The first day of Türkiye Innovation Week 2026 ended.

The first day of TIW26, held at the Bosphorus Congress Center with the support of the Ministry of Trade by the Turkish Export Chambers (TİM), on the theme "Humanity 6.0 - The New Era of Humanity," has ended. One of the panels held on the first day of the event, which is the 13th this year and is a Global Communication Partner of Anadolu Agency (AA), was titled "The Brain Exporters: From Brain Migration to Global Talent Networks" moderated by Ozan Bayülgen, President of Central Asia and Regional General Manager of Korn Ferry Turkey. Furkan Kumkaya, the career consultant and digital nomad who spoke at the panel, stated that he sees himself not as part of brain migration but as a bridge between his country and the world. Sharing the knowledge and experiences he gained after leaving for abroad with his Turkish clients, Kumkaya said, "When I left Turkey, I can say I was part of brain migration, but now I see myself as a bridge. I collect information from everyone, everywhere, and all kinds of people, and I bring it to my clients and to my country, to Turkey." Emphasizing that he feels better during this process, Kumkaya said, "This is not brain migration, but something like sharing all the knowledge in the universe with people. We are definitely not losing anything. I learn many things when I go abroad, and now I share them with people. I think this means building and growing, not shrinking." "There must be someone there who opens doors for you and makes you feel that you are making an impact." Elisa Tarzia, Growth Manager and Co-founder of the 351 Portugal Entrepreneurs Association, stated that the definitions of brain migration and brain gain have lost their relevance, emphasizing that it is important to create conditions that ensure skilled workers stay in the country and generate value in it, as much as attracting them to the country. Tarzia made an assessment that while policies make a country more understandable and predictable, it is important to ensure that the real people stay in the country, stating, "You must ensure that the country is not just a place where people pass through but a place where they truly want to build things." Tarzia pointed out the importance of providing opportunities for skilled workers to stay in the country and for them to feel that their work makes an impact, saying, "There must be someone there who opens doors for you and makes you feel that you are making an impact. What we do is exactly this." "The priority should be on the work model, not technology." Rowena Hennigan, Founder of RoRemote, stated that remote work should be viewed as a conscious working strategy rather than a method that was forced during the COVID-19 pandemic, pointing out the importance of adopting a human-centered approach before technology in the transformation of the work model. Hennigan expressed that the mandatory work-from-home applications during the pandemic and the adoption of remote work as a strategic choice are different, saying, "One is reactive, the other is proactive. Remote work is planned, designed, and consciously implemented." Hennigan noted that there may be an approach from managers that allows for flexibility and trust in employees behind the companies choosing the hybrid work model, and she pointed out that some companies' contracts are also influential in these preferences. Emphasizing that the transformation in working life cannot be achieved only with technological tools, Hennigan stated, "It is not about technology, but about people. You can provide all the tools you want to an organization, but if the company leadership forces people to come to the office, we can never bring about change in the work model. The priority should be on the work model, not technology." The final panel of the day was a session titled "The Company's New Organizational Chart: People and Artificial Intelligence Agents Together," moderated by Prof. Dr. Deniz Tunçalp, a lecturer from the Department of Business Engineering at Istanbul Technical University. In the panel, which featured statements from Deputy Director General of Insurance Information Technologies of Turkey Çiğdem Kılıç, Expert in Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Governance and Founder and CEO of Galaxy for Technology Reema Diab, Founder of The AI Institute Maryrose Lyons, Founder and CEO of Hacking HR Enrique Rubio, and Organizational Behavior Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science Prithwiraj Choudhury, the topics of how artificial intelligence agents that can make decisions and perform tasks in companies can act on behalf of the company, the boundaries of authority, oversight, and responsibility for the outcomes, and how the organizational model appropriate for this can be shaped were discussed.