The advent of AI and its many applications have pushed the software development industry into a place where the boundaries of what’s possible seem limitless. In the face of such innovation, however, it’s important to keep in mind what’s necessary.
At Etiya – a leading software company serving telecom and digital service providers globally – the customer perspective isn’t just considered; it’s embedded in every solution.
That doesn’t mean the company is turning away from AI or other cutting-edge innovations – quite the opposite. As CEO Aslan Doğan explains to The CEO Magazine, customer experience is not just a feature; it’s the foundation of everything they build.
“We are focusing on two things,” he says. “First is what our customer wants and the kind of value they want to provide to their end users. Second, we work hard to visualize that end user’s perspective and develop services and products to suit. Our goal is to provide an ever-better customer experience to our providers; it’s how we’ve differentiated ourselves.”
A unique approach
More than 20 years since it was established, Etiya has created an award-winning portfolio of customer experience-focused, AI-driven digital transformation solutions. In the beginning, Doğan says, there was an opportunity in the market to bring something different to the table. Now, with the industry in the midst of its latest evolution, opportunities abound once again.
“The companies that will benefit are the ones driving innovative R&D,” he says. “We’re an industry leader for that reason. The companies that keep agile, keep innovating and keep adapting will have the greatest opportunities to grow, and I think we’ll outperform because by design, our microservice-based platform is ready for what’s ahead.”
Etiya knows a thing or two about agility. In recent years, the company has had to navigate the introduction of 4G – and then 5G – networks, smartphones and the cloud.
“Early on, we worked on desktop applications only, then web-based and now on smartphones,” Doğan says. “The other big change was the cloud, which prompted companies to grow quickly and expand operations to be accessible from anywhere in the world.
“Now, AI is changing things again, shaping our industry and our way of living. It’s also changing customer expectations.”
“The companies that keep agile, keep innovating and keep adapting will have the greatest opportunities to grow.”
Etiya’s customer base wants to provide the most modern experience possible to their end users. Doğan says the answer is AI.
“From a technology perspective, AI will be the catalyzer,” he says. “It’s the engine. Every platform, every application produces data, and this data is becoming more and more important for all enterprises.
“It’s the blood that allows AI to redefine the customer experience from personalization, proactive monitoring or proactive customer service management. It also gives us the ability to optimize.”
Doğan cites call centers as an example of the kind of customer service experience AI is able to completely recast.
“It was an interaction layer,” he says. “But now, AI agents will be able to provide that function. It’s the kind of autonomy we’ve known was coming for some time, but for this we have to implement the data to somehow model the end user.”
The cutting edge
Staying on the cutting edge means recognizing end users doing the same. The electric vehicle industry has posed several new challenges for Etiya and its peers, and Doğan says it’s something he relishes.
“The EV industry’s aim is not just to sell cars, but to sell digital services for mobility,” he says. “They’re using our platform to sell digital services through subscriptions and learn more about the journeys their customers are going on and the services they’re buying during their time as a customer.
“So while telco is still our focus, our platform is proving suitable for this kind of business as well.”
“From a technology perspective, AI will be the catalyzer.”
This life cycle management, from customer acquisition to retirement, is becoming the new normal, and as that happens, businesses are scrambling to add value to the process through services such as Etiya’s Digital Business Platforms.
“Since our platform is microservice-based, it’s like LEGO. Customers can build a bigger platform piece by piece or integrate their own applications,” he says. “It’s on us to provide the scalability and observability, as well as provide the simplicity and ease of configuration and use.”
Etiya’s motto – ‘Exceed Everyday’ – is particularly pertinent here, he says.
“That’s our aim, and we use cutting-edge technologies to achieve it. Together with our customers and within our ecosystem, we can exceed,” Doğan concludes.
