Where technology, commerce and curiosity meet
I was born in Rize in 1985 and grew up inside a family business shaped by two generations of commerce. I started working there when I was eleven, learning the fundamentals of customers, pricing, inventory and trust long before I knew the language of strategy. Those early years gave me a commercial instinct that has stayed with me throughout my career.
An early relationship with technology
I got my first computer in 1998. A Delphi 5 programming book led me to build a simple phone directory, my first piece of software. With the support of a cousin who was a computer engineer, I kept exploring both software and hardware. I soon became interested in data and statistics, and began using Microsoft Excel to build ordering, pricing and inventory-cost tools for the family business.
Technology has never been an end in itself for me. I use it as leverage: to understand a system, remove friction and create a better way of working. That instinct still powers my interest in new tools, personal productivity and emerging trends.
Creating opportunity from a small city
As a teenager, I repaired computers for local business owners, designed printed materials and business cards, and found practical ways to turn technical curiosity into value. Working with CorelDRAW 9 gave me my first experience in design, media and digital content. It also taught me how technology, communication and commerce reinforce one another.
Sport, media and systems thinking
I spent five years in the youth system of Çaykur Rizespor. Football taught me about tactics, team building, motivation and the difference between a collection of talented individuals and a functioning system. At Girne American University, while studying English Language Teaching, I worked in the media centre and gained hundreds of hours of live production experience before joining the university’s marketing team.
Building in travel technology
In 2010, I became part of the founding team of HDN Global, one of Türkiye’s early travel technology ventures. We built technology that helped hotels digitise inventory and connect to more sales channels. In 2013, HDN Global merged with HotelRunner, where the story grew into a global travel technology platform and ecosystem.
Today, I continue that journey at HotelRunner, working across connectivity, distribution, product, commercial growth, embedded finance, marketplaces and partner ecosystems. I am at my best when moving from zero to one: connecting technical architecture with market reality and turning an idea into an operating system that can scale.
Contributing to the global connectivity conversation
Since 2024, I have served for two consecutive terms on the Booking.com Global Connectivity Advisory Board. The role gives me the opportunity to contribute practical market insight to conversations shaping the future of travel technology and hotel connectivity.
How I lead
I believe sustainable performance begins with the right team, a shared direction and the confidence to give people real ownership. Data is my compass; AI expands the range of possibilities I can evaluate; experience and human judgement turn those inputs into decisions. Whether I am building a product, entering a difficult market or aligning an ecosystem, I look beyond individual parts to understand and improve the whole system.