ACONVERSATIONWITHATAHAN
Q: How did you end up at sixtynine?
A: "Emre and I originally met in 2015. We both lived in Istambul, and we met because of music. I came to the Netherlands to do my master's at RSM. Here we reconnected and started meeting regularly. He kept introducing me to ideas about what they were doing within sixtynine. At some point it became serious, because they realized they could build automation for a lot of companies, but they lacked the bridge between technical capabilities and business operations. I have a consultancy background, so by joining forces, we could build tools that truly suit a company's operations: custom software."
Q: Why custom software instead of existing tools?
A: "We're not anti-SaaS, but for a lot of companies it simply doesn't fit. For instance, the data model work I was doing this morning is something AI cannot do, because it's very specific to your business. Maybe 80% is the same across companies, but that 20% is always unique. If you use standard software, there are always parts that don't fit, and that costs you either money or the ability to do what you want. We fill that gap."
Q: Do you think sixtynine is a leader in this space?
A: "Custom software development isn't very scalable, it still depends on the hours we work. But here's the thing: a lot of platforms you see on the market aren't really products either. They spend a fortune on customer service and implementation. Take Salesforce. When you look at their website, it looks like you get a subscription, implement it, and start using it. But no, you need to configure a massive amount of things, you need consultants for implementation, and it never ends. We'd rather build something that fits from the start than configure something generic until it works."
Q: What's a common belief in this space you disagree with?
A: "Bold statements like 'SaaS is dead because it's getting easier to build software.' The pace of change is amazing, but the world is a very big organism. We can implement changes fast, but imagine a company with 10,000 employees. They can't move that quickly."
Q: What can't AI replace?
A: "If the output of your work is perceived by human beings, it's not easily automatable. Coding is easy for AI because code goes to computers. It’s already digital, it’s evaluated by machines, not humans. But if you're designing a website, the end user is a human being who will pay attention to aesthetics in a human way. A designer still needs to make adjustments. You can't go 100% AI on that. Of course, the more we replace things with AI, the more the receivers of output will also become AI. And although automation is growing at a crazy speed, we humans are still in the process. And I think we cannot and should not get rid of that."
Q: What's your biggest learning experience?
A: "There's a great joke most software developers will know: a tester walks into a bar, orders a beer, two beers, zero beers, 99 million beers, a lizard in a beer glass. Testing complete. Then a real customer walks in and asks where the bathroom is. End users always do the unexpected. We've learned how to launch more safely, but we genuinely learn and improve with every implementation."
Q: What keeps you going?
A: "Before, I worked in big corporate environments, very macro scope. Now I work at a much more micro scale, so I'm much closer to the value that's actually being created. That feels really good. And the role itself is evolving. Product management isn’t what it was five years ago. You need to be more technical, closer to development. I like that. I like that we use new tools, build new things for new industries. There’s always something new, and that keeps you alive and motivated."