Product · Technology · Advisory
A senior partner for the technology, product and AI decisions that shape a business.
Serdar Bahar, PhD
Product & Technology Executive
Former CIO · Advisor to executives, boards and founders
Independent advisor on product strategy, enterprise technology and AI adoption — former-CIO judgement paired with hands-on delivery across financial services and FinTech.
Available for advisory, interim and fractional engagements.
20+ Years in Product & Technology Leadership
Former CIO — Financial Services
Applied AI, FinTech & Digital Trust
Advisor to Executives, Boards & Founders
20+
Years in leadership
Former
CIO, Financial Services
4
Universities taught
7+
Innovation ecosystems
01About
A senior operator behind product, technology and transformation.
Two decades across financial services and technology — from enterprise CIO responsibility to product ownership in digital banking and investment platforms.
Today the focus is where AI, FinTech and platform strategy meet: helping executives, founders and boards turn ambition into decisions that ship.
02Why this advisor
Why this advisor, not another.
Four reasons executives and boards bring me into the decisions that matter.
- 01
Executive and operator in one
Former CIO judgement combined with active product and platform work — the same person in the boardroom and in the delivery decisions that follow.
- 02
Product, technology and business in one profile
The engagements that matter usually require all three at once, held in a single point of view rather than three specialists in a room.
- 03
Enterprise discipline with startup speed
Two decades inside regulated financial-services environments, applied with the pace and directness of a founding team.
- 04
Decisions, not decks
The output is a decision framed, a roadmap resolved, an architecture chosen. Documents support the decision — they do not replace it.
03Advisory
The problems I am brought in to solve.
Executive questions where product, technology and business must be resolved together.
- 01
Enterprise AI
Moving AI from experiments to governed systems — use cases, architecture, risk and the operating model that makes adoption stick. - 02
Product Strategy
Reshaping how product is discovered, decided and delivered — so growth is not lost to organisational drag or competing roadmaps. - 03
Platform Transformation
Leading complex, multi-vendor programmes end to end: platform re-architecture, delivery governance and the operating model past go-live. - 04
Executive Advisory
A senior sounding board for CEOs, boards and founders on technology, product and AI — where the choices cannot be delegated.
04Engagements
How the work is structured.
Three formats, matched to the decision at hand.
- 01
Executive Advisory Retainer
- For
- For CEOs, boards and founders
- Duration
- 3–12 months, ongoing
- Outcome
- A trusted second opinion on product, technology and AI decisions.
- 02
Fractional or Interim Leadership
- For
- For scale-ups and transformation programmes
- Duration
- 3–9 months, part-time or interim
- Outcome
- A defined leadership seat filled with clear objectives and handover.
- 03
Executive Workshops
- For
- For leadership teams and boards
- Duration
- One to three sessions
- Outcome
- A specific decision or capability moved forward — with artefacts.
05Leadership
Judgement built across three chapters.
Not a résumé. The expertise that today's advisory work stands on.
- 01
Enterprise Technology Leadership
Former CIO in regulated financial services — enterprise strategy, transformation, portfolio prioritisation and governance at executive-committee level.
- 02
Product & Platform Leadership
Product and platform ownership across digital banking, CRM and investment systems — aligning discovery, engineering and business outcomes as one discipline.
- 03
AI, Digital Trust & FinTech
Hands-on work on enterprise AI, RAG, digital identity, explainable scoring and hybrid Web2–Web3 platforms — grounded in credit risk and quantitative decisioning.
06Industries & Organizations
Where the work is grounded.
- Investment Banking
- Digital Banking
- FinTech
- Payments
- Credit Risk
- Enterprise AI
- Scale-ups
- Universities
07Insights
Selected writing on AI and enterprise intelligence.
08Ecosystem
Connected across Turkey's technology and venture ecosystem.
Endeavor
Member
TR Angels
Member
TÜGİM
Supervisory Board Member
İTÜ ARI Teknokent 1773
Evaluation Board
Teknopark İstanbul
Mentor
Bilişim Vadisi
Mentor
Yıldız Technical University
Mentor
09Contact
Let's solve the problems that matter.
One senior partner. One direct line.