According to Gökhan Ergül, CTO of sahibinden.com, “from this perspective, the front of CTOs is clearer in the digital age,” organizations that do not put technology at the core of their vision, with the motto “Every company should be a technology company,” will face a competitive disadvantage.
Gökhan Ergül, the CTO of sahibinden.com, is a successful Boğaziçi student… While attending university, he began his professional career as a software engineer at Günaydn Newspaper. Then, in Boston, USA, he is a Senior Software Developer at Protel, a Co-Founder and Software Department Manager at Pos, and a Senior Software Developer at TPMC. We spoke with Ergül about the sahibinden.com pandemic process and the e-commerce business, who joined the sahibinden.com family in September 2010 as the Assistant General Manager for Technology Management after working as the Chief Software Architect at Telenity…
What are you doing on sahibinden.com? We’d want to know more about that side. What modifications have you made to your processes, particularly during the pandemic? For example, did you experiment with new technologies at this time, or did you abandon a project you had begun?
Since 2017, sahibinden.com has been producing technology in its own R&D center, a 20-year-old organization. We have over 700 people, 150 of whom work in the R&D center, and we are still expanding. As technology management, we strive to continuously improve the continuity and quality of the service we provide to our users via the sahibinden.com website and mobile applications, as well as to provide support to each of our departments in order to improve their efficiency and ways of doing business.
During the epidemic, we undertook a number of projects for our staff and members. In addition to the technological improvements we did in our data centers in various components that make up the sahibinden.com infrastructure, we updated all applications in collaboration with the Human Resources unit to ensure the sustainability of digital employees’ closeness. In this context, the “new employee experience,” which encompasses the employee’s introduction, orientation, and adaptation stages, was reassessed and constructed on a digital platform so that new employees could readily adjust while remaining motivated. Employee development was aided by the ongoing development of distance education techniques.
Which themes stuck out to you the most throughout this time? Have your investments altered course?
We place a high value on user experience. In this environment, we continue to invest heavily in new products and experience enhancements powered by data analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Our technology and product strategy did not change significantly during the pandemic period because sahibinden.com has been an institution focused on digital thinking since its inception, but we prioritized some product features in our product roadmap that we believe will better serve the “new normal.”
We believe you have completed significant projects within the context of digital transformation. What have you accomplished up to this point?
Despite the pandemic conditions, we maintained constant contact with both our personnel and users. While we managed to do our company as efficiently as if we were physically working together, we continued to assist our users without interruption. We consider this to be our most important achievement. Our users’ feedback and comments are likewise pointing in the same way.
So, how do you put the data to use? When using data, what do you pay attention to within the context of KVKK?
Those who provide items and services in various categories on the platform meet and shop through the secure atmosphere provided by sahibinden.com. Personal data is handled in this activity as a prerequisite for using sahibinden.com functionalities. We are continually renewing to provide better service to users while also taking the most stringent security measures feasible to ensure that personal data is gathered, stored, and shared in line with the law and to protect their privacy.
What would you say if you were to assess the consequences of COVID-19 on e-commerce from your own point of view?
According to all e-commerce observers, COVID-19 provided this experience to a huge set of users who had never shopped online before, while also greatly expanding the frequency of use and the range of products traded on e-commerce. We strongly urge new users to avoid trading on platforms that have not been demonstrated to be reliable and lack security certificates. Furthermore, users should never send money to persons they do not know using their TR ID numbers or mobile phone numbers from any site, and they should never send money to people they do not know.
As a 20-year-old institution, we take security and transparency very seriously and must make major expenditures. During the communication and shopping phases, we make constant enhancements and updates to the infrastructure required for the customer and seller to conduct secure transactions. We provide a Secure e-Trade (GeT) solution that safeguards the payment procedure after shopping.
What would you say, as a sector leader, about the e-commerce gaps in Turkey?
E-commerce has a strong growth potential in Turkey due to the advancement of mobile communication technologies and their increased use in society. The sector’s investments in security, transparency, and logistics will also help to expedite this expansion. Sahibinden.com takes its obligations in this field seriously as an institution that has been training software developers for the industry for many years and seeks to set a positive example for the sector with its pioneering apps.
We’re also wondering about your intentions for 2021… What do you expect to change in your industry and technology in Turkey in the coming year?
Despite encouraging advancements, we are living in a time where people avoid face-to-face buying and close contact in Turkey and around the world. This suggests that doing business remotely will be a part of our life for some time. We have made the required plans inside the company and with all of our stakeholders to carry out our business in the most effective way possible under these conditions, and we will continue to launch new projects in this context in 2021.
Finally, as a CTO, given the similarity of the job descriptions of the CIO and CTO conceptions, which do you believe will survive the future digital age?
When we look at different industries, we typically see CTOs in technology-focused firms and CIOs in organizations whose core business is not technology but positions technology as a supporting and complimentary feature. Companies who do not place technology at the center of their corporate identity and vision, with the tagline “every company should be a technology company,” will experience an increasing competitive disadvantage in the digital age. From this vantage point, we may say that CTOs’ front doors are more open in the digital age.
In Brief with the CIO…
How important do you think your social environment and family are in your professional life?
Although I cannot provide a percentage, I believe that it is critical for everyone, regardless of the nature of their profession, to have a good and supportive social life in order to be successful in business.
What is your most important motive in business?
Doing my best and making a positive influence in people’s lives with my team.
Which technology event throughout the world do you enjoy the most?
Apple WWDC and Google Next events are always interesting to me.
What is your definition of failure?
When it is possible to do better and you know you can, you do it.
The ‘Visual Video Search’ tool has been deployed to ensure corporate members’ business continuity!
You were already running an e-commerce business prior to COVID-19. What kinds of changes did you detect on the consumer side following the epidemic, and what new solutions did you develop in response?
We’ve noticed that consumers’ shopping and lifestyle patterns have changed since March, based on the precautions taken during the pandemic. Based on these expectations, the “Visitable with Video Look” function was established to allow members to safely search for homes, autos, and other categories, while also allowing corporate members to continue their business. The utilization rate of the video advertisement option has also nearly tripled.
