal teams and external technology partners.
Technology Due Diligence
Operator-led technology assessment for investors, acquirers and management teams.
I assess technology architecture, product maturity, data assets, engineering capability, technical debt, AI claims, vendor dependencies and post-transaction investment requirements.
Executive AI Education
Practical AI education for boards and leadership teams.
Tailored workshops help decision-makers understand where AI can create value, how to evaluate investments and vendors, and what organizational changes are required to move beyond isolated pilots.
Custom Advisory & Delivery Support
Not every challenge fits a standard package. I also support consulting firms and corporate teams with custom workstreams involving technology strategy, data platforms, digital products, transformation governance, programme leadership and M&A technology assessment.
Available as an independent advisor, white-label consulting associate or embedded project leader.
Engagement Models
// SELECTED EXPERIENCE
Built from operating
experience—not theory
Experience building, scaling and transforming data-driven products and technology businesses across multiple markets, organizational stages and ownership transitions.
Multinational Data Platforms
Built and operated data platforms serving emerging markets across the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America, turning fragmented data into scalable commercial products.
Automated Valuation & Market Analytics
Created property price indices, automated valuation capabilities and market analytics products for real-estate markets where structured data was limited.
Recommendation Systems
Led the development of intelligent property recommendation capabilities using behavioral data, preferences and market information.
Computer Vision for Real Estate
Developed image-processing capabilities supporting photo classification, quality assessment and other real-estate product workflows.
Marketplace & Product Transformation
Designed and scaled Zingat's technology and product platform while serving successively as CTO, COO and CEO through growth, acquisition and merger.
Cross-Border Technology Integration
Led the technological redevelopment and integration of an international economic-data product deployed across 20 countries, managing a 25-person team across three continents.
Generative AI & Agentic Systems
Translating advances in frontier and open-source LLMs into practical products and workflows. Focus areas include RAG architectures, AI agents, workflow automation, tool integration, evaluation, guardrails, observability and cost-controlled deployment.
Technology Perspective
AI Strategy & Architecture
Generative AI Systems
Responsible Delivery
Data & Platforms
Transformation Leadership
Publications Contributed
The model is often the easy 20%.
The other 80% is organizational.
Technology keeps getting easier. The hard part remains the same: choosing the right problems, redesigning workflows and enabling organizations to change how they work.
// AI ASSESSMENT
Get your company's AI maturity report
Six areas, about four minutes. You get a score, a picture of where you actually stand, and concrete first steps for the two areas holding you back — in your inbox as a PDF.
- 6 areas
- ~4 minutes
- Free
- English or Turkish
- No account needed
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Want to turn your results into an action plan?
Book a 30-minute AI maturity review to discuss priorities, constraints and possible next steps.
// CAREER JOURNEY
25 years across
3 continents
From product engineer to AI company CEO. From Istanbul to Hong Kong to Dubai and back. A career built on data, innovation, and the courage to build what doesn't exist yet.
Independent AI & Technology Transformation Advisor
Independent Practice — İzmir, Türkiye · Europe & GCC
Supporting leadership teams, investors and consulting firms with enterprise AI strategy, frontier and open-source LLM adoption, agentic automation, RAG-based knowledge systems, transformation roadmaps, technology due diligence and fractional or interim leadership.
Available for remote engagements, periodic on-site work and dedicated temporary assignments.
CEO / COO / CTO & Co-Founder
Zingat.com — Istanbul, Turkey
Co-founded Turkey's leading real estate platform. Led as CTO, then COO, then CEO through rapid growth, acquisition by Property Finder, and merger with HepsiEmlak. Built AI-powered valuation engines, recommender systems, and image processing solutions from scratch.
Co-Founder & CTO
REIDIN.com — Dubai, UAE
Built the first real estate information company focused on emerging markets. Designed the entire technology platform from scratch. Created property price indices, automated valuations, and pioneered data science in real estate across MENA and Asia.
Senior Technology Project Manager
CEICData — Hong Kong, China / Santiago, Chile
Managed the technological merger and acquisition of the company, redeveloping flagship product CDM with modern technologies and deploying it across 20 countries. Led a 25-person team across three continents.
Technology Manager
ISI Emerging Markets / CEICData — Istanbul, Turkey
Advanced from product engineer to Technology Manager, overseeing large-scale data projects across Turkey, Egypt and South Africa — collation, processing, security and visualization of complex multi-source data pipelines.
// MENTORSHIP & ADVISORY
Advisory, evaluation
and mentorship
Supporting technology entrepreneurs and evaluating data, AI and R&D initiatives—combining operating experience with an external, decision-focused perspective.
İTÜ ÇEKİRDEK — Startup Mentor
Voluntary mentor at Istanbul Technical University's incubation center since 2019, supporting startups in data, AI, and tech commercialization.
TÜBİTAK — Project Evaluator
Evaluating and advising national Data & AI R&D and technology grant programs for Turkey's government-backed research council since 2019.
// EDUCATION
Educational background
A lifelong learner — from computer engineering and electrical engineering to philology and Chinese language, still adding new degrees today.
Chinese Language and Literature
Istanbul University — Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)
Spanish Philology
Istanbul University — Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)
Computer Engineering
Istanbul Technical University — Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.)
Computer Programming
Boğaziçi University — Associate of Science (A.S.)
Electrical Engineering Technologies/Technicians
Istanbul Technical University
// LANGUAGES
Polyglot
Strong interest in languages and etymology. Communication is the foundation of international business.
// BEYOND WORK
Where human creativity
meets AI
The same curiosity that drives my work in AI shows up off the clock too. I play the ney — the traditional Turkish reed flute — and spend my free time composing and producing AI-assisted music under the name Etinika: Turkish rock compositions, and songs built from poetry, where literature and music meet at the same stop.
Ney Player
Self-taught amateur musician on the ney, the centuries-old Turkish reed flute at the heart of Sufi and classical music.
AI-Assisted Composition
Writing and producing original songs with AI tools as creative collaborators — same instinct as the day job, pointed purely at the joy of making something.
Etinika on YouTube
90+ videos released — Turkish rock compositions and poetry set to music, for anyone who wants to hear the other side of the work.
Also Into
// LATEST ON X
Recent thoughts
A live feed of my most recent posts on X — pulled automatically, no copy-pasting.
// GET IN TOUCH
Let's turn technology ambition
into an executable plan
Available for AI and technology transformation projects, fractional and interim leadership, executive workshops, technology due diligence and white-label assignments with consulting firms.
Based in İzmir, Türkiye. Working remotely across Europe and the GCC, with travel available when required.