Trendyol, Baykar CEO, ADQ and Ant International to develop fintech platform in Turkey
The four parties signed a memorandum of understanding to form a platform that would provide services including digital payments, loans, deposits, investments and insurance. The launch would be subject to regulatory approvals.
The companies said the platform would target individuals and small businesses, with a particular focus on Trendyol's network of sellers.
"The project aims to combine Trendyol's e-commerce infrastructure, Baykar's AI and cybersecurity tools and Ant's experience in financial technology," a statement said.
Bayraktar, best known for leading Turkey's top drone manufacturer, said the initiative would rely on domestic infrastructure and aim for high security standards.
Alibaba Group President Michael Evans, representing Trendyol's main investor, said the partnership reflected interest in Turkey's digital economy while ADQ's deputy CEO, Mansour AlMulla, cited the country's growth potential in the sector.
Ant International said Turkey's large and digitally active population made it a significant market.
The companies did not disclose an expected investment size.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Google admits its earthquake alert system failed to warn 10 million people of Turkey disaster
Google has acknowledged that its earthquake early warning system failed to send the highest-level warning to millions of people during the deadly 2023 disaster in Turkey. The Android Earthquake Alerts sent the highest-level warning – 'Take Action – to only 469 people despite over 10 million people being within 98 miles of the epicentre of the initial 7.8-magnitude quake. Around half a million people received a lower-level alert – 'Be Aware' – meant for light shaking that is not as noticeable or urgent. This alert cannot override Android phone settings like Do Not Disturb and would likely have gone unnoticed when the earthquake struck at 4.17am local time. Days after claiming its systems 'performed well', Google has now told the BBC that nearly 500,000 people in Turkey did not receive the correct alert on their phones as its warning system underestimated the earthquake. Launched in August 2020 in collaboration with the US Geological Survey, the Android Earthquake Alerts System uses phone sensors to detect earthquakes. When many devices in an area sense shaking, the system verifies the data and sends alerts, sometimes seconds before the quake hits. It issues high-level warnings for strong tremors and lower-level ones for mild shaking, helping users take quick action even in regions without official alert systems. Two powerful earthquakes, measuring magnitude 7.8 and 7.5, struck Turkey at 4.17am and 1.24pm local time on 6 February, killing more than 55,000 people, injuring over 100,000, and destroying scores of buildings and roads across 11 of Turkey's southern and southeastern provinces. The earthquakes also killed 6,000 people in neighbouring Syria. The quake was the largest to hit Turkey since 1999 and the deadliest worldwide since the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami off Indonesia, which killed around 228,000 people. An internal investigation revealed that Google's warning system significantly underestimated the earthquake's strength, initially rating it a magnitude of between 4.5 and 4.9. The second tremor later in the day also triggered inaccurate readings. During this event, AEA issued 8,158 'Take Action' alerts and nearly four million 'Be Aware' notifications. This response still fell short of expectations given the scale of the disaster. "We continue to improve the system based on what we learn in each earthquake", a Google spokesperson told the BBC. In a blog post about the alert system, Google acknowledged the challenges of maintaining a balance between speed and accuracy. 'One of the trickiest parts of an EEW system is estimating the magnitude of an earthquake in real-time. The magnitude tells us how big the earthquake is, which in turn determines how far the shaking will travel and who needs to be alerted,' it said. 'Getting this right is crucial – underestimate, and you might not warn people in danger; overestimate, and you risk sending out false alarms that erode public trust.' The Independent has reached out to Google for comment.
Forbes
24 minutes ago
- Forbes
The AI-Ready Enterprise: How To Build A Test-And-Learn Culture
Karan Jain is the CEO at NayaOne, building the bridge between banks and fintechs. For most enterprises, the challenge isn't deciding whether to use AI but how to do it well. The gap between AI strategy and execution remains stubbornly wide: Regulatory uncertainty, fragmented procurement, risk exposure and a lack of delivery infrastructure all get in the way of successful AI deployment. What enterprise leaders should understand is that sustainable AI transformation is not about chasing hype or running one-off proofs of concept (PoCs). It's about building a test-and-learn culture at scale—where innovation is safe, repeatable and outcome-oriented. Why Most Enterprises Struggle To Operationalize AI Despite considerable investment, many organizations find themselves stuck in a cycle of vendor demos, isolated PoCs and siloed innovation efforts that rarely scale. Why? • No dedicated infrastructure for secure experimentation. • Siloed innovation teams with limited delivery handover. • Fragmented procurement processes for third-party tech. • A lack of evaluation standards and success metrics. What's missing? • A secure place to experiment. • A repeatable process for onboarding new tech. • Clear criteria for what 'good' looks like. • The infrastructure to move fast, without cutting corners. Put simply, these enterprises lack the structural capabilities to adopt AI safely, quickly and repeatedly. Building An AI-Ready, Test-And-Learn Enterprise Embedding a test-and-learn culture into a large organization doesn't happen by chance. It requires structured planning, executive alignment and, most importantly, operational infrastructure. Here's a practical framework leaders can use to get started: Identify high-value areas where AI can deliver tangible benefits: automated document processing, fraud detection, customer journey personalization or operational efficiency. Prioritize based on business readiness, data availability and regulatory risk. Pick use cases where the data exists, teams are engaged and success can scale. One important factor to remember: If nobody owns the outcome, it's not a real PoC. A digital sandbox bridges the gap between innovation and delivery. It allows teams to safely trial new technologies using synthetic or pseudonymized data, without risking disruption to live systems or breaching compliance. To implement one, set clear guardrails from the outset—including data boundaries, access controls and evaluation criteria. Align risk, compliance and delivery teams before experimentation begins. Also, choose sandbox environments that can simulate production-like conditions. This increases confidence that successful PoCs will translate into operational reality. Some of the most impactful AI innovations come from external vendors—often early-stage ones. But traditional procurement and onboarding processes can take 6 to 12 months or more. To ensure vendors can manage your needs, ask: • Are they compliant with relevant data and security standards? • Can they integrate with your architecture with minimal lift? • Have they demonstrated value in similar environments? • Can you test their solution in a governed, time-boxed environment? By setting up standardized evaluation processes and using pre-vetted ecosystems or frameworks, you can cut months off your validation timelines. Innovation is often measured in short-term wins: Did the demo work? Did the PoC run? But sustainable transformation requires a longer lens. Here are some key metrics to consider: • Time To Decision: How fast do you move from idea to decision? • Throughput Of Experiments: How many use cases are tested per quarter? • Conversion To Production: What percentage of experiments go live? • Governance Coverage: Are legal and compliance frameworks embedded throughout? Measuring what matters builds accountability and ensures experiments contribute to enterprise-wide outcomes. AI adoption can't outpace governance. Risks like model bias, explainability gaps and data privacy breaches can't be addressed post hoc. Build governance into the sandbox, not after it. This includes: • Engaging legal and compliance as early design partners. • Embedding model audibility and traceability into test flows. • Applying industry guidance, such as the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, to structure evaluation. When governance is part of the testing process, it shifts from being a blocker to becoming a strategic enabler. From Tactical Experiments To Execution A successful PoC is not transformation. Enterprise-wide innovation comes when any team can test ideas safely—and when the best ideas can scale with trust, speed and control. A test-and-learn culture isn't about labs filled with whiteboards. It's about operational infrastructure, data readiness and cross-functional alignment. Resilient enterprises treat innovation as a system, not a side project. They create structures that enable discovery, validation and delivery to happen on repeat. Recent research from BCG found that "only 26% of companies have developed the necessary set of capabilities to move beyond proofs of concept and generate tangible value." One of the factors for those successful companies, the report found, was that they invested 70% of their resources in people and process, while investing only 10% into algorithms and 20% into technology and data. The takeaway? The winners in enterprise AI won't be those who deploy first—but those who build processes and systems that let them deploy well, safely and repeatedly. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
DIFC's H1 2025 results fuel Dubai's economic vision (D33) and demonstrate global leadership in financial services and innovation
DUBAI, UAE, July 28, 2025 /CNW/ -- Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the leading global financial centre in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA), announced its best-ever performance for the first half of a year, reinforcing its contribution in driving the future of finance and the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33). DIFC saw a record 1,081 new active registered companies join the Centre during the first six months of 2025 bringing the total number of active registered companies to 7,700. 47,901 professionals now work in DIFC. Total Financial services authorisations grew 28 per cent year-on-year - 78 in H1 2025 compared to 61 in H1 2024. DIFC's banking and capital markets cluster consists of 289 companies, up from 247 a year ago. The number of firms in the wealth and asset management sector increased to 440, up from 370 in H1 2024, growing 19 per cent year-on-year, with 85 hedge funds, including 69 billion-dollar funds. Over 10,000 funds are being managed or marketed from DIFC. Additionally, 1,035 entities associated with family businesses now operate from the Centre, up from 600 a year ago. The number of foundations in DIFC have accelerated to 842, up from 548 in H1 2024. 135 insurance-related firms operate from DIFC. Gross Written Premiums advanced to USD 3.5bn for 2024, compared to USD 2.6bn a year earlier. The number of FinTech and Innovation companies reached 1,388, up from 1,081 in H1 2024 a surge of 28 per cent. Total active non-financial entities increased to 6,335, up from 4,935 a year earlier. H.E. Essa Kazim, Governor of DIFC said: "DIFC remains the driving force behind Dubai's economic growth, as a key enabler of the financial services sector's expansion and diversification. Our consistent performance across all sectors and rising global standing strengthen our commitment to supporting innovation, attracting global capital, and reinforcing Dubai's status as one of the world's most competitive and diversified economies." Dubai is one of eight cities globally to possess 'broad and deep' capabilities across all parts of the finance industry in the Global Financial Centres Index, alongside London, New York, and Paris. Over 1.6mn sq. ft. of commercial space is currently under development and construction being accelerated to meet demand. The new space will be ready for occupancy starting from Q1 2026. Photo - - View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) View original content to download multimedia: Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
