Context

Datalent is a data education center staffed by experienced Turkish and Azerbaijani instructors from major global companies. The CEO wanted to expand the brand's reach, run awareness campaigns, and explore launching new academy branches in adjacent topic areas.

My Role

Executive Assistant to CEO (Feb 2024–Aug 2025). My responsibilities spanned operations and project delivery: I led an intern team, owned project reporting and planning, executed brand awareness initiatives, and was given full ownership of the new branch launch process.

Process & Key Decisions

Over 6 months, I ran 3 brand awareness projects that engaged 250+ participants and generated 1,000+ leads, supporting the academy’s audience development.

The main initiative was launching a new academy branch. We evaluated 3 directions: Prompt Engineering, Digital Marketing, and SMM. The first launch attempt (Prompt Engineering) failed — our staffing and execution plan needed more support, and it was summer, which limited lead generation.

Instead of abandoning the idea, I analyzed what went wrong, adjusted the timeline and team structure, and re-launched in a better season. Prompt Engineering won over the other two directions because it aligned naturally with Datalent's existing brand identity in AI and data science — it wasn't a stretch for the market to believe Datalent could teach this topic.

Outcome

The Prompt Engineering branch launched successfully on the second attempt. 20 students enrolled and graduated from the first cohort. The branch established a new revenue stream and validated Datalent's ability to expand beyond its core data science curriculum.

What I Learned

First launches fail often — what matters is the speed and quality of your iteration. Also: when choosing which product to launch, brand fit matters more than market size. Digital Marketing and SMM were bigger markets, but Datalent had no credibility there. Prompt Engineering was smaller but authentic to the brand.

The challenge

Preparing a K-beauty store for customers in Azerbaijan meant working through more than the website: where to source products, how to transport them, and who could handle fulfilment. The sourcing and delivery setup needed to fit the launch.

My role

Founder responsible for supplier and logistics research, comparing options across countries, and setting up the Shopify storefront. I used Claude Code and Codex to help build the website, while owning the business requirements and reviewing the result.

Research & key decisions

I researched suppliers across countries and compared product availability, pricing, and sourcing options. The aim was to find an approach that made sense for the planned store and its customers in Azerbaijan.

I also researched delivery and fulfilment partners, comparing shipping options, costs, and how the operational steps would fit together—from the supplier and fulfilment provider through to delivery to the customer. I considered sourcing and logistics together because a supplier choice also affects the delivery route and cost.

For the website, I used Shopify with Claude Code and Codex. I defined what the store needed and used these tools to help implement it. The work I owned was the research, option comparison, launch planning, and review of the storefront.

Project stage

The project is in launch preparation. I have researched sourcing, delivery, and fulfilment options and built the Shopify storefront. The work presented here covers planning and setup; commercial results are still to come.

What I learned

Supplier selection and logistics need to be evaluated together. An attractive product price is only one part of the decision: delivery costs, fulfilment, and the customer experience also matter. AI tools helped me build the storefront, but choosing a workable operating model required my own research and judgment.

Context

Junction is one of Europe's leading hackathon organizations, but had never held an event in the South Caucasus. As Chairperson of EESTEC LC Baku, I proposed and led the bid to bring JunctionX to Azerbaijan — timed with COP29 to maximize relevance and sponsor interest around sustainability and AI.

My Role

Project Lead. I owned the entire operation: budget planning, sponsor acquisition, venue logistics, team recruitment, marketing, and coordination with Junction's global team in Finland. I also presented at Junction Asia's Regional Demo Day at POSTECH in South Korea.

Process & Key Decisions

The biggest challenge was credibility — we were a student-led LC with no track record of events at this scale. I built the pitch around COP29 timing and "AI in Green Economy" theme, which gave sponsors a reason to care beyond just a hackathon.

Key decision: partnering with the Education Development Fund and PwC Azerbaijan as anchor sponsors early, which de-risked the budget and attracted smaller sponsors. United Payment came on as a tech partner. SOCAR provided credibility in the energy/sustainability space.

I managed a cross-functional team across marketing, logistics, mentorship, and participant experience — all volunteers with varying commitment levels. The real PM work was keeping everyone aligned on scope and deadlines when nobody reports to you.

Outcome

150+ participants, successful 36-hour event, positive feedback from Junction global team. EESTEC LC Baku achieved Junior LC status (official European recognition) partly on the strength of this event. Presented the results at POSTECH in South Korea at Junction Asia's Regional Demo Day.

What I Learned

Leading without authority is the hardest and most valuable skill. When your team is all volunteers, you can't rely on hierarchy — you have to create momentum through clarity, energy, and making people feel ownership over their piece. Also: theme selection matters more than you think for fundraising.