Ayhan Ak

Ayhan Ak

Team Leading, Product Management, Research & Development, Program Management, Software Engineering, IoT, Cloud & Web Apps, Mobile Apps, Complex Software Products

Customer-Focused Product Leader in Connected Products & IoT Ecosystems

  • Proven track record in managing 5+ million active connected devices (Connected Cars, Smart Home Appliances, and Mobile Apps) across global markets.
  • Expertise in complex cloud and software platform products, including IoT devices, mobile apps, cloud services, and data platforms (B2B2C, B2C, PaaS, SaaS).
  • Managed +10M € global product portfolio across 15+ countries and diverse customer segments, driving profitable growth and market expansion.
  • Innovated business models and led strategic initiatives that delivered +10% YoY revenue growth and improved profitability.
  • Transformed traditional businesses into product-led organizations by implementing connected strategies, go-to-market plans, and end-to-end development processes (Customer Experience, UX/UI Design, Technology, Production, Financial, Legal).
  • Built and led high-performing 10+ cross-functional teams, fostering collaboration across engineering, design, marketing, and business units.
  • Certified Agile Leader with hands-on experience in Scrum, SAFe, and Lean methodologies, driving faster time-to-market and improved product quality.
  • ayhanak

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    Work Experience

    • Sr. Solution Manager - Strategy & Portfolio
      2024 July - Continues

      Elektrobit Automotive GmbH - Germany

      - Leading Product Portfolio | Strategy Development | Customer Solutions and Value Proposition | Performance Financial Management

    • Sr. Tech Product Manager
      2022 Jan - 2024 June

      Elektrobit Automotive GmbH - Germany

      - Leading Tech Product Portfolio and Transforming Non-Profit Platform Products into a Profitable Business | Re-Use Technology Platform & Tools | Smart Connected Cars | Program & Product Management | Customer Experience | New Business Development

    • Product Lead - Smart Home Solutions
      2020 Mar - 2021 Dec

      Arçelik Global

      - Created Product Strategy and Roadmap
      - Led Connected Products and Services portfolio, made ownership and led development teams of product, mobile and cloud services

    • Sr. Program Manager - Smart Products & Services
      2016 Aug - 2020 Feb

      Arçelik Global

      - Led 50+ projects and 20+ cross-functional teams & product development and managed smart and digital products & solutions
      - Acted as product owner and technical program manager with cross-functional teams from development, marketing to business strategy
      - created digital solution concepts for projects by using data for the best customer value proposition and business case/model with product, mobile, cloud and data services
      - managed smart digital ecosystem for AWS Cloud platform & open development with startups, external partners and suppliers

    • Software Development Manager
      2014 Feb - 2016 Aug

      Bosch & Siemens Home Appliances - B/S/H/

      - Led R&D Software Design and Testing team in Turkey branch, which colloaborates with German and Chinese teams
      - hired 8 people, growth %250 in team, managed team performance and mentored/coached 12 people team members
      - Set up necessary infrastructure and software development environment

    • Software Design & Development
      2007 Jul - 2014 Feb

      Beko Europe

      - lead and mentored small development team, and acted as design architect
      - developed embedded, web and mobile applications
      - Smart TV products, Mobile & Web aps, automation scripts and PC apps
      - programming langs such Java, C++, C#, HTML, Javascript and Python

    Languages

    • Professional
      English
    • Intermediate
      German

    Project Portfolio

    • Android Tools and Vehicle Platform Software

      2023 Nov

      led product portfolio which allows whole development team to re-use it, and created a business model for pricing to create a recurring revenue with multiple customers and project.

    • Android Cockpit Display Solution

      2022 Oct

      led IVI display product development and introduction for vehicle data and connectivity on OEM vehicle project. Managed multi-site and multi-domain Agile team including Software, Testing, UX/UI design and architects.

    • Smart Home Products & Solutions

      2020 Nov

      led new products and services development and introduction for home safety and energy solutions. Managed end-to-end product, mobile apps and cloud services for home thermostats, IPCamera, Gateway and sensors. Remote management, control systems to address real customer needs for future autonomous home

    • New HomeWhiz Smart Home Mobile App

      2020 June

      led cross-functional teams and coordinated customer and market requirements to lead full new experience and user interface UI/UX design with Android and IOS apps, cloud microservices to support full range of connected products HomeWhiz Smart Services

    • Voice controlled Smart Products (Amazon Alexa & Google Home)

      2019 Oct

      led the project for Amazon Alexa skilled voice control MDA6 (White Good) products like Fridge, Oven, Air Conditioner, Washer and Diswashers run for customer requirements, lead cross-functional development team and Amazon certification process Alexa Skills

    • Remote Analytics for Connected Appliance

      2019 Aug

      defined the errors and diagnostic data, and led the project for 'Error and Diagnostics Data Integration' with Customer Support Services tools

    • Secure Product Life-Cycle Mgmt

      2019 June

      led cross functional team on implementation for Secure Product and Production Process along the company wide development & production and total quality

      integrated with full production processes, Quality, IT and Customer Support Services tools with each other to manage full product and data lifecycle

    • Program Download for Connected Appliances via OTA Update

      2018 Dec

      led the project Over-the-Air Update for partial downloading for new programs for washer, dishwasher and ovens

    • Over-The-Air (OTA) Update Service for Connected Products

      2018 May

      full life-cycle management for connected products from embedded device software and Cloud MicroServices implementation, configuration mgmt, backend services and webUI for OTA management for field products

    • Replenishment Service for Washer and Dishwashers (Amazon DRS)

      2018 Apr

      led the new business model creation of recurring revenue sources with the project with Amazon DRS Dash Replenishment Service implementation with Arcelik&Beko branded Washer and Diswasher appliances. Mobile app and Cloud microservices were developed in team.

      run the process implementation and Amazon certification

    • Connected Security Certification

      2018 Mar

      Led Product and Mobile Apps VDE-Security certification process and issue implementation, release management

      run the process implementation and Amazon certification Connected Data Security

    • Connected MDA6 Product Development

      2017 Aug

      Development of WiFi & BLE connectivity Module for Smart White Good Products Led the cross-functional teams for embedded, cloud and mobile development, feature and experience design, mobile and cloud services development for first connected appliances

    • Software Engineering Lifecyle Improvement

      2016 Feb

      Implementing Agile and CMMI DEV-III, focused on Software and Product Quality new Software Development Lifecycle in product development for all 13 processes

      led the quality and process development teams over Bosch Germany & Bosch India and B/S/H/ Turkey teams

    • Variant Management for Fridge Appliances

      2015 Dec

      Variant Manager tool to manage configurations for full range of products for different market and customer requirements

      it's accepted globally to use in German and Chinese R&D centers

    • First In-house Software Development and Testing in Turkey R&D

      2015 Oct

      took over full responsibility for in-house development, testing and integration for the product software in TMEA-CIS Region R&D, full control-unit electronics card development and integration with display and other control units in product

    • Testing & Simulation Tools Implementation and Launch

      2015 July

      Established and run first test automation system at BSH Turkey R&D

      Hardware In The Loop (HIL) and Software In The Loop (SIL) test were implemented in order to run for early testing along product development

      Contious Integration (CI/CD) tools with SVN and Jenkins

      NI-CRIO and Python based tools for manual and automated tests

    • Smart Android TV development

      2013 Dec

      Smart TV UI and Apps development on pure Android environment

    • Software Stack Development for Smart TVs

      2013 Sep

      led the Software team whose developing Smart TV stack for DVB, Native TV Apps and Smart Apps

      architecture design, solution module implementation and integration to run main control board

    • Integrated Voice Control for Smart TVs

      2013 June

      Lead developer for Voice Recognition feature for Smart TV Sets which supports 8 languages and 40+ commands for different dialects

      developed Remote Control and Voice Skills implementation in TV product

    • CI/CD DevOps System Development for Software Team

      2013 May

      developed in SW team for Continuous Integration and Development Tools and deployment for Software team, based in SVN and Linux based software release

    • Embedded Apps development for Smart TVs

      2012 June

      Embedded TV Apps development like Full User Interface, HBB TV, Personal Video Player & Recorder, Smart Apps and implementation for full range of Smart TVs

    • Android Mobile App Development

      2010 Feb

      Remote control and Content mobile app for Smart TVs developed with Java and Android Studio

      I was the first App developer of Android Applications published in Google Play on behalf of Arçelik AŞ

      "Grundig TV Remote", "Beko TV Remote", "Arçelik Akıllı Kumanda" apps

    My Address

    Baden-Württemberg / Germany

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