What school left with me
For most of my student years, school was the most enjoyable environment for me. In mathematics and physics classes, I would lose track of the world and become completely absorbed. Far from skipping school, there were times when I wanted the weekend to end quickly.
For me, school was not a place for memorization. It was a playground where I discovered the rules of the universe and followed questions. Even today, as I try to learn something new every day, I still carry the excitement of that period. Staying in touch with some of my teachers after decades is also a beautiful part of that.
The world opened by computers
My first encounter with software began with an Amstrad CPC 464. During a summer holiday, as I explored the computer with its manual in my hands, the door to another world opened. Later, I saved my allowance and bought a Sinclair ZX Spectrum. It had no monitor and was connected to a television; I almost could not leave that small computer.
I tried to write a program for everything that came to mind. One day, instead of playing hangman with friends, I apparently decided to write the program first. I did not realize it then, but this tendency stayed with me throughout my life: not merely using something, but understanding how it works and, if possible, rebuilding it.
Basic, Pascal, C, and years later Python... Each new language gave me not only a new tool, but also another way of thinking. Writing code was never only a job for me; it became a space where I solved problems, tested ideas, and enjoyed creating.
Working life and building my own path
I began my working life at one of Turkey's large companies. When I could not find what I was looking for, I left and chose smaller, more dynamic places. I applied to a small software company through a newspaper ad and started by saying that I did not know C, but could learn quickly. In a short time, I found myself inside large and demanding projects.
Then I founded my own company. What began alone in the garden floor of an old building, with second-hand furniture and an answering machine, grew over time. We produced solutions for many different sectors; as customers, partnerships, and the team grew, I came to understand not only the technical side of the work, but also the human, organizational, and decision-making sides more closely.
In my second company, we developed laboratory and hospital software. The company grew, the team expanded, and responsibilities increased. That period showed me something important: being able to grow a business and being able to remain yourself within that business are not the same thing. I understood more clearly that I loved solving technical problems, producing, and building new systems more than managing large teams.
These experiences taught me not only what I was capable of, but also how I wanted to work.
Physics never left everyday life
Although motorcycles and sailing may look like hobbies completely separate from software, in both I saw the laws of physics operating vividly.
Motorcycling taught me the importance of preparation, attention, knowing limits, and adapting to conditions rather than forcing them. Across hundreds of thousands of kilometers, I experienced how decisive calmness, communication, sleep, nutrition, and discipline can be alongside technical skill.
What motorcycling taught me
Sailing was another way of understanding wind, balance, and cooperation with nature. How do you move forward against the wind, how do you maintain control at low speed, when should you wait instead of pushing... These are questions that matter not only on a boat, but also in work and life.
Sailing and limitsHow coaching changed my perspective
For a long time, I evaluated life mostly through numbers, systems, and results. Through coaching training, I realized that human behavior, anxieties, biases, and invisible dynamics in relationships are far more decisive than I had thought.
Software systems are built by people, used by people, and changed by people. Even the best technology has limited impact when the human needs, fears, habits, and organizational realities behind it are not understood.
This perspective added another depth to both my work and my relationships. I became more curious about what people do not say as much as what they say, and about what they are trying to protect as much as the solution they are asking for.
Today
Today I work in areas where software, artificial intelligence, system design, and human development intersect.
On one hand, I develop AI-supported solutions for production planning, purchasing, inventory management, and decision-support processes. On the other, I work on structures that can help people change habits, see their thoughts more clearly, and sustain their own development processes.
What interests me is not only building powerful technology. It is placing technology where it truly helps human life, in a way that is understandable, reliable, and sustainable.
New beginnings
Some periods in life force a person to rethink what truly matters. For me, recent years have turned into a process of building a simpler life, forming more genuine relationships, and choosing again what I want to give my time to.
With my move to Istanbul, I entered a period in which I opened more space for producing, learning, and writing code again. I remembered the curiosity I had in my university years: starting work early in the morning, trying a new idea, and turning something learned during the day immediately into a project.
Today, I see myself less as someone defined by what I have done in the past, and more as someone who is still continuing to learn today.
We can think together
If you have read this far, we probably look at some subjects from similar places.
If you would like to have a sincere conversation about artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, production and decision processes, motorcycle routes, sailing passages, or the complex algorithms of life, feel free to write to me.
Email: baran.kaya@kobiai.com.tr