Ozgur Dogan is President of Services and Solution Lines at Blend, where he leads the delivery of AI, data, and technology solutions with over two decades of industry experience. His strategic vision has been instrumental in positioning Blend as an industry leader, leveraging advanced analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to create cutting-edge solutions that drive significant improvements in customer engagement, operational efficiency, and revenue growth for enterprise clients. Known for his exceptional team-building skills and forward-thinking approach, Oz has cultivated a collaborative culture at Blend that fosters continuous learning while maintaining a deep understanding of business challenges and developing data-driven strategies to address them.

Tell us about your background. What led you to your current role at Blend?

I actually started my career as a data scientist before the title even formally existed. For the past 20–25 years, my focus has been consistent: driving measurable business outcomes through analytics and technology. I’ve been fortunate to work across a variety of industries and geographies, including serving as CMO for one of the leading e-commerce companies in EMEA. 

There, I oversaw marketing, growth, and customer service, essentially the full customer lifecycle, and had a front-row seat to how data can shape decisions and accelerate results in a highly competitive environment. I loved the pace, the constant innovation, and most of all, the way analytics gave us a competitive edge. That intersection, where data, technology, and business strategy meet, is where I’ve built my career and where I continue to focus my energy today at Blend.

What is Blend and what makes its approach unique?

Blend is an AI services company built on the foundational pillars of data science and engineering. We started the company back in 2016 (well before the current wave of AI hype) and from the beginning, our focus has been on driving real, tangible business impact for our clients. We think of ourselves as the builders, the plumbers, the carpenters; we’re not just advising from the sidelines, we’re rolling up our sleeves to design and deliver solutions that actually get into production.

What sets us apart is that we take a very hands-on approach. A lot of companies get stuck in what we call “pilot purgatory,” where promising AI projects never scale. Only about 10% of pilots make it into full deployment. We’ve built a framework called the Critical 7 that covers everything from data foundations to talent and change management, meant to help overcome that challenge and dramatically increase the success rate of AI initiatives. Ultimately, everything we do is about moving beyond the buzz and building something that works; something that drives outcomes.

As President for the Americas at Blend, what are your key responsibilities?

As President of the Americas at Blend, my role is centered around three core priorities: driving client impact, fueling regional growth, and building high-performing teams with exceptional talent. That means overseeing everything from our service delivery and solutions to business development and go-to-market strategy across the Americas. I focus on making sure we’re not just delivering exceptional work, but also building the right partnerships, offerings, and products that help our clients unlock real value from AI and data.

It’s a balance of execution and innovation—ensuring we’re meeting our clients where they are, while also anticipating what they’ll need next. Whether it’s expanding a key account, launching a new solution, or entering a new market, I’m focused on creating the conditions for both our clients and our teams to succeed.

The data and analytics space is evolving rapidly. What trends are you seeing that are reshaping the industry?

We’re seeing a major shift as AI moves from experimentation into production across the enterprise. It’s no longer limited to marketing or sales—use cases are expanding across functions, and more pilots are being scaled into production-grade solutions that drive real business value. That’s a big inflection point for the industry.

One trend I’m particularly excited about is the rise of agentic systems, AI agents that can manage complex workflows and make decisions autonomously. This is opening up entirely new possibilities for automation and optimization across the business. At the same time, we’re seeing continuous innovation on the model side. New large language models and foundational technologies are enabling hyper-personalization at scale, and we’re already helping clients use these capabilities to transform customer experiences.

Another emerging trend that’s just starting to take shape is the convergence of the digital and physical worlds. Think about the potential of AI agents powering robotics or “ChatGPT for the physical world.” It’s early, but it’s on the horizon and it’s going to fundamentally reshape how enterprises operate in both digital and real-world environments.

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How does Blend help companies stay ahead of these trends?

At Blend, staying ahead of trends isn’t just about watching what’s happening, it’s about helping our clients lead the change. We do that by helping them define what’s possible, laying out clear AI roadmaps, and then actually building the solutions that bring those visions to life.

A big part of that comes down to our people, our data scientists, engineers, and AI specialists who are deeply skilled in building production-grade applications. We also invest in platforms like BlendX, our suite of accelerators that helps us rapidly prototype and deploy AI solutions. It significantly shortens implementation time, which is key when companies want to move fast and scale effectively.

We’re seeing this in action across industries. For example, we built a GenAI-powered investor copilot for a leading financial services firm that not only transformed their analyst workflows but also improved customer experience. And for a global travel company, we rolled out an AI-driven search tool that allows users to search hotels by intent—like alpine skiing or wine tasting—rather than just location. That kind of innovation only happens when you combine deep domain expertise with the tools and talent to execute.

What are some industries where Blend is making a major impact?

We’re seeing enormous potential to drive impact across many industries, but right now we’re doubling down on financial services and technology, media, and telecom (TMT). These are sectors where leaders are under intense pressure to transform, whether it’s delivering more personalized customer experiences, improving operational efficiency, or navigating increasingly complex regulatory environments. And to do that well, they need partners who bring both deep AI expertise and real domain knowledge. That’s why we recently launched dedicated verticals in both financial services and TMT so we can bring the right combination of technical and industry insight to help clients accelerate transformation. 

That said, our impact isn’t limited to those areas. We’ve also built high-performing AI solutions in healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and industrials, often in response to direct client demand. What’s clear across the board is that organizations are looking for partners who can go beyond strategy and actually deliver real, scalable outcomes. That’s where we come in.

What’s your approach to building high-performing teams across service lines?

It all starts with hiring the best people, period. We look globally and bring in top-tier AI talent with exceptional backgrounds in data science and engineering. But beyond skill, we focus on building a strong, values-driven culture that brings out the best in our people.

At Blend360, our culture is anchored in three core values: Potential, Competition, and Camaraderie. We believe everyone has untapped potential and we invest in helping them realize it. We thrive on competition; we like to win, and we want to win together. And camaraderie is what holds it all together, our teams build strong bonds and real trust, which is critical when you’re moving fast and solving complex challenges.

We keep the organization flat and agile, so teams can rally around a specific client objective. There’s no red tape. We build teams that are purpose-driven and laser-focused on outcomes. And finally our ethos is centered on three things: the client is the hero of the story, Blend360 will continue to grow or die, and our people are everything. That mindset shapes how we lead, how we collaborate, and how we innovate.

Ultimately, we’re not just building high-performing teams, we’re building teams that make our clients high-performing too. That’s the goal.

What are some recent milestones or achievements you’re most proud of at Blend?

Blend360 has seen tremendous growth and momentum over the past few years. We started as a data science-focused firm, but quickly expanded to meet client demand. In 2019, we launched our data engineering and tech practice, which now plays a critical role in delivering scalable AI solutions. By 2021, we had opened our EMEA business and launched our India office, and in 2022 we made our first acquisition in Scotland to strengthen our capabilities even further.

That same year, we also brought in Recognize as a strategic investment partner—a firm co-founded by the former CEO chairman of Cognizant, Frank D’Souza—which really helped accelerate our growth. In 2023, we expanded into LATAM, one of our fastest-growing regions, with operations in Uruguay and Colombia. And this year, in 2024, we hit a major milestone—crossing 1,000 employees globally.

We’ve also been named a Great Place to Work across all regions, something I’m particularly proud of. 

CityBiz: How do you balance the need for custom client solutions with the scalability of your service lines?

At Blend360, we’re fundamentally a services company and that means delivering customized solutions is in our DNA. But customization doesn’t mean starting from scratch every time. What sets us apart is our ability to combine tailored strategies with repeatable, scalable frameworks.

We’ve built a strong foundation of accelerators and best practices that allow us to move quickly and deliver high-impact results. Our proprietary platform, BlendX, is a great example—it’s an AI accelerator suite that enables us to build and deploy solutions faster, with consistency and quality. It gives us modularity, so we can adapt to specific client needs while still benefiting from the speed and stability of a repeatable framework.

This approach has really resonated with both clients and industry analysts. It allows us to strike the right balance: delivering bespoke, high-value outcomes for clients while maintaining the scalability and efficiency that’s critical in today’s fast-moving market.

What’s next for Blend and for your team?

We’re entering a really exciting chapter at Blend360. One of our biggest focus areas is verticalization—doubling down on industries like Technology, Media, and Telecom (TMT) and Financial Services where we see massive potential to drive transformation with AI. We’re building out deeper domain expertise to help clients solve more complex, industry-specific challenges.

We’re also growing through strategic partnerships with platforms like Snowflake, Databricks, Pega and AWS—these alliances are helping us co-create powerful, end-to-end AI solutions that accelerate our clients’ journeys. On the solution side, we’re continuing to develop new offerings around AI that go beyond pilots and get into scalable, production-ready deployments.

And finally, from a global perspective, we’re continuing to scale our talent base. That means putting more boots on the ground in key markets and building teams that bring a mix of technical excellence, regional insight, and a shared commitment to client impact.

What advice would you give to leaders trying to harness the power of data and leverage AI to drive success in their organizations?

My biggest piece of advice is to focus on value realization—not just building capabilities for the sake of it. AI can be transformative, but only if it’s tied directly to your business strategy and delivers tangible impact. Leaders should be asking: How do we create measurable value in the next 60 to 90 days? Especially in a space where the technology is evolving so quickly, you can’t afford to wait for perfection. You need quick wins that prove the case, build momentum, and lay the groundwork for scale.

At Blend360, we use a framework called the Critical 7 to help organizations go from experimentation to enterprise-wide impact. It covers everything from aligning AI to business strategy, building strong data foundations, and optimizing for speed and cost, to addressing change management, talent, and trust. Because at the end of the day, AI is not just about algorithms—it’s about people. You need the right talent, a culture of innovation, and a commitment to responsible AI that aligns with ethical standards and builds trust across your organization.

The leaders who succeed with AI are the ones who understand this is a complete reset, an inflection point, not just a workstream for the tech team. 

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