Maven Insights reinforces its leadership bench with three senior members
Maven Insights, a management consulting firm with offices across the Middle East, has announced three senior appointments. Erhan Yazgan has been promoted to Associate Partner, Mark Aghajanian to Director, while Banu Çetin Akca has been appointed as a Director.
Erhan Yazgan operates at the intersection of business priorities and technology strategy. With over 20 years of experience, he has supported organizations in structuring, governing, and scaling their digital and IT capabilities, particularly in environments where transformation is both complex and time-critical.
At Maven Insights, he leads the Digital and AI practice, working closely with leadership teams to translate strategic ambition into practical execution, spanning operating model design, capability building, and large-scale transformation programs across sectors including real estate and PropTech, financial services, telecommunications, and technology.
Prior to joining the firm, Yazgan held senior leadership roles at leading consulting and technology organizations, including Accenture, where he advised executive teams on technology strategy and led regional practices.
Reflecting on his promotion, Yazgan said, “What matters most is enabling businesses to sustain and outpace competition driven by technology and innovation. The focus goes beyond defining direction to ensuring it is executed in a way that delivers tangible, lasting impact and is fully embraced across the organization.”
Mark Aghajanian focuses on how organizations structure and manage their workforce through data, systems, and clearly defined operating models. His experience spans HR analytics, organizational design, and workforce transformation, with an emphasis on enabling more consistent, insight-driven decision-making.
As Head of People and Culture at Maven Insights, Aghajanian focuses on topics including employee experience, HR data governance, and performance management. His approach builds on structured approach to connecting data, processes, and organizational priorities, particularly in environments undergoing change.
Commenting on his promotion, Aghajanian said: “Progress comes from building systems that people can rely on, not just ideas on paper. This role is an opportunity to further strengthen how we approach people, performance, and long-term impact.”
Banu Çetin Akca leads the Commercial Strategy function of Maven Insights, specializing in translating strategic direction into practical, market-facing execution. She brings over 20 years of experience in management consulting, marketing, and knowledge management.Her experience spans telecom, financial services, special economic zones, real estate, education, and the public sector across the UAE, Türkiye, the US, Belgium, and South Africa.
As Director, Akca leads the development and execution of go-to-market strategies across services and practices. Her scope includes strategic partnerships, practice and account growth planning, pricing strategy, and intellectual capital and consultancy collateral development, ensuring alignment between market positioning and business priorities.
Prior to joining the consulting firm, she co-founded a tech startup, where she held end-to-end profit & loss responsibility across strategy, revenue model optimization, digital marketing, customer acquisition, user experience, and partnerships. Earlier in her career, she spent 11 years at Peppers & Rogers, advising on digital transformation, customer experience, segmentation, loyalty, churn prediction, and public sector service design.
On her appointment, Akca said, “For me, commercial strategy is about turning insight into momentum. It is where data, market signals, client needs, and execution come together to create measurable growth. I look forward to strengthening how Maven Insights goes to market and translating our expertise into practical value for clients across the region.”
Reflection from leadership
Alper Kulak, Senior Partner at Maven Insights, said that the trio of promotions reflects the firm’s efforts to strengthen its leadership structure in support of its growth ambition.
“The promotion of Erhan and Mark, alongside the appointment of Banu, reflects the standard of leadership we continue to build at Maven Insights. Erhan’s ability to guide complex digital transformations, Mark’s expertise in shaping people and organizational systems, and Banu’s strong commercial perspective each play a critical role in how we deliver value to our clients. Together, they further strengthen the leadership driving our work across the region.”
