1. How has your career journey been so far? Can you talk about those who have guided you and the key turning points in your career journey?
I am an Electrical-Electronics Engineer. Throughout my career, I have had the opportunity to work in various roles within Information Technologies across sectors such as technology, banking, automotive, retail, energy, and food. Currently, I am continuing my professional life as the CIO at Tavuk Dünyası. I believe that the most important aspect of a career journey is being in a work environment that allows individuals to utilize their skills and motivation and provides opportunities for continuous development. In this regard, I consider myself fortunate in my career. I had the chance to work at well-established institutions in Turkey, and I can say that my experience at Garanti Teknoloji was a significant turning point for my career development. The emphasis on consistency and accuracy, critical due to the banking sector, provided a deep analytical perspective and a lasting work discipline in my professional life due to the intense project pace.
As a woman who received education in a male-dominated engineering field and then worked in a similar professional environment, striving for growth beyond the comfort zone and existing job definition, and taking responsibility with courage has always provided meaningful contributions to my career journey.
I believe that creating your own internal motivation, pursuing your passion with determination to create value in your work area, and following your development journey is highly valuable, whether in corporate life or your own individual initiative.
2. How did your paths cross with Wtech? Can you talk about your relationship with the association?
Contributing to efforts to support women’s representation in the technology field is a responsibility I have identified for myself and have been carefully focusing on in recent years. In this context, I joined the association with great enthusiasm to be able to share a common perspective with Wtech on the subject and to produce joint projects.
The high energy and approach of Ms. Zehra is, of course, a critical element that deepens the team spirit, collective consciousness, and increases participation motivation. Under the association’s roof, there are many meticulously prepared programs and projects. As a woman working in the technology field, I try to participate with pleasure in all aspects where I can contribute to these efforts.
3. Tavuk Dünyası has grown very quickly in about 10 years and has become one of the strongest representatives of the “Fast-Casual” restaurant experience. How has technology driven your growth in this process?
Founded in 2012, Tavuk Dünyası has been moving forward with the goal of providing everyone with high-quality, delicious, and affordable food in places where they can feel good. Today, we bring our unique flavors to our guests in 54 cities in Turkey, Northern Cyprus, and Spain. We take pride in being one of the leading restaurant chains in the food and beverage sector in Turkey with our high-standard production center in Ankara, restaurant operations management system, extensive distribution network, and growing franchise model. We serve a variety of flavors inspired by local Turkish cuisine and world cuisines, appealing to different tastes, in our unique style with large 49 cm porcelain plates that appeal to both the eye and the stomach, while hosting millions of guests each year in our comfortable and enjoyable restaurants.
As Tavuk Dünyası, technology has always been one of the key elements of our success during our rapid growth process. We have always benefited from technological innovations in our production center, restaurant operations management system, and extensive distribution network. Particularly, our restaurant operations management system has improved customer satisfaction and maximized operational efficiency by ensuring that orders are processed quickly and accurately.
At every step of our processes, we work to provide a seamless working environment and access, respond to infrastructure and hardware needs, offer software solutions compatible with business requirements, and design digital workflows that increase efficiency and provide effective management.
4. With the integration of artificial intelligence into every area of our lives, brands have started to focus on hyper-personalization efforts. Do you have any projects in this area? What technical competencies will we need for successful hyper-personalization?
The integration of artificial intelligence technologies into every area of our lives has not only allowed brands to focus on hyper-personalization efforts but also provided a significant momentum. In this context, it is possible to offer much more individualized and personalized services to both customers and employees. Big data, behavioral analysis, predictive analytics, personalized content and product recommendations, chatbots, and virtual assistants are now on the agenda of almost all companies.
At the beginning of 2024, we launched the new version of Tavuk Dünyası’s e-commerce platform, Şeften İste, on cloud infrastructure to provide a better customer experience. For the 2nd phase of the project, which will be carried out in 2024, we are setting priorities for project goals such as a recommendation system fed by data analytics, AI-supported personal assistants, and a loyalty application supported by a mobile app. In this sense, we want to offer a more personalized experience to our customers. Additionally, in 2024, we are conducting trials for project opportunities supported by image processing and AI technologies to enhance our restaurant experience. We aim to enhance the digital work experience of our operational field employees.
Of course, all these project opportunities require increasing data literacy and data interpretation competencies in both IT teams and business units. Self-service reporting, data and analytics, and expertise in machine learning and AI technologies are now considered among the most critical skills in institutions.
5. In a world where technology is used for the benefit of humanity, what do you think the ideal world order should be like?
I can say an innovative and advanced world order that benefits fundamental human values and needs such as justice, equality, the right to health, and living standards, contributes to sustainability and environmental issues, economic development, and business volume.
Parallel to the development of technology, we witness that these technologies increasingly touch our lives. Here, it is very important to approach the subject with an understanding of responsible technology use, within the framework of data security and ethical rules.
The benefits we expect from technology, such as a universal knowledge access model that supports continuous development, ensuring equal opportunities in education and opportunities, eliminating language and location barriers with next-generation communication methods, increasing energy efficiency with smart home and city concepts, and supporting innovation ecosystems and opportunities in the business world, are increasing day by day.
