Meet DA People #3— Gül Demirdağ

At Dogma Alares, we discover the next generation consulting by revising strategy on the axis of design and experience as well as of artificial intelligence and digital technology. At DA, you can have a chance to work with seasoned consultants like Gul and I recently had an interview with Gül Demirdağ, our principal at strategy consulting.

Hello Gül, can you tell us about yourself a little? What did you study and what have you been working on so far?

Hi! I am a graduate of economics from Boğaziçi University with an International MBA degree from EADA Business School in Barcelona. During my studies I was also granted scholarships to attend UCSD in San Diego and NCCU in Taipei as an exchange student. In total, I have more than 15 years of experience in different positions including market analysis and research, management and strategy consultancy across various industries such as telecom, financial services, FMCG, consumer electronics and technology. I started off as an assistant executive in the Quantitative Research Department at a global market research company, where I gained immense experience in complying and analyzing data as well as interpreting and reporting findings in various formats to the clients. Then as a market analyst, I worked at a foreign market consulting firm assisting mostly SMEs operating in Europe that seek business opportunities for investing and developing their economic activities in Turkey. Afterwards, I decided to switch gears and moved to a career in management consultancy. Specializing mainly in communication and technology industries, I have led numerous transformation and change management programs and strategy projects throughout my career in various management consulting companies namely Peppers & Rogers Group, Accenture, Maven Partners and Experian. During my tenure, I also worked as a Strategic Projects Manager at a Turkish telecom company for 3 years. Over the years I have developed diverse skills ranging from corporate and top-management strategy development to various business unit strategies based on advanced customer and data analytics. I have also gained international experience doing projects in South Africa, Azerbaijan and Israel. This is how I got into the world of strategy consultancy. And now, I have been here at Dogma Alares for almost 4 months, working as a Strategy Principal under the Strategy pillar.

How did you get together with Dogma Alares? How were your thoughts before joining and how has your experience been since you joined?

While working at Accenture, I met Kıvanç and Erdal, who were holding top key positions in the company. Later, they went on to become the founders of Dogma Alares. With them, we had worked on various projects in Accenture and I had had the chance to see their management style firsthand, which had been very influential for me. Their management style was mainly opt for organizational openness, promoting positive collaboration and cooperative decision-making. What I found most remarkable was their emphasis on learning rather than being right. After Accenture, although we moved to different directions, we continued to stay in the consulting business. When I found out about Dogma Alares, I had just completed my project in Experian where I was working as a freelance consultant, and I was having a break while I was between projects, enjoying the summer. To be frank, on a warm summer night, I accidentally called Kıvanç, thinking that I was calling another friend of mine named Kıvanç as well. It was a nice coincidence, where I had the chance to learn about the story of Dogma Alares. Having known Kıvanç and Erdal’s management styles topped with their utmost innovative vision, I immediately felt eager to be a part of this next-generation consulting culture. This impactful culture brought together the 4-pillar vision, namely strategy, service design, digital technologies and artificial intelligence to serve clients with an integrated approach and delivering differentiated value at the same time. And up to now, I am very happy to be a team member in this open and flat organization that focuses on transparency in all areas and unlimited access to knowledge and information.

There is a growing team inside. For the sake of your position, how things are seen and done at Dogma Alares?

Yes, indeed, there is a great growing team inside with different skills, backgrounds and needs. To be able to gather people from diverse backgrounds under a single organization, Dogma Alares willingly customized positions taking into account both the clients’ and our needs. For instance, I am a Strategy Principal here at Dogma Alares. I am the first person who took this position, which is created as a new career option for people who are experienced in case management but do not want to get into the partnership track and continue to lead the projects with hands on as I currently do so. This position also opens up space for people who want to work in flexible ways, to have longer holidays, to work 4 days per week or similar arrangements. It is like a freelance consultant but with a payroll. This approach enables me to adapt to the company culture rapidly as well as bring in my expertise and deliver results in a more effective way, while providing a less stressful work arrangement for me. I believe having a flexible working conditions is more important than ever these days. To wrap up, I see Dogma Alares as a pioneer in the consulting world in Turkey, that could provide a solution not only for its clients, but also for its employees, which is the manifestation of “be the change you want to see in the world”.