Panel Session
From Business Analyst to Product Owner and then to Agentic Business Analyst
The journey from Business Analyst to Product Owner is no longer linear, as emerging agentic systems are redefining how value is discovered and delivered. This panel will explore the evolving journey from Business Analyst to Product Owner, and further toward the emerging role of the Agentic Business Analyst. It will examine how business analysis and product roles are evolving within modern product development environments shaped by intelligent and autonomous capabilities. The discussion will highlight the shifting skill sets, mindsets, and collaboration models required to adapt to this new landscape. It will also offer practical perspectives on how professionals can reposition themselves to create meaningful impact in an increasingly agentic world.
Reydan Yaşar
Reydan Yaşar is an academic researcher and practitioner in the field of Management Information Systems, holding a PhD with a focus on consumer behavior in the sharing economy. She is an instructor in the Management Information Systems department at Boğaziçi University, where her work focuses on business analysis, systems analysis and design, and user-centered solution development. Her research interests include the sharing economy, circular economy, user experience, product discovery, design thinking, and user behavior. Reydan is actively involved in the international Business Analysis and UX community and is a certified member of the IIBA.
Moderator
PhD, Instructor @Bogazici University
Panelist
Partner @BA-Works Business Analysis Services, Thought Leader
Koray Yitmen
Koray Yitmen is the board member of the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA®) Istanbul chapter, the president of Turkish Testing Board, a member of International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB®), the member of ISTQB® general assembly, and the president of User Experience Professionals’ Association (UXPA®) Istanbul chapter.
As a business partner, Koray has led many multi-national, cross-functional teams in banking, telecommunications, insurance, media, transportation, and information technology (IT) industries for more than 25 years. Challenged by the diversity of his projects’ cultural, domain, and people issues, Koray has succeeded by putting the needs of his projects’ target users first.
In 2000, he started his career as a technology consultant at Accenture (formerly Arthur Andersen). Having worked at Accenture, he has been the business partner of BA-Works Business Analysis Services, Keytorc Software Testing Services, and UXservices UX Design Company since 2005.
He has a B.S. in Computer Science from Middle East Technical University, Ankara and an MBA in Entrepreneurship from Babson College, USA. He is a strong advocate of the business motto “Quality is not tested, but built” and tries to implement this motto in every project in which he is involved. His greatest happiness of life is giving back to the community.
His published books are “Bilgi Teknolojilerinin Başarısı için Yazılım Testi – İş Analizi – Kullanılabilirlik”, “Business Analysis, Software Testing, Usability : A Quick Guide Book for Better Project Management and Faster IT Career”, and “Yazılım Test Teknikleri”.
Figen Özmen
Figen Ozmen is an experienced professional in the technology and management fields, with a focus on leadership and strategic development in the banking and insurance sectors over 25 years. She is now affiliated as IT Consultant with KAF Technology and Consulting Inc. in USA.
She holds a background in executive management encompassing various areas like Business and System Analysis, Project Management, Enterprise Agile Delivery, Software Development and Product Management. She has been honored with awards for her leadership and project successes.
She is also degrees of global communities such as fellowship of Hackathon Raptors, senior member of IEEE and Society of Women Engineers. Ozmen is also a Global Ambassador for the WomenTech Network.
Panelist
IT Consultant @KAF Technology and Consulting
Panelist
Development Team Leader @Ziraat Teknoloji
Özgür Barış Hazır
Özgür Barış Hazır, İTÜ Endüstri Mühendisliği mezunu olup Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi’nde İngilizce İşletme yüksek lisansı yapmıştır. Kısa bir süre üretim sektöründe çalıştıktan sonra 2009’dan itibaren kariyerini ING, Garanti Teknoloji ve Ziraat Teknoloji firmalarında ağırlıklı olarak Nakit Yönetimi alanında iş analisti/takım lideri unvanıyla devam ettirmiştir.
Özgür Barış Hazır IIBA’nın sunduğu CBAP, AAC ve CPOA ile Scrum.org’un sunduğu PSPO ve PSM sertifikalarına sahiptir. 2022-2025 yılları arasında Agile Türkiye komitelerinde yer almış ve Agile Summit’lerin düzenlenmesinin yanı sıra farklı etkinliklerin icrasında rol almıştır. 2024-2026 yılları arasında çeviklik ve iş analizi üzerine Harran, Marmara ve Galatasaray üniversitelerinde seçmeli dersler vermiştir. 2023 yılında BA Achievement Award finalisti olarak Utrecht/Hollanda’da boy göstermiş, 2024 yılında Ba & Beyond konferansının Lüksemburg ayağında “Acceptance and Evaluation Criteria” üzerine konuşma yapmıştır. Amatör bir koşucu olarak yarı maratona kadar farklı uzunluklarda yarışlara düzenli olarak katılmakta ve Ziraat Bankası basketbol takımında oynamaktadır.
Ayşe Akarçay
Ayşe Akarçay is a Business Analyst and Product Owner at Yapı Kredi Technology, with a professional background focused on shared platforms, cross-functional collaboration, and multi-stakeholder environments. She graduated from Bilkent University with a degree in Industrial Engineering in 2013.
Over the course of her career, she has worked at the intersection of business analysis and product ownership, contributing to the design and evolution of solutions that require strong coordination across teams and business units. Her work centers on bridging business needs with product thinking in complex organizational settings.
She is particularly interested in the evolving role of business analysts in the age of generative AI and agentic systems, and in how these new approaches are influencing product and delivery practices.
Panelist
Business Analyst and Product Owner @Yapı Kredi Technology
