DigiTech Summit and AI

At last week's three day DigiTech Summit, artificial intelligence was a major topic of conversation. We wanted to summarize the seven common themes that came up across the three days of presentations:

1. Agentic AI and AI Powered Autonomous Business Processes

The most talked about topic was how AI is evolving from a system that simply answers questions (chatbots) into one that takes action and gets things done (agents).

The Rise of Agents: Companies like Microsoft explained that employees will soon have their own "digital assistants" (agents), and that tasks will increasingly be delegated to them.

AI Powered Business Processes: The conversation went beyond text generation to systems capable of making autonomous decisions, like planning a vacation, issuing an insurance policy, or transferring stock within a supply chain. İpekyol and Vestel in particular shared how they're using AI for inventory and demand forecasting.

2. Hyper Personalization and Context

In the e-commerce and marketing sessions, the message was clear: one size fits all marketing is dead, replaced by real time and contextual personalization.

Proactive Intent Recognition: Samsung and Vestel explained that devices no longer just wait for commands. They now understand user intent (for example, whether someone is leaving the house or asleep) and offer proactive suggestions. In e-commerce, predicting customer intent in advance was shown to drive up conversion.

Individual Experience: Trend Yol emphasized that AI is the only way to deliver personalized content and products to millions of users simultaneously, while making each one feel like they're the only customer. İpekyol and Vestel described real time offers shaped by a customer's past data along with in the moment factors like weather or mood.

3. The Shift from Search to Conversation (From SEO to GEO)

Much of the discussion centered on a fundamental shift in consumer behavior, with people increasingly wanting to find answers through conversation rather than by searching.

Generative Engine Optimization (From SEO to GEO): According to Google data, traditional search engine use is declining (down 10%), while adoption of AI chat tools is rising (up 30%). As a result, brands need to shift their focus from SEO to GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) strategies.

Zero Click: Deloitte noted that we've entered an era where users get their answers directly from AI without ever visiting a website, a shift that requires brands to rethink their visibility strategies entirely.

4. Speed and Efficiency

Across many sectors, the most tangible outcome of AI was said to be its ability to accelerate processes.

Production Speed: Examples were shared of marketing content being produced in minutes or even seconds.

Simulation Power: Supercomputers were said to be compressing research and calculations that once took years down to mere minutes.

5. Human and AI Synergy (Human in the Loop)

No matter how advanced the technology gets, speakers repeatedly emphasized that the human element, emotion, and final decision making still belong to people.

Emotion and Creativity: In the Teknosa and Estée Lauder sessions, it was noted that while AI provides the data, humans bring the emotion. Authenticity and even mistakes were described as inherently human traits that machines can't replicate.

Alongside Humans, Not in Their Place: Penti and Microsoft explained that AI should be positioned as a partner that empowers people, not one that replaces them.

6. Infrastructure, Data, and AI's Blind Spot

The importance of data and hardware infrastructure, AI's essential fuel, came up frequently.

Hardware and Energy: Deloitte and TÜBİTAK stressed that AI processing requires massive data centers, next generation chips, and cooling systems, and that without this infrastructure, software is essentially worthless.

Shadow AI: It was noted that 14% of employees use AI tools on their own initiative, sometimes creating security risks in the process, making this a risk that organizations need to actively manage.

7. Super Apps and Ecosystem Collaboration (Coopetition)

Super Apps: Using Passo and TürkNet as examples, it was explained that platforms offering everything from finance to entertainment within a single app (Super Apps) tend to boost customer loyalty.

Ecosystem Collaboration: As seen with HepsiBurada, fintech and e-commerce players can grow even by partnering with their own competitors, through things like shared APIs and joint logistics networks.

Conclusion

AI is no longer a 'vision of the future’. It has become today's infrastructure. We need to organize our work, our processes, and our teams around this new colleague: the AI agent.