• Global expertise company expands leadership team with
  the appointment of a second vice-president 
• Experienced executive will focus on strategic business development in his new role 

Mr Akbiyik’s arrival will bolster our executive suite and add 13 years of strategic business leadership and consulting experience to our growing team.  

He will particularly focus on strategic business development and will work alongside Dr Erhan Ermis, one of our co-founders, and Pietro Vecchiato, our other Vice-President of Client Partnerships. A key element of his role will be identifying opportunities in new markets and building new long-term client relationships that can help our growing business to further scale up. 

“Hyphen is combining the best of an executive search business, a top-tier consulting firm and a tech company – this shows how innovative the company is and is why I wanted to be a part of this,” said Mr Akbiyik, who is based in Istanbul. “The team here is exceptional and I have total confidence in the value proposition. 

“Being able to identify the very best people – in terms of cultural fit as well as talent – for every single project is so important; doing that while offering flexible engagement models and all the additional support services is truly impressive. When you also consider the other ideas the team has that can help it to keep improving, this is a tremendous opportunity to build something special.” 

He added: “There is no company like Hyphen in the market, anywhere, so the potential is huge. There are some things that Hyphen does that no one is doing, it’s unique. I strongly believe there is a big market and a big need for our services and what the company is doing so I think there’s no limit to how global we can go.” 

Mr Akbiyik joins Hyphen from global financial services company Mastercard, where he has served as Vice-President – High Growth European Market Regional Advisors Lead for four years. This position saw him oversee data and services delivery across 12 countries; work with key players in the finance, FinTech and digital marketplaces; devise long-term strategies and lead more than 120 people. 

Prior to that, he worked for nine years with international professional services giant Boston Consulting Group in Turkey and New York, USA. He worked extensively in the banking and insurance sectors, developing strategies, leading transformation programmes, installing industry best practices, and overseeing project teams. 

As well as his illustrious professional career to date, Mr Akbiyik also holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, USA, and a BSc in Mechatronics Engineering from Sabanci University, Turkey. He also worked as a Research Assistant at Carnegie Mellon at the start of his career. 

Dr Ermis, who previously worked with Mr Akbiyik at BCG, added: “We are very happy to have Akin on board, his experience and business acumen are going to be huge assets to the company. He has already achieved a great deal in his career with BCG and Mastercard and we are confident his skill set will be a perfect fit here too. 

“So much of our business is based on relationships and we believe our existing ones can help us here as we already know exactly what Akin is capable of. He has shown a real understanding of what we are trying to achieve and I speak for everyone at the company when I say that we are certain he is the right person to help us go to the next level.” 

Fellow co-founder Michael Savolainen added: “Akin is one of the most ambitious people I have ever met, and he has an exceptional ability to connect with people on a personal level. I am happy to have such a dear friend join us at Hyphen and I look forward to more adventures together.” 

NOTES FOR EDITORS 

Hyphen was established in 2018 by Dr Ermis, Mr Savolainen and Avinash Nandakumar. Since its formation, the remote-first business has grown significantly, with 2022 revenues double that of the previous year. 

The company offers a unique value proposition, providing clients with leading experts and consultants through flexible engagement models and offering first-class behind-the-scenes support. Thanks to this approach, Hyphen has partnered on a regular basis with some of the world’s largest businesses, several national governments and sovereign wealth funds. 

Learn more at https://www.hyphen.group and follow us on LinkedIn.