ABOUT US
We are a group of young entrepreneurs and professionals who believe that it is inevitable for Türkiye to realize the National Technology Initiative in order to raise its voice for a better world and to be one of developed societies in terms of economy and life quality.
Aykut Fırat continues to pioneer in developing technology and new products at the intersection of artificial intelligence, statistics, and big data, now as the Chief Data Scientist at Simpplr, a Silicon Valley startup. His expertise in machine learning, natural language processing, image processing, and big data plays a pivotal role in driving business growth and innovation.
In addition to his key role at Simpplr, Aykut serves as an advisor to Tola Capital, offering strategic and technical insights to AI-centric ventures. As part of his leadership in the T3 AI initiatives, Aykut is actively involved in mentoring startups, providing guidance and expertise to foster innovation and growth in the field of AI. This includes a special focus on developing a Turkish language-centric Large Language Model, demonstrating his dedication to advancing AI in the Turkish context.
Prior to joining Simpplr, Aykut was the Chief Data Scientist at Crimson Hexagon and Brandwatch, leaders in social media listening and analytics platforms. Notably, Brandwatch was ultimately acquired by Cision, marking a significant milestone in the industry. His tenure as Chief Scientist at Affinnova, a company later acquired by Nielsen, was marked by innovation in product development using evolutionary algorithms and crowd wisdom. Aykut's entrepreneurial journey began with the founding of IAggregate, a semantic data integration firm, during his doctoral studies, which later became part of ArsDigita/RedHat Linux.
Balancing his professional life between Boston, San Francisco and Istanbul, Aykut completed his undergraduate studies at Boğaziçi University and his doctorate at MIT, accruing a portfolio of publications, awards, and patents in international journals and conferences.