Following her Electrical Engineering and Management studies at the University of Pennsylvania, Didem started her career with management consulting at CapGemini and Motorola.
After graduating from Columbia Business School (CBS) in 2005, Didem continued her career at Greenwich Consulting (now part of EY) and British Telecom in London, UK.
Her passion for technology led her to join Microsoft’s Information & Content Experiences Group where she and her team signed c. 1,500 partnerships across 60 markets. She held other business development and partner management roles as part of Microsoft Accelerators and the Business AI teams. In her current role, Didem is focusing on scaling Microsoft’s SaaS AI solutions such as Dynamics Customer Service Insights and Virtual Agent.
Didem has 20+ years of multinational leadership experience in business development, management consulting, and product management in executing international roll outs, implementing new market entries, and building new revenue streams from disruptive technologies in EMEA, APAC, and LatAm.
Diversity, Inclusion, and Responsible AI efforts:
As part of her Diversity & Inclusion related social impact work, Didem organizes global ‘Girls and Women in AI’ hackathons and bootcamps to increase female participation in AI/ML technology sector:
- Girls in STEM AI Bootcamp – Athens, Aug 27-31st.
- ‘Girls in AI’ Global Hackathon – London, Oct 13-14th.
- ‘Teens in AI’ NASA Global Space Hackathon – London, Oct 20-21st
- Code:First Girls Conference 2018 – ‘Women in AI’ talk, London, Nov 10th.
- MSFT DigiGirlz UK – Reading, UK Nov 20th
- TEDx Shoreditch ‘Women in Technology/ AI’ Event in May ‘19
- ‘AI & Careers’ Sessions at Schools
Didem is currently a member of Cloud & AI Women in Business Applications (WiBA) Leadership Board and Women@MSFT UK.
Externally, she is a member of the Women in AI network.
Blogs:
She has also written numerous blogs on Diversity & Inclusion in Tech and Women & AI:
- Reflections on a Rigorous Year in AI
- Mindful Optimism for Women in Life 3.0
- Grace Hopper, Burning Man, and Choices
- Diversity & Inclusion – Call to All Princesses and Princes
Training & Awards:
- Didem is currently pursuing the ‘Microsoft Professional Programme for AI’ and has been awarded with Women in Advertising and Communications’ (WACL) Future Leader Award in 2019 for her work in inspiring female high school students to embrace and to join AI/ ML sector.
- Previously, her MBA was sponsored by her employer, Motorola Ltd.
- She has numerous other awards, scholarships, and sponsorships that can be viewed on her LinkedIn profile.
