DefineX expands its financial services dialogue platform across the Middle East
DefineX is expanding its financial services leadership dialogue platform across the Middle East around a shared agenda: how the next era of financial services will be shaped, scaled and governed in the age of AI.
Following its inaugural gathering on June 24 in Istanbul, DefineX – a Türkiye-headquartered consulting firm and venture builder – plans to extend the dialogue to other countries across the Middle East, connecting executives and leaders who are driving transformation in financial services and creating a forum for practical knowledge exchange.
The inaugural event opened with remarks from DefineX co-founders Tolga Ulutas and Emre Hayretci, who welcomed leaders from across Türkiye’s financial services ecosystem and emphasized the importance of translating technology ambition into measurable business value.
The program featured speakers from banking, fintech, payments, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence. Panagiotis Kriaris, Director at Unzer, shared his perspective on the structural shifts reshaping the global financial services landscape. Önder Güler, Country Manager for Google Cloud Türkiye, discussed how AI and cloud technologies are enabling the next phase of transformation across financial institutions.
Hamish Brocklebank, Co-Founder and CEO of Brox.AI, presented real-world examples of AI adoption within large financial institutions, while Yagız Ihlamur, Senior Product Manager for AI-Powered Productivity Tools at Amazon, explored the rise of agentic AI, highlighting the growing importance of human-agent collaboration and new organizational models.
Building a long-term learning platform
Ulutas said DefineX is positioning the initiative as a long-term learning platform centered on practical implementation rather than industry hype.
“The goal is to create a space where leaders who are building, operating, and transforming financial institutions can exchange field experience, challenge assumptions, and develop a stronger shared understanding of what actually works in practice,” he said.
Future sessions will focus on topics including agentic AI, operational transformation, decision intelligence, cloud-enabled modernization, software development, and human-agent collaboration.
Ulutas noted that the initiative extends beyond technology discussions to also examine the organizational capabilities required for successful transformation. “The focus is not only on technologies, but on how transformation is actually built in the field through operating models, governance structures, business capabilities, and shared experience,” he said.
Hayretci added that the initiative comes at a pivotal time as banks and financial institutions across the region accelerate investments in AI, digital banking, open finance, cloud modernization, and new operating models. While investment levels continue to rise, many organizations still struggle to realize the full value of these transformation programs due to their complexity.
“Against this backdrop, the need for practical, experience-led dialogue is becoming more critical. By connecting leaders from financial services markets, we aim to create a stronger bridge between regional ambition, global perspective, and hands-on implementation experience,” Hayretci said.
Beyond its in-person events, the platform will also produce research, expert insights, long-form content, virtual sessions, and ecosystem gatherings, creating an ongoing forum for collaboration and knowledge sharing across the financial services industry.
