The theme of the second edition of Entrepreneur’s Thursday—organized by Aposto in collaboration with Paribu Ventures—was Generative Artificial Intelligence.
Previously, at Entrepreneur’s Thursday with Aposto, Paribu Ventures focused on addressing the questions of what we do and what we aim to achieve. The second edition of the event—following the inaugural session held in April under the theme of “Economy and Finance”—took place on June 13, 2024, with “Generative Artificial Intelligence” as its central theme. Joined by more than 50 technology entrepreneurs, we delved into one of today’s most critical tech topics through three engaging sessions, heard firsthand how founders navigate their entrepreneurial journeys, and walked away with new insights and thought-provoking questions.
The first session of the second Entrepreneur’s Thursday, titled “Breakdown of AI,” featured Prof. Altan Çakır, Ph.D., Founding Partner at ADIN.AI, who took the stage with his presentation “Leverage: Future Opportunities of the AI Revolution.” Later in the program, Reşat Uğur Ulu, Product Owner at Togg Trumore, delivered live demos showcasing how artificial intelligence can be integrated into product development processes. To close the event—which brought together over 50 entrepreneurs—Umutcan Savcı, Co-Founder and CFO at Aposto, led a separate session using a new format called “unconferencing,” where every participant had the opportunity to contribute as a speaker.
Dr. Çakır: “Autonomous AI tools will be the next big trend”
“Let’s continue with highlights from the first session of Entrepreneur’s Thursday, an invite-only event.” Prof. Altan Çakır, Ph.D., began his presentation by emphasizing that research into generative artificial intelligence predates OpenAI—the developer of ChatGPT—by many years. He also pointed out that approximately 28 percent of startups globally are operating in the generative AI space, while in Türkiye, this figure stands at just 5.5 percent. Dr. Çakır explained that the evolution of artificial intelligence tools is progressing through distinct phases—beginning with rule-based systems, followed by statistical, contextual, and now generative AI technologies. He emphasized that autonomous AI tools are poised to become the next big trend in the tech world.
He also drew a parallel between artificial intelligence and the crypto space, noting that AI, too, experiences cyclical periods referred to as “AI winters” and “AI summers.” Although a decline was expected following the most recent AI summer, the anticipated downturn has not materialized.
Our second speaker, Reşat Uğur Ulu, delivered a presentation titled “Co-Develop: AI in Product Development.” In his talk, Ulu explored how artificial intelligence tools can be effectively applied in product development and software workflows. He highlighted the rapid advancement of large language models (LLMs), noting that entering the LLM space is unsustainable unless aimed at solving a highly specific problem—given the technology’s continuous and fast-paced evolution.
In his presentation, Ulu also outlined specific scenarios where humans and artificial intelligence each hold an advantage. He noted that humans still outperform AI when it comes to navigating uncertainty. However, in predictable environments where all possible outcomes are known, AI has the upper hand. This, he explained, is why artificial intelligence is well-positioned to replace humans in areas where uncertainty is minimal or absent.
In our final session, everyone became a speaker: Unconferencing
The Unconferencing session was moderated by Umutcan Savcı. In his opening remarks, Savcı quoted Colin Jarvis, Head of Solution Architecture, Strategics at OpenAI, and addressed the key question of the session: What must be done to keep pace with the rapid development of AI technology?
“One of the biggest mistakes businesses make today is building products on top of existing services. AI technologies are developing so rapidly that they are outpacing our ability to keep up. As a result, simply using or relying on existing services and devices quickly becomes unsustainable.
When you build a technology on top of an AI model and turn it into a service, even a single update to tools like ChatGPT can render your product obsolete. That’s why it’s essential to continually ask: ‘What will the capabilities and capacity of these technologies look like in the future?’ In the end, success in the AI space will come down to three core factors:
- The data you own or source—and what you create with it,
- The quality of your services,
- The strength of your user experience (UX) design.”
The session began with a quote from Colin Jarvis, followed by a discussion among co-founders about their startup projects, the challenges they faced, the lessons they learned, and the questions they still seek answers to, as they worked together to find solutions.
You can find detailed notes from the presentations in this issue on Aposto. For updates on the third edition of Entrepreneur’s Thursday, be sure to follow Paribu Ventures and Aposto on social media.
Bu içerik en son 12 May 2025 tarihinde güncellenmiştir.
