A Look Back at Commencis and the World in 2025

Despite these challenges, 2025 was also a remarkable year for technology. AI was discussed throughout the year across almost every sector, becoming a visible part of our daily lives. The competition among leading AI companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google played an important role in accelerating innovation and bringing more advanced, accessible AI solutions to businesses and individuals. OpenAI’s release of GPT-5 was one of the year’s milestones, showing how quickly AI capabilities continue to evolve.

In China, AI-driven systems began being integrated into hospitals, improving diagnostic accuracy and treatment efficiency. At the same time, robots continued to develop rapidly across a wide scale, from manufacturing and delivery services to assisting with household chores such as cleaning and cooking, becoming a more common sight in homes and helping ease families’ daily burdens.

Quantum computing also moved closer to real-world use, helping solve complex problems in areas such as healthcare and finance.

The effects of climate change continued to be seen worldwide in 2025, affecting communities, ecosystems, and economies across different regions. In response to these challenges, autonomous vehicles and public transport systems made significant progress during the year. Self-driving cars and smart public transportation solutions became more widespread, helping shape the future of mobility and contributing to efforts to reduce traffic congestion in major cities.

The electric vehicle (EV) market in Europe also saw significant growth in 2025. BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) registrations increased by 34 percent in the first half of the year, driven by better batteries, expanded charging infrastructure, and government incentives.

Looking back, 2025 was a year of significant challenges but also extraordinary progress. At Commencis, we are delighted to have been part of this wave of innovation, leading projects that have made a real difference.

This year, Commencis continued to enhance the digital channel experiences of some of the largest banks in the MENA region, while also adding new leading brands from this geography to its portfolio.

Moreover, we continued to support the digital transformation journeys of leading brands such as Air Astana, Türkiye İş Bankası, Pegasus Airlines, MetLife, DenizBank, Burgan Bank, Mavi, and many others.

This year, we proudly achieved AWS Premier Tier Services Partner status within the AWS Partner Network (APN), marking a significant milestone in our cloud expertise and our ability to deliver high-impact, scalable solutions for global brands.

As our cloud team expanded, we increased our certifications and further strengthened our collaboration with AWS. We became a trusted cloud consulting partner for leading brands such as BSH, Vestel, Beko, and Whirlpool in their cloud transformation journeys. In addition, through our cloud loan program for startups, jointly run with İş Bankası and AWS, we supported 40 startups in their cloud transformation this year.

We were once again proud that İşCep, for which we have been a digital transformation partner for over 15 years, was recognized as the world’s best banking application at the Best Digital Bank Awards organized by Global Finance magazine.

Pegasus Airlines mobile app was selected as the Best Mobile Application of the Year, and it won first place in the E-commerce and Shopping category at the Golden Spider Awards.

In 2025, Commencis significantly advanced its artificial intelligence capabilities, helping businesses enhance customer and employee experiences, improve data-driven decision-making, and increase operational efficiency. As AI became a core component of digital transformation across industries, we consolidated all our AI initiatives under a single structure and established the Commencis AI division, enabling faster, more aligned, and scalable transformation for both our clients and our internal operations.

Throughout the year, we focused on strengthening and adapting our existing AI models rather than launching entirely new ones. By combining open-weight models such as Llama, Qwen, Mistral, and Gemma with our RAG, guardrail agents, and multi-agent architectures, we delivered faster, more accurate, and enterprise-ready AI solutions across finance, travel, e-commerce, content localization, and in-app search.

Throughout the year, we shared Commencis’ AI vision through a wide range of interviews and media features.

One of the highlights of the year was our success in the OpenAI to Z Challenge, where the Commencis AI Team ranked second among more than 10,000 participants worldwide. Our solution, GlyphTrack, stood out for its innovative use of AI to rediscover lost Amazonian civilizations by analyzing LiDAR and satellite imagery and enriching archaeological insights through GPT-based reasoning. The project attracted global attention, including coverage by National Geographic. We also shared this work with a wider audience at our latest summit through a dedicated video presentation, which is now available on YouTube.

Our growing impact on artificial intelligence was also recognized at the 2025 Artificial Intelligence ARF Awards, where the ‘Commencis AI Workplace’ solution received the AI ARF Award of the Year.

As we continue to expand our AI offerings, Commencis remains committed to acting not only as a technology provider but as a transformation partner, guiding organizations to design, build, and scale AI-driven solutions that deliver measurable business value and exceptional experiences.

To date, Commencis has created a rich collection of reports on the latest trends and developments in the industry. These are complemented by a series of blogs, insights, and posts covering cutting-edge digital business solutions and technology trends.

All these efforts contributed to the 26 blog posts we published in 2025.  Check out our two most-read articles, The Super Bowl of AI — From a CIO Lens and Designing for the Next Wave: Our takes on WWDC and Google I/O 2025 to explore insights that have captivated our readers. Additionally, we published 10 podcasts covering a wide range of topics across design, engineering, and product disciplines.

Commencis Tech Academy continues to expand its reach by supporting the development of aspiring tech professionals and welcoming new Commencers into its growing community. As part of our commitment to building the next generation of talent, the academy attracted over 9,000 applications from Future Commencers.

This year, 17,000 applications were received across Commencis Tech Academy programs, including Cloud Camp, Test Camp, Future Commencer Internship, and Spring Boot Development Camp. More than 100 students participated in these training programs, and 34 interns joined our internship program.

This year, we sponsored or participated in 66 events, with a strong focus on student-oriented initiatives, including career fairs, sector-focused programs, and events supporting the entrepreneurship ecosystem. Below are some highlights from these events.

On November 26, we organized the Commencis AI NOW Summit in collaboration with Mastercard and Amazon Web Services. Bringing together over 350 participants from industries such as banking, retail, and aviation, the summit featured 15 sessions across two parallel tracks. Unlike many AI events, our focus was on what can be achieved with AI today, highlighting real-world implementations, enterprise transformation journeys, and innovative use cases developed by Commencis teams.

Across the year, we shared these perspectives and experiences at career fairs across Turkey’s leading universities, alongside participation in industry events in Turkey and internationally.

This year, we expanded our internal activities by organizing a wide range of engaging and team-building events, including cultural tours in İstanbul, a running club, office workshops, and shared breakfasts and lunches. In addition to actively participating in and sponsoring various external events, we also enjoyed vibrant weekdays filled with happy hours, workshops, art tours, and social gatherings. Throughout this period, a total of 33 Commencer activities were organized, all of which contributed to strengthening our dynamic, collaborative, and engaging company culture.

In line with our “We are one community” value, we brought together our employees and customers at both our traditional New Year’s Party and Summer Festival. These joyful events strengthened our connections, celebrated our shared achievements, and helped set a positive and energetic tone for the year ahead.

For years, our focus has been on the future, sustainability, and social awareness, and we have supported environmental projects both in Turkey and internationally. One such project is the Anatolian Ancient Nature documentary, which we have proudly supported for over three years as part of our commitment to addressing climate change and protecting biodiversity. We are delighted to share that the documentary is now available on Turkish Airlines’ in-flight entertainment system, as well as globally on YouTube, enabling a wider audience to experience Anatolia’s unique natural heritage and the importance of preserving biodiversity.

The documentary has also received international recognition, earning three awards at prominent film festivals: a First Place award at the Bangkok Movie Awards 2025, an Honorable Mention at the Amsterdam New Cinema Film Festival 2025, and an Outstanding Achievement Award at the Sundarban International Film Festival 2025, further reinforcing the impact of the project and its message.

Beyond our environmental initiatives, we were proud to support meaningful social causes throughout the year. On Sunday, November 2, the Commencis and Dataroid teams ran together at the Türkiye İş Bankası 47th Istanbul Marathon, supporting the Tohum Autism Foundation Charity Run. By taking part in the marathon, our teams helped raise donations for the education of autistic children and contributed to a powerful movement of awareness and solidarity. We were delighted to stand behind this cause and thank everyone who supported us along the way.

We also continued our commitment to animal welfare. On October 4, Animal Protection Day, we supported Yedikule Animal Shelter by raising awareness of the protection and care of animals in need. Supporting shelters and animal welfare initiatives remains an important part of our approach to social responsibility.

2025 was a transformative year for us. We partnered with leading brands, grew our team, strengthened global connections, and trained young talent for the tech industry. It was a year of AI innovation, delivering impactful solutions that benefit a wide range of industries by enhancing efficiency and driving automation.

Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, our ambition is to expand globally while guiding organizations through AI-powered transformation. We aim not only to deliver AI solutions but to embed AI across how we develop, produce, and collaborate, enabling our partners to build sustainable, intelligent transformation roadmaps. This momentum is fueled by the dedication of our teams and the continued trust of our stakeholders. Thank you for being part of it.

We have an exciting year ahead — Happy New Year!